buuk.top / Lecia Landis
If your eyes are the window to your soul, consider your eyebrows the window treatments—the feature that defines your entire face. Whether you rock bold, beautiful Zendaya-like brows or thinner, more delicate arches, nearly all of our brows could use a little assist from an eyebrow pencil. A few swipes of an eyebrow pencil will define, shape, and fill out your brows no microblading necessary.
There’s no need to drop big bucks on an eyebrow pencil, though. We shopped for the best drugstore eyebrow pencils that’ll give you the brows of your dreams while sticking to your budget. To make this list, the pencils had to be easy to apply (who has time to redo their brows in the morning?) and even easier to blend, all with a barely-there drugstore price. The best of the best are available in a wide range of shades, too, so no matter your hair’s hue, you can make a big impact on your brows with just a few strokes.
Honest Beauty Eyebrow Pencil at Amazon
e.l.f. Brow Pencil at Amazon
CoverGirl Easy Breezy Eyebrow Pencil at Amazon
Burts Bees Eyebrow Pencil at Amazon
Milani Precision Brow Pencil at Amazon
Colourpop Brow Boss Pencil at Ulta
Revlon Brow Fantasy at Amazon
LOréal Paris Brow Stylist Definer at Amazon
NYX Professional Makeup Micro Brow Pencil at Amazon
Maybelline New York Ultra Slim Eyebrow Pencil at Ulta
In This Article
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Best Overall
Honest Beauty Eyebrow Pencil
Amazon
View On Target
View On Honest.com
Buildable
Conditioning
Easy application
Limited shade range
Not recommended for thinner brows
To seamlessly accentuate your natural brows, add this Honest eyebrow pencil to your makeup routine. With just a few easy-to-apply strokes, it creates a soft, natural-looking brow, perfect for everyday wear. It’s designed with a soft glide-tip and built-in spoolie, so it’s both buildable and blendable—that way, you can fill in your brows as much or as little as you desire. Plus, the jojoba seed oil in the formula keeps it nice and creamy, so it glides on smoothly while (bonus!) also conditioning your brows. This brow pencil is available in five shades, hopefully, one of which will be a good match for your hair color.
Shades: 5 | Type: Matte | Cruelty-Free: Yes
Best Budget
e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil
Ulta
View On Ulta
View On Target
Creamy formula
Dual-sided
Budget-friendly
Small size
Thicker tip
Of all the wallet-friendly picks on this list—all of them, really!—this fan-favorite pencil from e.l.f. wins for both serious affordability and equally-as-serious brow filling. Costing just $3 (yes, $3!), it achieves everything you could want a brow pencil to do, including shaping, defining, and filling in patchy spots. The creamy formula is ultra easy to apply and instantly makes your brows appear thicker all day, from applying first thing in the morning to long past your dinner date. It also features a built-in spoolie for blending and is available in five versatile shades, including ones ideal for blondes and redheads. The one downside: the tip is thicker than you may be used to, and it can’t be sharpened, so eventually, it’ll lose its precise tip.
Shades: 5 | Type: Instant Lift | Cruelty-Free: Yes
Best Drugstore
CoverGirl Easy Breezy Brow Micro Fine Fill + Define Eyebrow Pencil
Amazon
View On Ulta
View On Target
Microfine tip
Defines and fills in brows
No sharpening required
Limited shade range
Not highly pigmented
Give your arches the definition they deserve. This microfine brow pencil from COVERGIRL gives you the control to draw precise hair-like strokes, whether to fill in sparse spots or darken your already powerful brows. Thanks to its super-fine tip and built-in spoolie, you can achieve full, natural-looking brows in just a few swipes. Its long-wearing formula will last morning, noon, and night, and once it’s time to wash your face, it easily comes off with a touch of soap and water. This eyebrow pencil is only available in three dark shades of brown, though—sorry, blondes and redheads—and isn’t as richly pigmented as other options on this list.
Shades: 4 | Type: Micro-Fine | Cruelty-Free: Yes
Best Natural
Burts Bees Eyebrow Pencil
Amazon
View On Ulta
View On Target
Natural formula
Glides on smoothly
Hydrating
Not for thinner strokes
Difficult to sharpen
Leave it to Burt’s Bees to create an eyebrow pencil that works well and has good-for-you ingredients. Its formula is 99.9 percent natural and is infused with star ingredients like hydrating jojoba oil and shea butter. It glides on smoothly and evenly for natural-looking strokes, which can be blended with the attached brow brush. Better yet, in true Burt’s Bees fashion, even the cedarwood used for the pencil is sustainability sourced, which is why we’re anxiously waiting for them to add more hues. Currently, it’s only available in two shades, one for blondes and another for brunettes.Shades:2 |Type: Matte | Cruelty-Free: Yes
Best Long-Wearing
Milani Stay Put Precision Brow Pencil
Milani
View On Ulta
View On Target
Intense color payoff
Long-wearing
Ultra-fine tip
Hard to control tip for tiny detailing
If you’re searching for an eyebrow pencil that’ll last the entire day without smudging, try this one from Milani. It promises to stay perfectly in place (no fading!) from your morning meeting long past your dinner plans. The stay-put formula creates natural-looking hair-like strokes to help you accomplish your dream brows with every use. Its intense color payoff, seamless blend-ability, ultra-fine tip, and included spoolie for feathering, shaping, and grooming are just bonuses. Hopefully, they’ll extend their range of shades soon; currently, there are three (soft brown, medium brown, and ebony) best for darker-hued brows.Shades: 3 | Type: Ultra-Fine | Cruelty-Free:Yes
Best Retractable
Colourpop Brow Boss Pencil
Colourpop
View On Walmart
View On Colourpop.com
Long-wearing
Mistake-proof formula
Retractable tip
Application learning curve
Tired of sharpening your eyebrow pencil? Opt for a retractable tip like the one on this Colourpop pencil. Its mistake-proof formula goes flawlessly in hand with its long-wearing abilities, so no need to fret if youre a brow pencil newbie. You’ll get the hang of drawing feather-like strokes, creating your best Rihanna-esque brows, in no time. With nine available shade options, from warm blonde to soft black, and plenty of hues in between, you’ll easily find the exact hue to imitate your brows.
Shades: 9 | Type: Long Wear, Retractable |Cruelty-Free: Yes
Best Two-In-One
Revlon Brow Fantasy by Color Stay
Amazon
View On Walmart
View On Walgreens
Contains a pencil and gel
Easy to use
Dispenses the perfect amount of product
Requires touch-ups
Pencil needs to be sharpened a lot
Brow pencils can do a lot—define! shape! shade!—and completely transform the look of your eyebrows and face as a whole. They can’t, however, cant tame unruly eyebrow hairs into place. That’s where this brow gel and pencil duo comes into play. By housing both formulas in one handy tube, you can use the pencil to fill and define your brows and then flip it over to apply the tinted gel. The gel will deepen the color and brush your brows into place. The pencil needs to be sharpened often, but that’s a small price to pay for the convenience of a two-in-one design that saves space in your makeup bag.
Shades: 2 | Type: Sheer, Pencil and Gel |Cruelty-Free: No
Best Waterproof
LOréal Paris Brow Stylist Definer Eyebrow Pencil
Amazon
View On Ulta
View On Target
Water resistant
Easy to use
Smudge-proof
Harder filling in for thicker brows
When you really want your expertly crafted brows to stay in place, grab this waterproof eyebrow pencil. It’s ideal for giving your brows a little definition on beach days, as well as for big events when you don’t want to risk it fading, smudging, or being anything less than picture-perfect all day long. The waterproof formula is a little harder to apply, especially for thicker brows, because its texture is less creamy than other options. Still, it’s worth the purchase for the increased wear time and a color that doesn’t budge a single centimeter. Every feather-like stroke remains where you drew it—until you decide to remove it. There’s also a selection of ten different color choices to choose from, so finding the right match doesn’t require any trial and error.
Shades: 10 | Type: Matte, Ultra-Fine | Cruelty-Free: No
Best Shade Range
NYX Professional Makeup Micro Brow Pencil
Amazon
View On Ulta
View On Walmart
Easy to apply
Good pigmentation
Long-lasting
Doesn’t last all-day
If you’re not sure which pencil shade is ideal for your brows, use this rule of thumb: for darker hair, go one or two shades deeper than your strand. Blondes, meanwhile, should select a hue that matches their darkest root. You won’t have trouble finding your perfect match with this NYX Professional Makeup brow pencil though. It comes in a dozen shades (including ash blonde, auburn, gray, black, and a range of browns) with good pigmentation that lasts all day long. Just don’t accidentally rub your eyebrows—this isn’t the most smudge-proof formula we’ve ever worn.
