Best Eyebrow Pencils in Australia (2026)

An eyebrow pencil is one of the few things in a makeup bag where spending more does not reliably get you more. The pencils Australians keep repurchasing sit between about $5 and about $16, and the gap between a good one and a bad one is three unglamorous things: how fine the tip is, whether the shade name matches the colour that lands on your face, and whether the barrel twists up or needs sharpening.

Most roundups ranking for this search are American and open with a department store pencil. Useful if you shop at Mecca, useless if you are filling an Amazon Australia cart on a Sunday night. This guide covers only brow pencils and pens sold on the Australian storefront, across three formats: the wood pencil you sharpen, the twist up micro pencil, and the liquid pen.

What is the best eyebrow pencil in Australia right now?

For most people the answer is the NYX Professional Makeup Micro Brow Pencil: a twist up mechanical pencil with a very fine tip and a spoolie on the other end, a shade range from taupe through blonde to black, and close to 40,000 ratings on the Australian listing. NYX lists it as vegan and cruelty free.

The highest rated option is the Maybelline Brow Ultra Slim Eyebrow Pencil, at 4.7 stars across more than 19,000 ratings, with a 1.5 mm precision tip and a break resistant formula.

If you just want something cheap that works, the Rimmel London Brow This Way Professional Eyebrow Pencil is the cheapest of our seven picks and still holds 4.6 stars across nearly 6,000 ratings. It is a wood kohl pencil with a comb in the lid, so you will need a sharpener. That is the catch.

How do our seven eyebrow pencil picks compare?

Prices are the current Amazon Australia buy box and move often, so treat the last column as a band. Every rating and review count was pulled fresh while writing this guide.

How did we choose these eyebrow pencils?

NestPath does not run a beauty lab. We are an aggregator, filtering a noisy category down to what you can order today.

• Every pick was confirmed in stock on Amazon Australia with its buy box price at the time of writing.
• Ratings and review counts came from the Australian storefront, so products beloved overseas but thinly reviewed here were skipped.
• Specifications came from each listing, so tip widths, weights and formula notes are the manufacturer's own.
• We spread the list across formats, shades and price bands rather than seven near identical twist up pencils.

NYX Micro Brow Pencil: the best eyebrow pencil for most people

This is the pencil we would hand to somebody who has never bought one and does not want to think about it again. It is a mechanical twist up, so no sharpener and no shavings. The tip is genuinely fine, which matters more than any other feature: a fat tip forces blocky filling, a fine one fakes individual hairs.

NYX's own directions are worth following: groom with the spoolie end, hold the pencil at roughly 45 degrees, then make short upward strokes in the direction the hair grows, building colour gradually rather than pressing hard. The formula is described as creamy and high pigment, and the shade range runs from taupe and blonde through to black, so ash blonde and very dark brows are both covered.

It carries 4.4 stars across 39,953 ratings on the Australian listing, the second largest review pile of our seven picks, so that average has held across a big sample. Chocolate, the shade linked, suits mid to dark brown brows. If you are building a wider eye routine, our guide to the best mascara in Australia covers the other half.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The barrel is slim and easy to lose in a bag. Wind it out a millimetre at a time, because over advancing snaps the exposed product off. And at 4.4 stars it is not the highest rated pencil here, with negative reviews pointing at shade names running warmer than they look on screen.

Maybelline Brow Ultra Slim: the highest rated pencil of our seven picks

Sort our shortlist by star average and the Brow Ultra Slim comes out on top at 4.7 stars, across 19,453 ratings rather than a token few hundred. A high average on a large sample is rare here, and it is the reason to buy this one.

The listing is unusually specific about the hardware: an ultra slim 1.5 mm precision tip, a break resistant formula, and a built in spoolie brush at the other end. Maybelline sells it in six shades from blonde through soft brown and deep brown to black brown. The method is the same as the NYX: gentle strokes along the brow contour, then brush the hairs up and down so the strokes sink in.

