Can Wonderskin’s Brow Stain Really Transform My Tragic Ginger Brows In One Minute?

Natural red hair has many benefits: strangers will refer to you as "Carrot Top," you're unlikely to be mistaken for a deer during hunting season, and people will tell you, apropos of nothing, that you're a dead ringer for literally any other redhead they've ever seen, from Ice Spice to Chucky. What plagues many gingers with lighter coloring, however — myself included — is having no eyebrows. None. Not one. And as someone for whom personal vanity and a desire to follow beauty trends were doled out in equal measure, this has led to me engaging in the painstaking process of trying to tint my eyebrows at home every month — and why the prospect of achieving these results in just 60 seconds with Wonderskin's Brow Stain & Go Masque was so appealing.

My typical eyebrow tinting process has historically gone as follows: I mix some dye and developer in a tiny mixing cup, apply it to my eyebrows, and wipe it off 15 minutes later, inevitably staining my hands, face, and whatever soft surface I've foolishly attempted this process on along the way. The main problem I've had in doing things this way is the inconsistency of the results, even when using the same products for the same amount of time. One week, I'll come out with Groucho-Marx-style brows; the next, I'll have accidentally dyed my skin; the third, I'll have to repeat the process multiple times to achieve the color I'm hoping for. Why does this keep happening? I don't know. But I was eager to see if Wonderskin's Brow Stain & Go Masque could change the fate of my anemic eye curtains for good. And, as a devotee of Wonderskin's Wonder Blading Lip Stain Masque, which has managed to do what lipsticks have not (stay on my lips for hours without getting on my teeth, nails, hair, clothing, and pets), I was certainly hopeful.

The Wonderskin Brow Stain & Go Masque process is remarkably simple: You just apply it to clean brows, wait 60 seconds, and wipe it off. According to Wonderskin, this may yield results that last up to 60 hours for individuals with lighter hair and drier skin. For those afflicted with my personal albatross — skin so oily it looks like it's recently come out of a deep-fryer — Wonderskin says these results may last a mere 24 hours. But, as I believe Neruda once wrote, a day with eyebrows feels like an eternal spring, a lifetime without them, like a flower that never blooms. (This is a joke, please don't sue.)

As I have mentioned in practically every single piece I've ever written for Refinery29, my skin is capital-O oily, wash-a-baby-duckling-in-dish-soap oily. So, to be honest, I wasn't entirely confident that the Wonderskin Brow Stain & Go Masque would actually deliver any decent color payoff. First, I washed the area around my brows and cleaned it with toner. Then, I applied the Brow Stain & Go Masque in Brunette to both brows. To test the color, I applied it to one side for one minute (as recommended) and the other for three minutes (Wonderskin does not explicitly recommend doing this, so if you follow suit, please direct any complaints to yours truly). After each timer went off, I wiped the masque off my brows and surveyed the results:

One-minute application:

Three-minute application:

While the color payoff for both the 1-minute and 3-minute versions is similar, I personally found that I liked the look I achieved when I left it on for longer. And although the color is certainly subtler than when I have actually achieved decent results with brow tints in the past, the ease and speed of application certainly makes up for it. In terms of longevity, the color lasted about two full days before my brows looked largely the same as they had pre-tint.

Will this completely replace my other brow tints? Unlikely. But is it a great option to keep handy in a pinch or when you're traveling? Absolutely. And while I'll still be filling in my brows with a bit of powder and gel even when I use this product, I'm certainly not mad at the results. Now, about these eyelashes...