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By now it’s widely accepted that our brows are the most important feature when it comes to balancing the face. Get them wrong and everything is slightly off. If you ever overplucked your eyebrows circa Nineties or early 2000s trends or you got really into the Instagram eyebrows of 2016, then you’ll be well aware that no truer sentence has ever been uttered.

Thankfully, the beauty world seems to have reached an eyebrow equilibrium, where a natural, soft look is taking centre stage. But don’t be fooled into thinking that your favourite celebrities or beauty influencers are taking the “natural” part too seriously, as anyone with amazing brows has definitely had a helping hand in the form of a brow pencil.

There are lots of textural options when it comes to defining your face framers – think brow pomade, brow gel, brow pen, powder – but for a seriously natural look with a hint of definition, the frontrunner is a really good brow pencil.

However, not all are created equal, with some being too soft to recreate hair-like strokes, and others being so hard you find you can barely notice a difference. But when you have that Goldilocks moment and find the brow pencil that takes your face framers from zero to Lily Collins, you’ll never go back.

Generally speaking, brow pencils won’t cost you an arm and a leg – even the usually very expensive brands are much closer to their high street counterparts. Plus, they’re not something that often needs to be replaced so you get more for your money. Basically, they’re the most low-maintenance item in your makeup bag.

How we tested eyebrow pencils

We put these eyebrow pencils through their paces, trying out each one for an entire day, which would include going to the gym, heading into central London and even a very late night. While we tested, we were looking out for how easy it was to apply, the colour payoff, whether it blended well, how natural it looked and whether it lasted. These were the standouts.

The best eyebrow pencils for 2024 are: