Skinny, Bold, and Everything in Between — These Pencils Get Your Brows on Point (2025)

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 12
• Callouts: Ultra fine micro tip, smudgeproof

We're not going to argue with over 780,000 fans on Sephora: The ABH Brow Wiz is as hundred as it gets. There's something just so refreshingly foolproof about its teeny-tiny tip — it lets you spot-stroke and fill in any sparse patches with the utmost confidence. It also has virtually no drag yet doesn't smudge, and its shade range is pretty impressive, complementing most hair colors.

Yes, it's often been said, but this is a best-seller for a reason. I personally have it and have repurchased it several times, once on a whim because I thought I misplaced it and panicked. (Spoiler: I found the original and now have two — one for travel and one for home. Win-win.)

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 8
• Callouts: Ultra fine micro tip, cruelty-free

The dupe of all dupes, NYX's Micro Brow is made for those who want ABH Brow Wiz convenience and results, but at nearly a third of the price. A drawback is that it doesn't have as many shades as the original. But if you fall within the color range, this is most definitely a solid, premium-quality choice, and with a spoolie at the other end, too — details that are amazing at this price point.

At less than $9, we also love this for travel kits, gym lockers, or your work desk for any coffee-to-cocktails zhuzhing up.

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable and sharpenable
• Shades: 5
• Callouts: Slanted tip

Either you have $54 to spend on a brow pencil, or you don't. If the former, then this premium choice is one of the most hardworking in its class. The brainchild of an artiste and purveyor of the moody-noir aesthetic, Tom Ford's Brow Sculptor boasts of a calligraphy tip that favors definition — and it shows. The sharp, slanted tip makes creating 3D strokes super easy — it’s thin on one angle and wide on another — with the end result always looking impeccably groomed. Aside from the quality spoolie (aka “grooming brush”), it also has a sharpener because, well, $54.

If natural yet defined brows are your jam, this luxury brow pencil pick (don’t worry, it comes with a refill) will not steer you wrong. “I have tried almost every brow product on the market and this is absolutely the best!” says one rave review. “It has a great chisel end and the extra refill is such value and convenience,” says another.

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 12
• Callouts: Waterproof, smudgeproof

This crowd fave is another seasonless best-seller, and it’s not hard to see why. Its micro-tip easily fills in any gaps in your arches, it comes in a very democratic shade range of twelve and at a mid-range price tag. “Benefit’s Precisely, My Brow Pencil hits all of the requirements I have in an eyebrow pencil,” says our beauty editor Nicole Saunders. “I have sparse eyebrows and prefer my brow pencils to be thin, allowing me to create the most natural-looking hairs. This pencil is long-wearing, and the Cool Black shade looks soft and natural — no harsh and drawn-on lines here,” she adds.

We especially love this winner for travel: The shade range for its mini size is the most we've seen on the market.

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 3
• Callouts: Vegan, waterproof, teardrop tip

At less than $5, this little wonder punches well above its price range. The teardrop-shaped tip allows for precise grooming and filling in, while the spoolie is a fantastic detail at this price. Being that it's also waterproof and oil-free, it surprisingly does not drag on the skin and in fact offers great color payoff, something many pencils at the bargain level seldom do. This, along with being a vegan and cruelty-free product? Color us impressed.

Our main gripe is that it only comes in three shades (Light Brunette, Brunette, and Dark Brunette), and some users say it's not entirely smudgeproof. Upon testing, though (I swatched all three), it took a vigorous amount of rubbing to actually get this baby to fade, something I don't really expect to do in the brow area.

Verdict: Not a deal-breaker by any means!

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 12
• Callouts: Waterproof, long-wearing, teardrop tip

Benefit Global Brow Expert Jared Bailey considers a teardrop-tip pencil like the one in Goof Proof essential for a structured brow. “It offers soft color and a glide-on formula,” he says, which are great for achieving quick, neatly-defined arches even if you’re rather uninitiated (TL;DR: It’s perfect for newbies.).

As the name implies, indeed, filling in any patchiness was a breeze with this pencil, and the built-in spoolie helps move things along or correct any blunders. The extensive shade range is also a plus, as well as the fact that it came with three shades in a mini size. And for a formula that easily swipes on, it's also waterproof and lasts up to 12 hours.

