I’ve Tried Five Brow Gels, and This Oil One is the Best

I inherited my very thick brows from my mom, and I’m still grateful that she oversaw my monthly brow-grooming appointments to make sure the esthetician didn’t get overzealous with the tweezers. And over the years, I’ve learned that the key to maintenance is regularly scheduled light threading appointments and a great brow gel. The problem is that most of them are either too flaky or don’t have enough hold — and I’ve tried so many: Refy’s Brow Sculpt, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze, Kosas Air Brow, Benefit’s 24-HR Brow Setter, even Schwarzkopf’s Got2b Glued, which is designed for the hair on your head. Kosas, for example, required several layers to get the right hold. When I tried Anastasia last year, it left behind dandruff-esque white flakes.

Then I heard about Kulfi Beauty’s Free the Brow on TikTok. My FYP was overwhelmed by the arrival of this brow gel-slash-serum (and we actually covered the launch in this newsletter). The formula was inspired by the South Asian tradition of hair oiling, where you apply oil from the roots of your hair to the tip, to strengthen and hydrate. That means the formula of Free the Brow is very oil-heavy, with sunflower oil for vitamin E and safflower oil, to promote hair growth. It sounded appealing — but less than two weeks later, the purple tube sold out at Sephora. As soon as it came back in-stock, I knew I needed to test it out.

I’ve been using it for over three weeks, and I’ve gotten the exact sculpting results I’ve always wanted: My brows lay flat but don’t look lacquered on. The oils impart a little shine but it’s not overdone. The gel feels thick and viscous almost like Aquaphor, but without the greasiness. Every day, after my skincare routine, I brush it through my brows with the spoolie applicator in the opposite direction of my hair growth. The other end of the wand has a tiny comb and a brush attachment for styling. I comb the wispier inner parts of my brow up, and use the brush for the center and tail. It all takes only a minute or so, but my brows look so good it’s like I just left a lamination appointment. They’re still ultra-feathery but are held in place and more defined. And the effect lasts all day — at least ten hours, even on days when I workout. 

I can’t really attest to the long-term effects of the Free the Brow — yet. But I have been off-label applying Free the Brow a second time during my nighttime routine to see if I get the long-term benefits promised by the serum. It would, however, just be icing on the cake. Free the Brow is truly excellent at the one thing it really does need to be good at: styling. It’s not flaky, tacky, or greasy. It gives my eyebrows the perfect shine and doesn’t dull their color like most goopy, translucent waxes do. Free the Brow is now my forever staple, and I’m sure I’ll be scraping the bottom of the tube in no time.

Are there other products that you want our intrepid team of beauty writers to test, or trends that you want them to fact-check? Send us an email at strategistbeautybrief@nymag.com with your thoughts and questions.