Shades: 12 | Type: Matte | Cruelty-Free: Yes
What Our Editors Say
“This is my ultimate brow pencil. Im not sure Ill ever use another. The price point cant be beaten, and the fine tip (which doesnt break as easily as other brands can) is perfect for drawing thin, natural-looking strokes." —Kathryn Vandervalk, Editorial & Strategy Director
Best Fine Point
Maybelline New York Brow Ultra Slim Defining Eyebrow Pencil
Amazon
View On Target
View On Walmart
Fine tip for precise lines
Simple to use
Wears well
Not highly pigmented
If you suffered through the overplucked days of the ‘90s and early 2000s, add this Maybelline eyebrow pencil to your online cart. With its incredibly fine point of 1.5 millimeters, it’s ideal for those looking to fill in particularly sparse areas. It creates precise, hair-like strokes, so you’ll be left with beautiful, natural-looking brows—sans smudges or unwanted color streaks—no microblading necessary. It’s a breeze to use, and the pencil comes in an impressive range of seven versatile colors. (Though, compared to others on this list, it’s not the most pigmented.)
Celebrity makeup artist Dillon Peña gives it his stamp of approval. “I find that I reach for the soft brown and light brown shades first and then use a darker pencil to add definition where needed,” he says.Shades: 7 | Type:Matte, Ultra-Slim | Cruelty-Free: No
Best Fine Point, Runner-Up
Juvias Place I Sculpt, I Shade Brow Pencil
Juvias Place
Glides on smoothly
Long-wearing formula
Includes brow brush
Limited shade range
Armed with an ultra-slim precision tip, this retractable pencil allows you to draw on delicate, hair-like lines to create a totally natural and sculpted look. The formula is long-lasting and glides on super smooth without ever looking cakey. We also love that the opposite end has a built-in brush, which is great for fluffing up your brows to create fullness. While we’d appreciate a few more shades to accommodate all hair colors, if one of their four shades matches your brows, you can’t beat the price—just $3!Shades: 4 | Type: Matte | Cruelty-Free: Yes
Best Color Payoff
The Lip Bar Vegan Brow Gel + Brow Pencil
Target
View On Walmart
Intense color payoff
Duo of gel and pencil
Smooth application
Not long-lasting
Thin brow gel
These are several standout attributes of this brow gel and pencil combo from The Lip Bar. (Smooth application, BIPOC-owned, and a creamy formula, for starters.) However, its most notable quality is its outstanding color payoff. The pencil is combined with a brow gel, which helps fill in sparse areas, add definition, and secure the brow into place—all in one thin tube that’ll easily fit in your makeup bag. A few swipes of this eyebrow pencil, and you’ll have pulled off your best brows yet.
Shades: 3 | Type: Matte, Triangular| Cruelty-Free:Yes
Final Verdict
Finding the correct drugstore brow pencil for you is no easy feat. With all the available affordable options, you’ll want to keep an eye out for ones that add definition, fill in sparse areas, and keep your brows in tip-top shape. Our overall favorite, Honest Beauty Eyebrow Pencil, accentuates your natural brows with soft, natural strokes and allows you to fill in as much or as little as you desire, thanks to creamy jojoba-infused formula. For a super precise application, use the fine 1.5-millimeter tip on Maybelline New York Ultra Slim Brow Defining Eyebrow Pencil. And, don’t underestimate the intense color payoff from The Lip Bar Vegan Brow Gel + Brow Pencil.
Meet the Expert
Dillion Peña is Celebrity Makeup Artist based in New York and Los Angeles.
What To Look For in a Drugstore Eyebrow Pencil
Shape
Depending on the look you achieve, you’ll want to select different pencil shapes. “For example, enhancing your brows and completely changing your brow shape require different pencils,” explains Peña.
Color
To achieve a more natural look, explains Peña, it’s best to choose a pencil that is too light rather than too dark. “Anything darker tends to look a bit more dramatic.”
Wear
For a formula that lasts through an entire day, opt to choose something thats either waterproof or long-wearing to ensure it doesn’t budge.
Applying drugstore brow pencils is much like applying a luxury brow pencil, says Peña. “You want to do light, feather-like strokes starting in areas where your hair is more sparse (like the tail or beginning of the brow).”
Like all beauty products, eyebrow pencils do expire and should be replaced, explains Peña. “Check the timeline the manufacturer says, but I find I need to change brow pencils every three months to have the best glide and application.”
Why Trust Byrdie
This guide was written by Rachel Dube, a buuk.top contributor and freelance writer specializing in beauty and lifestyle content. On her mission to achieve the fullest feathered brows, she has tested tons of eyebrow drugstore eyebrow pencils, including Maybelline New York Ultra Slim Brow Defining Eyebrow Pencil, NYX Professional Makeup Micro Brow Pencil, and many, many others.
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