Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express

I'm naturally a dark blonde so my brows (and eyelashes) are light and my brows are somewhat sparse. I've heard a lot of good things about Anastasia eyebrow kits and accessories so I figured I'd give it a try when I made a recent online purchase at Ulta. 

One of the corners in my kit came bent :/

The kit includes:

♥ Brow Wax

♥ Brow Powder Duo (blonde version)

♥ Shadow Duo

♥ 5 Stencils

♥ Angled Brow Brush

5 Stencils included are: 

Full Arch, High Arch, Medium Arch, Petite Arch & Slim High Arch

Before Picture 

(sans makeup) 

After Picture
 makeup: Urban Decay 15 Anniversary Palette and UD liner

 (sorry about the weird angle/weird chunk of glitter in my brow)

In case that picture is hard to read, here is a basic how-to:

1.  Take one of the stencils and line up the red lines (top line parallel with forehead, inner line through middle of nostril, and the outer line diagonally to to the edge of the nose). Pick the stencil that fits the most of your natural brow through the cutout.

2. Apply the brow wax cream to help powder adhere.

3. Align stencil to brow and apply brow powder.

4. Remove stencil and tweeze hair outside the powdered area (tweezers not included)

Review:

 The stencil my brows fit was the high arch. Step 3 is definitely the hardest step in the kit. It takes some practice and shifting the position of your hands around to be able to fill in your brows with the power while holding the stencil in place. I'm hoping after trying this a few more times I'll get the hang of it. The mirror is essentially useless in the kit because there is no way  you are going to be holding a mirror, stencil, and powdering your brows all at once.

In my opinion, the brow colors for blondes are okay. I feel the darker brown of the two shades was a too bit dark for me. My hair is now a mixture of different blonde tones so I can get away with using a mixture of the two. However, if I lighten my hair to the platinum blonde it used to be, I think I will only be using the lighter of the two shades. The kit does come in a brunette version as well. 

The kit definitely has value but really depends if it works for you powder color-wise and what you already have or need in your makeup kit. The kit is $39.50. If purchased individually at Ulta, the stencils are $20 for 4 stencils (excludes full arch), the brow powder is $22 for .1 oz (kit has 2 powders, each 0.056 oz) and the angled brush is $17. I did not see the eyeshadow (which I personally could have done without) and brow wax sold separately on the Ulta or Sephora website.

Helpful info if you want to purchase items separately:

 Individual powders come in 5 colors (2 shades each) vs. the kit which only comes in 2 colors (2 shades each). Purchase the stencils at Sephora. They are the same price and come with 5 stencils vs. 4 at Ulta.

Overall, I like the Anastasia Beauty Express. I think it is important to pay attention to those brows because they can really help define your face. I think the stencils are great for girls who need help with finding a shape that best fits your natural brow. Although I think the items in the rest of the kit can be replaced with (cheaper) alternatives, I like having the items in one place especially when traveling. Hopefully, I can just get the hang of using those stencils!

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