best bet

The One and Only Brow Pencil

Editorial director Stella Bugbee and I have tried many brow pencils over the years, but we both believe Surratt Beauty’s Expressioniste Brow Pencil to be, as Jean Godfrey June puts it, “the One.” We reach for it on days that we need to look better (which is pretty much every day), and we’ve already been through three refills — each. Okay, okay, this product isn’t exactly new. It has appeared on the site before, but our love for it has never waned because it endures our Goldilocksean beauty critiques. It is neither too hard nor too soft. The Raven shade, a dark brunette, is neither too red nor too black (it also comes in three other shades, including a shade for redheads). It is neither too oily nor too waxy. It’s just right: You can use it to draw on precise, matte eyebrow hairs or shade an entire chunk of brow hair that won’t grow back. It has a nice weight with an always-sharp graphite tip that makes it feel like the world’s best art-school pencil. You can also buy refills after purchasing the original holder. So forgive us for being hyperbolic: We can’t live without it.

Surratt Beauty Expressioniste Eyebrow Pencil, $25 at Sephora.

The One and Only Brow Pencil