Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market’s most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.
The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors’ honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we’ll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors can’t shut up about. This time, I’m highlighting one of my new favorite brow products: MAC’s Pro Locked Brow Gel ($24)
(Image credit: @kaitlyn_mclintock)
I’m a brow person. Some people might throw on a swipe of lipstick or a coat of mascara when they’re short on time, but I throw on brow gel, quickly yet carefully brushing my brow hairs up and out for subtle yet sleek definition.
I’ve always believed that there’s something special about good brows. I swear they make me look instantly put together—even when I’m bare-faced and my hair is thrown into a greasy, wash-day bun. And makeup artists agree. I can’t tell you how many pros I’ve met throughout my career who will confidently say something like, “Eyebrows frame the face,” and without them, “a look isn’t complete.”
Despite my love and affinity for brow gel, I’m picky about the formulas I use. In fact, I give away most of the brow gels I get. Some are thick and goopy. Some dry down to a crusty texture. Others flake off into little white bits. That’s why I only use a small number consistently. Most recently, that “small number” has expanded to include MAC’s Pro Locked Brow Gel. It’s everything I want from a brow gel.
This formula is thin, lightweight, and transparent (that means no white residue or mismatched brow tints to deal with). It also offers strong hold and sweat- and humidity-resistance. I recently wore it through a week-long heat wave. Despite 88-degree heat and 60% humidity, my brow hairs didn’t budge for eight-plus hours. I even tested it at the beach, and much to my surprise, my brows still looked almost perfect.
The best part, though, is the brush. It’s the most unique-looking brow brush I’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s one-sided, flexible, and spiky, so it grabs every last brow hair and moves it into its perfect place. It makes my brows look professionally laminated.
(Image credit: @kaitlyn_mclintock)
I was blessed with pretty thick brows, but that means they can be unruly and hard to hold in place. If I don’t use brow gel, they lay flat in a thin, horizontal line. When I use MAC’s Pro Locked Brow Gel, however, my eyebrows lift and feather out, looking instantly more shapely and defined. And thanks to that shape and definition, it makes my brows look like they’ve doubled in size.
(Image credit: @kaitlyn_mclintock)
In my opinion, this product has the perfect dry time. It doesn’t dry too quickly, which means I never have to rework or reshape already-gelled-down brow hairs. It doesn’t dry too slowly, either, which means I don’t have to worry about it transferring or failing to hold the individual hairs up. And once it’s set, it’s set. The formula boasts an impressive 12-hour hold.
(Image credit: @kaitlyn_mclintock)
What’s most impressive is that it offers all of these benefits yet it has what might be one of the simplest formulas of any brow gel on the market. Get this: it only has five ingredients. Yep, five! Somehow, those five ingredients create something that’s ultra-flexible, sweat- and humidity-resistant, and has a 12-hour hold. I’m sorry, but how?
I’ve been wearing it every single day, without fail, for weeks now. And honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever stop. Consider this my petition for MAC to keep making this product for eternity. Because if it ever gets discontinued, I might cry.
Shop 5 More Brow Gels I Love
MERIT
Brow 1980 Volumizing Tinted Eyebrow Gel-Pomade
For full, thick, and fluffy brows, I like this gel pomade.
NYX Professional Makeup
The Brow Glue Laminating Setting Gel
This brow gel is only $10 and it won’t budge—no matter what.
REFY
Brow Sculpt Shape and Hold Gel With Lamination Effect
If you want a slick, salon-level lamination look, this brow gel is for you.
E.L.F. Cosmetics
Brow Lift
With this $6 brow gel, all I need is a spoolie brush to smooth and shape my arches.
Glossier
Boy Brow Volumizing Eyebrow Gel-Pomade
The iconic Boy Brow never, ever fails me. I like the tinted versions.
