This $6 Brow Gel Just Made Me Throw Away My Expensive One

I'm pretty lucky to have been born with full brows. So lucky, in fact, that I rarely fill them in with a pencil, but instead stick to grooming them with a tinted brow gel. Up until this morning, I used a designer formula to brush my brows in place—and keep them there all day—but as I worked my way down to the bottom of the tube, I decided to switch things up. I reached for a $6 option and didn't even second-guess tossing out my old designer tube.

So, I won't tell you which designer brow gel I was using, but I can tell you that after tax, it cost me close to $30. And for a product that didn't deposit much color (on purpose) or make a huge difference in my final look, that seemed a little steep. The very first thing I noticed on day one of using it was how wet it felt. The finish is meant to be glossy, but it left my brows looking completely soaked for a few minutes. By the end of the day, my brows felt crunchy—but the good news is they kept the same shape all day long. Now looking back, I could've compared my designer brow product to a strong-hold hair gel. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it, so I continued using it.

When I broke out NYX's Control Freak Eyebrow Gel, I was surprised that it didn't immediately drench my arches. I had gotten so used to my old product that I forgot they're not all so watery. I instantly fell in love with the matte finish of the more affordable option, and the best part is it's making my arches look fuller in the best way—my designer brow gel could make them look piece-y and sparse at times. Hours later, my brows look just as perfect as the did this morning, sans the crunchy feeling. And just like that, the lesson that less is more (even when it comes to price) proved itself to be true.