♕ Nabla Cosmetics ~ Brow Universe ♕ Brow Pot & Brow Divine ♕{Overview, Swatches, First Impressions}

{Disclaimer: this post is a first impressions/preview about a product I got for free as press sample. I'd like to thank NABLA Cosmetics for the opportunity, anyway my evaluation policy doesn't change and is always based on real usage of the product(s)}

Over the last one year and a half I became very interested in eyebrows, I gradually learnt how to shape and define them - mainly by using a pencil, but I also used eyeshadows for a short amount of time. Now, doing my eyebrows is a step in my daily routine I never, never skip. 

So, needless to say, when NABLA Cosmetics announced the upcoming launch of their new eyebrow product I rejoiced right away! (They already have a brow product in their range actually - the Brow Divine pencils - but I can't relay on those because there's no shade for red hairs, sadly.)

And I got even more excited when I learnt that this new product was a cream - perfect timing, as I'm using up my currently brow pencil and I was taking into consideration switching to cream/gel.
Please welcome the new Brow Pot range, a brow cream that features a waterproof and long-lasting formula.

As you can see I got the full Brow Universe box (thank you again, Nabla ♥) which features both the new Brow Pot and the Brow Divine in all the available shades.
(Please note: this beautiful box is not blogger exclusive! It's a limited edition you can get too - I recommend it especially if you're a pro makeup artist!)

"This long-wearing self-sharpening brow pencil flawlessly outlines brows. Neither too hard nor too soft, the ultra-fine retractable tip fills even the smallest gaps with precise, hair-like strokes."

The Brow Divine ranges includes five shades:
Mercury: "Medium warm brown. Suggested for medium brown hair with warm tones."
Venus: "Taupe. Suggested for light to dark blonde hair and to draw the eyebrow shape as a preliminary step."
Jupiter: "Dark neutral brown. Suggested for dark brown hair."
Neptune: "Medium cold brown. Suggested for light/medium brown & silver hair."
Uranus: "Dark cold brown. Suggested for dark brown to black hair."

The Brow Pot range, instead, features just four shades, one of them being a new entry. The packaging is simple yet elegant: glass pot (contains 6 ml of product), deep blue cap with NABLA's logo in silver on top.

"A waterproof solid, highly pigmented cream that perfectly fills brows without fading, adding texture and fullness. The long-wearing formula is designed to achieve, with a simple gesture, a three-dimensional highly defined eyebrows. The perfect consistency allows to draw the right quantity of product to easily obtain extremely natural or dramatic looks."

Let's see each shade in detail:

This is Venus, the lightest shade in the brow selection.

"Taupe. Suggested for light to dark blonde hair and to draw the eyebrow shape as a preliminary step."
The shades for all the blondies out there! Not fit for the darker one though - I mean, if you have that kind of blonde that is more like a bronde, you may have darker eyebrows and thus a darker shade. 
Regarding its use to draw the shape as a preliminary step... I don't know, I don't feel the need to use a lighter shade such as Venus to draw the shape first. But I've read that many girls actually do so! 

Second shade, on the right: Mars, the new entry and also the very first shade made for we redheads!

"Warm red-brown. Suggested for mahogany, auburn, warm brown and strawberry-blonde hair."
Seems like it is meant to be a sort of "one-size-fits-all" shade, that could work for a wide range of redheads - but in my opinion it "only" fits medium to dark red hair... And it might not fit those who have bright red hair. I'll show you better in the swatches - it needed to be a little more red in my opinion. I have medium copper red hair and Mars doesn't 100% match it, sadly. 

Third shade, Neptune:

"Medium cold brown. Suggested for light/medium brown & silver hair."

The only medium shade currently in the Brow Pot range. Being a cool shade, it may not fit those of you who have warm brow hair. (Mercury is the the warm brother of Neptune but, as I said previously, it's not part of this new cream range).

Lastly, Uranus, the darkest shade.
"Dark cold brown. Suggested for dark brown to black hair."
It's really dark and cool (and I mean a lot!), meant for the darkest hair. I'm going to try it on my mom, since she has black hair and eyebrows. Anyway, being so deep, I recommend have a gentle touch while applying it - unless you want a really strong result.
(Jupiter is the other dark option, not available in the Brow Pot line sadly.)

Must say, I'm a little bit confused by this discrepancy. I mean, I expected the very same shades of the Brow Divine, to say the least. New entries are welcome of course, but it's quite weird that two shades were cut off for no apparent reason. I'm also surprised that they introduced the Mars shade in the Brow Pot range only...
Why no Mercury and Jupiter as Brow Pot?
Why no Mars as Brow Divine?
It was such a nice chance to expand both ranges! I wonder if Nabla plans to add those missing shades later or not. I really do hope they eventually will!

Okay, now let's talk about the formulas. Since I've been using this products for just a couple of days so these are my very first impression - I will post a proper Part of My World/First Impression post in a couple of weeks.

Being completely new to brow creams I was afraid I could not handle it properly - but luckily I made it at the first try. The Brow Pot texture is quite soft and silky, easy to pick up, applies smoothly. Dries fast (in about 20 seconds), so you have to be quick when it comes to blending. After it sets, it's going to stay up for hours and hours: I wore it yesterday for about nine hours and, in the end, just the beginning and the tail faded.
I haven't tested its waterproof qualities yet - but being a mermaid it won't be difficult to prove whether it really is waterproof or not, hehe. I noticed it resists quite well to rubbing (being sick thanks to a nasty cold, I tend to rub my eyes quite a bit. And, as I said before, it stayed up for hours with just little fading).
Being a long-lasting product, it's a little harder to remove - nothing crazy, I just need to use more micellar solution and rub deeply.

