Benefit Brow Zings was the first ever brow kit I had in my possession. My parents bought it for me as a birthday present when I first started pulling my eyebrows out (thanks trich!). I struggled to use it at first, and it can be extremely tricky to create brows from scratch with some wax and powder, as there is nothing to act as a shape guide. When you've had a few brow hairs grow back through, however, this brow kit from Benefit is a real game-changer. It can allow you to create a really natural shape from hardly anything except a few stray hairs.
Within the kit you get two brushes- one for blending the powder and one angled brush for applying the wax and creating a nice arched shape-, a mini pair of tweezers, a powder and a wax. Brow Zings is currently available in three different shades (fair, mid and dark) so you can get the perfect colour brow to match your hair colour.
I recently picked up this MUA all-in-one brow kit in shade fair-mid (seeing as I'm now much blonder) after I'd heard a lot of people sing its praises. It cost a mere £3.50, so far cheaper than the £24.50 Benefit kit! For something so cheap, does it still provide quality results?
The packaging looks basic but sleek, and the mirror inside (much like Brow Zings) is very good and convenient. It makes it so much handier for popping in your handbag as you won't need to take an extra compact mirror- more room for lipgloss! The MUA brow kit has four different sections, compared to Benefit's two. It has a darker powder, medium to light powder, a highlighter for underneath the brow bone, and a clear wax for taming stray hairs.
You also get mini tweezers and a double ended brush, although I'm going to be honest and say it's the biggest pile of poo ever. I advise you use separate brow brushes, or the brushes you get with the Benefit kit as they are truly second to none! I think this is the first noticeable difference between the two kits which really shows up the quality of Benefit compared to the obviously cheaper MUA kit.
Now down to the good stuff. Benefit's powder is super pigmented, and as much or little can be applied in order to get a fab colour match. The wax which accompanies it is slightly tinted, so you can actually see where you've applied it. This is ideal for trichotillomania sufferers, as when you're creating the brow you need to be able to see a rough outline for when you go to fill them in with powder. The MUA wax, on the other hand, is clear, so trichsters have to pretty much guess where they've applied it and hope for the best!
The MUA powder is definitely NOT as pigmented as the Benefit, and this is the last area in which it shows its cheapness. As you can tell from the swatches, you need to keep adding a lot of powder in order to get a good, bold colour. This would probably be fine for those who have brows to begin with, but way below average if you trying to create them from no or few hairs. However, I shall applaud MUA for providing two shades of powder. This enables you to mix the two and really get that perfect colour match, probably more so than the Benefit kit.
OVERALL, Benefit Brow Zings wins hands down. While the MUA kit does look the part, you can tell from the quality of the product that it only costs £3.50. MUA is good for those who simply need to neaten up their already pretty great brows, or for beginners wanting to learn the art of filling in brows. For those who are looking for a top quality product, or those creating eyebrows due to hair loss like trichotillomania, Benefit is the way to go in the battle of the brow kits. For me, it's definitely worth the £24.50, plus it lasts absolutely ages!
What's your favourite brow kit? Do you like either of these?
*Sorry for the stock photos for Benefit Brow Zings; my one is too tatty to use photos of!*
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