Key Specs

• Format: Sharpenable
• Shades: 20
• Callouts: Richly pigmented matte formula

In case you need the 411 on viral beauty hacks, using your eyebrow pencil to line your lips and then filling it in with blush is supposed to *checks notes* give you your ideal lip color. Well, if only more people knew about this makeup artist staple, we wouldn't need to resort to such shenanigans!

Touted as the first of its kind, this multipurpose, highly pigmented pencil can be used for lips, eyebrows, eyeliner, blush, and even contour (it's also been around for, like, forever). Traditional pencil formula aside, these pencils offer no drag on the brows — I've had one for years, can confirm — and it blends pretty impressively. As a brow pencil, it's straightforward and no-nonsense, and the payoff is studio quality.

Given that it’s a multiuse product, it expectedly comes in more shades than a regular brow pencil, but this only means you’ve got more colors to play with. For every day, I especially love it for a clean, monochromatic, ’90s look... and yes, while it does serve great brow definition, it certainly looks fab under lip gloss, too.

Key Specs

• Format: Sharpenable
• Shades: 5
• Callouts: Clean, cruelty-free, waterproof, contains fibers

Fiber mascara is one thing, but fiber brow pencil? Bobbi Brown rarely leaves a stone unturned, and that once again comes to the fore in The Brow Pencil, one of the newest babies in the Jones Road roster. A runaway hit brand due to its clean, high-performing ingredients and minimalist packaging, this unique brow pencil is another feather in her cap.

Apart from its editorial, very '90s format (chubby sticks in our hearts forever), its innovative formulation is what's generating buzz. It contains tiny hair-like fibers that, upon application, achieve fullness, fluff, and definition. All this with a strategic, natural-looking approach — very Bobbi.

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 14
• Callouts: Waterproof, cruelty-free, smudge-resistant

We're not surprised that Fenty Beauty's shade range is the most color-inclusive, and highly appreciate that it made sure to include several options for redheads and deeper skin tones apart from the usual medium brunette range. The built-in paddle brush is also a detail we haven't seen in many other pencils; we like how it helps deposit pigment onto sparser brows.

Brow MVP’s micro tip is also clutch for filling in gap areas with precision, while its creamy yet smudgeproof formulation (“somewhat pencil, somewhat waxy,” says a reviewer) also gives serious color payoff.

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 9
• Callouts: Vegan, cruelty-free, triangular tip

"Overall, Hourglass brow pencils are great," says our beauty editor, Nicole Saunders. "The Arch Brow pencil is thick and angeled, allowing me to create a more prominent fluffy moment, while the Micro pencil is helpful for an everyday look." The former also has a clever triangular tip that allows for feathering in a flash.

Hourglass has an amazing formula that's a hybrid of powder, pencil, and wax, making their pencils buildable and blendable but also long-wearing and smudge-resistant. Pretty genius. The packaging is elegant, and the product is luxe and gives quality results — in other words, this pencil is very easy to love.

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 3
• Callouts: Sheer liquid liner on one end, waterproof

A pencil on one end and a liquid liner on the other — how can you not get excited? We like how the Brow Trio's pencil has a flat, retractable tip ideal for shaping, defining, and filling, and how the liquid liner goes on sheer and has a super-fine micro tip should you wish to draw on precise, hair-like strokes. The last add-on is a small spoolie for brushing everything in place.

For those who frequently switch between liquid and pencil formulas (guilty!), a combo product is convenient, practical, and economical. Offering this in only three shades is a travesty, Valentino!

Key Specs

• Format: Retractable
• Shades: 4
• Callouts: Clean ingredients, cruelty-free, water-resistant

Another classic, bareMinerals' Brow Master, is a no-frills pick that lets results speak for themselves. Its versatile oval tip allows you to switch easily between filling/shaping and defining. Its signature mineral pigments are able to match hair's undertones, too, giving you a complementing brow match each time (though we'd love to see this color range expand). This brow pencil has a glide-on, blendable consistency but also lasts all day without looking harsh or drawn-on.

We love that they're also known for being a clean beauty and cruelty-free pioneer and that their products also help improve skin over time.