The Brow Divine are also easy to use, very precise and exact (you can really draw each hair one by one) - but they're a little too hard for my liking, and they don't really last a lot... Just a few hours. They have a silicone-free formula, which is good, but my MAC brow pencil as a natural formula too and still lasts way longer.
My major problem with the Brow Divine range is the lack of a red shade. None of the current available shade match my hair.
On the other hand, I really love the retractable packaging (unlike the MAC brow pencils, that are not retractable and drive me crazy), with a second cap on the end that contains a small brow brush to set the hair.

BROW POT

INGREDIENTS: cyclopentasiloxane, isododecane, trimethylsiloxysilicate, polyethylene, bis-diglyceryl polyacyladipate-2, ozokerite, silica, silica dimethyl silylate, dehydroacetic acid. +/− (may contain): titanium dioxide (ci 77891), iron oxides (ci 77491 - ci 77492 - ci 77499).

Regarding the ingredients, they're mostly non-natural and synthetic. These products contain silicons - as I expected, being a waterproof product - but thankfully I didn't get any reaction (probably because it's the brow zone... Not sure if my eyes could tolerate such a silicone formula).

BROW DIVINE

NGREDIENTS: hydrogenated soybean oil · hydrogenated coco-glycerides · hydrogenated vegetable oil · zinc stearate · copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax · stearic acid · polyglyceryl-2 triisostearate · tocopheryl acetate · caprylyl glycol · hexylene glycol · phenoxyethanol · [+/− (may contain): mica (ci 77019) · talc (ci 77718) · titanium dioxide (ci 77891) · iron oxides (ci 77491, ci 77492, ci 77499) · ferric ferrocyanide (ci 77510)].

 Free from silicone, parabens, mineral oil, parabens, phtalates, pegs, edta.

(The following pics are really big, click to enlarge!)

I swatched the shades altogether to give you the best overview possibile. All the colours are rich and pigmented, ever the lighter ones. Brown Divine's shades slightly differ from Brow Pot's shades - that's completely normal, it's nearly impossible to reproduce the exact same colour in such a different formula. Also, the cream formula allows you to control the intensity: you can build up the product to reach a rich and deep result, or you can just apply it gently to achieve a soft and natural look. 

As you can see, Mercury and Jupiter are unique shades, none of the other shades can really replace them. The same applies to Mars: Mercury is lighter and "blonder", while Jupiter is way darker. My friend Misato sent me a Mercury a while back, hoping it could work for me and my red hair... Nope, it doesn't. And it's not even close to Mars. It might work for strawberry blonde girls though. 

Jupiter is also a shades that needs to be included: Neptune is lighter, Uranus way too dark (and gray). Yes, you can mix different colours to create your own shade - but in my opinion it's more functional to have it ready to use. 

I tried a softer swatch application by using a brush and drawing the hair-like strokes to give you a better idea of the actual result. I kept it soft, but you can build it up as much as you want. 

Let's take a second and talk a bit better about Mars. In the picture above you can see the comparison I made between Mars and Strut, my current brow pencil by MAC Cosmetics. At a first glance these two shades might look really close - but, looking carefully, you can really tell that Strut has more red in it than Mars. Might not seem a huge deal - but trust me, that hint of red really makes the difference. Compared to Strut, Mars looks just a common warm brown shade. This is why I stated that could work just for medium to dark shades of red - but I can't picture it on lighter redheads. I don't think it would work with vivid red hair too. So, if you have auburn or warm brown hair, you can go for it. Otherwise, you might want something with more red in it. 

I'm going to us it for a while (stay tuned on my Instagram to see how it looks on my brows!), but to be honest I'm going to search a brow gel that suits my red hair better. 

Please NABLA, work on a proper red shade for we redheads ç_ç There're still some planets left, you know XD (Saturn, choose Saturn!)

Name: Brow Pot
Brand: NABLA Cosmetics
What is it?: Long-lasting, waterproof brow gel;
Prices: € 11,90 each
             € 36,38 Brow Pot Bundle
             € 96,00 Brow Universe box
Quantity: 6 ml / 0.2 fl. oz.
PAO: 6 M
Where to buy it: Website - Various E-commerce websites - Various stores.
Other: Vegan & Cruelty Free; Made in Italy.

Name: Brow Divine
Brand: NABLA Cosmetics
What is it?: Long-wearing, self-sharpening brow pencil;
Price: € 11,90 each
Quantity: 0.085 g / 0.003 oz.
PAO: 12 M
Where to buy it: Website - Various E-commerce websites - Various stores.
Other: Cruelty Free; Vegan Friendly; Made in Korea.

So far, I prefer the Brow Pot's formula over the Brow Divine's - easier for me to apply (and that's a personal preference, I've never felt comfortable with brow pencils), sets quickly and lasts a lot, longer than any pencil I tried so far. I'm just a little disappointed by the lack (again) of a proper shade for redheads ç_ç I was so close to find my new holy grail brow product! 

Currently there's a promo on NABLA's website: 15% off on all brow products (Brow Pot, Brow Divine, Magic Pencil), bundles included, plus 50% off worldwide shipping. Make sure you don't miss it!

What's your preference when it comes to eyebrows? Pencil or cream?

Have you already purchased a Brow Pot (or a Brow Divine)?