Benefit Gimme Brow vs Essence Make Me Brow | Cruelty Free Dupe?

Brow products from the high street/drugstore aren't amazing. As a general rule.

We all know the high end brands dominate. And unfortunately, there also aren't a great deal of cruelty free options on the British high street. The American drugstore seems to have far more options. Sucks to be me.

AND everyone knows the reigning queens of brows are ABH and Benefit, especially with their extensive new launch. Of course it's hard not to be envious when you see every blogger and her dog raving about the new products, but I'm on a mission to scope out the dupes and hidden gems. To make our life a little bit easier. 'Cos I love ya.

Now I'm not claiming to have found this - just a little disclaimer. People have been comparing the two since Essence came to light (I think they're a relatively new brand?). But seeing as I own the two, it was silly not to compare.

Firstly - Essence is a great big copy cat, and I bloody love it. Just brazenly ripping off the name - Benefit's "Gimme Brow" (£18.50) and Essence's "Make Me Brow" (£2.50). They're not even trying to disguise it!! It succeeds in setting a tone for the upcoming similarity and dupe-ness.

Of course, the Gimme Brow is much prettier. So much prettier in fact. A huge part of the appeal of makeup is the packaging and how gorgeous it looks as part of your collection. I personally find Benefit's packaging slightly tacky and more style over substance but you can't argue that it's not more eyecatching than the minimal, cheap looking Make Me Brow. But for £16 cheaper AND no animals harmed in the process, I can deal with a boring looking product.

The important thing is how it works. Similar names are all well and good but if one doesn't work, well, that's the end of that! Luckily, the two are VERY comparable. It's hard to make a direct comparison because I accidently chose diffferent shades in each - the Benefit being the wrong colour. Woops. But in terms of colour - both have 3 shades available, and I think they are similar with each offering a blonde, medium brown and deeper brown.

Both claim to have tiny fibres that adhere to hair to naturally fill them in. Which is different to the brow gels I've used in the past which have been more like, well, gels - to glue those suckers down! They both feel exactly the same on my brows - not too crispy, but you can definitely feel the product to the touch.

Of course, the similarity in the wands is uncanny. Both have a teeny, tiny little spooly which is the perfect size for not making a mess all over your brow bone. It's nice and precise and allows you to put it exactly where you want it! I wouldn't say one is any better than the other, particularly. The Essence one is slightly longer and a bit "thinner" but I don't feel it really makes any difference in the application.

I don't think either particularly keep my brows in place all day. Dem bitches UNRULY. But both succeed in making them look a bit fuller, especially as some baldy bits are my main problems so this is just what I need. I use a pencil to sketch the rough shape I want, often fill in with powder then set with one of the two gels. The powder isn't completely necessary and gives a much more "groomed" look, the gel alone can give a "yes honey these are my natural brows" look, if that's what you're wanting.

All in all - regardless of whether you are conscious of animal testing or not, I see no reason to spend £16 more on the Benefit offering when Essence's little guy performs equally as well. For you cruelty free guys and gals - rest assured that you are not missing out on the Gimme Brow, you got an equally as good product to play with right here!

Live long and prosper, fellas.
Teri-May xx


***Just in case anyone is thinking WTF is she doing buying Benefit products? It came free with Glamour (which everyone seemed to pick up judging by the sheer volume of reviews at the moment! 

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