The 1.5 mm figure is worth pausing on. Plenty of pencils described as slim are closer to 2 mm, and the difference shows the first time you fill the tail of a brow without it turning into a wedge. Soft Brown is linked here and is the safest start for medium brown hair; closer to black hair, look for Black Brown.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

A very fine tip wears down faster than a thick one, so filling the whole brow daily gets through this quicker than filling gaps. Six shades is respectable but narrower than some rivals, with no true grey or taupe for cool toned or silver hair.

Rimmel Brow This Way Professional: the cheapest eyebrow pencil we would recommend

This is the cheapest of our seven picks and it still sits on 4.6 stars across 5,863 ratings. That is why it is here rather than an unbranded marketplace pencil: the rating is real and the sample is large.

It is a traditional wood kohl pencil rather than a twist up, double sided, with a small brow comb in the lid. The directions are refreshingly blunt: draw the shape with the pencil side, fill the brow, brush the hairs into place with the comb. The formula is buildable, so light pressure gives a soft everyday brow and repeated passes give something more defined. It weighs 1.4 grams, measures roughly 138 mm, and the listing flags the material features as vegan.

The tradeoff for the price is the sharpener. A blunt brow pencil is worse than a cheap one, because a blunt tip cannot make a hair like stroke at all. Add a cosmetic sharpener to the order and this becomes an easy buy; there is one in the accessories below. Black Brown is linked, suiting dark brown to near black brows.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Sharpening is the obvious one, and cheap sharpeners chew soft cosmetic pencils rather than cutting them. The lid comb is a little flimsy next to a dedicated spoolie. And the soft formula goes on heavier than intended if you press, so start lighter than feels right.

e.l.f. Brow Pencil: the most reviewed eyebrow pencil in this guide

With 64,083 ratings on the Australian storefront, this is the most reviewed pick of our seven, and it still holds 4.5 stars. When something is bought that often and has not slid below four and a half stars, quality control is consistent.

It is a slim mechanical pencil with a fine tip liner on one end and a spoolie on the other. The instructions walk through combing first, then small feathery strokes from the inner corner outward, then blending the colour into the hairs. The brand lists it as 100 per cent vegan and cruelty free, and free from phthalates, parabens, nonylphenol ethoxylates, triclosan, triclocarban and hydroquinone. If ingredient exclusions matter, this pick documents an unusually long list of them.

It is also the dearest of our picks, although the spread here is small enough that price should not decide it. Deep Brown is linked, the workhorse for dark brown brows.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Individual shades move in and out of the Australian listing more than the Maybelline or Rimmel lines, so check your shade before you commit. The body is light plastic and feels cheaper than it performs. And with a review pile this large the shade complaints get loud, so read reviews for your shade rather than the product as a whole.

Revlon ColorStay Eyebrow Pencil: the one to buy for humid days

Australian summers are hard on brow makeup. Between east coast humidity, sunscreen and a 35 degree day, a pencil that stays put earns its place. The ColorStay is the only one of our seven picks whose listing describes the formula as waterproof, and Revlon quotes long wear of up to 24 hours.

The tip design is different from everything else here. Instead of a round micro point it uses an angled tip with a flat side: define the upper and lower edges with the angled edge, then fill with the flat side in short strokes with the grain of the hair, then comb through with the spoolie. Revlon aims it at thin, barely there brows and brows with sparse areas, and records the formula as oil free.

The rating is 4.3 stars across 3,575 ratings on the Australian listing, solid for a waterproof formula, which is a harder brief: the same film formers that stop a pencil sliding off in humidity make it less forgiving to blend. Dark Brown is linked, and Revlon runs a soft black in the same line for darker hair.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Waterproof formulas need proper removal. Water and a face washer will not shift this, so keep a micellar water or oil based remover in the routine rather than scrubbing the thinnest skin on your face. The angled flat tip is less intuitive than a round micro point and takes a week to feel natural. The listing also carries a stray battery field that belongs to another product, an Amazon data quirk.

Natio Angled Eyebrow Pencil: the Australian brand option

Natio is an Australian cosmetics brand, and this is the pick for anyone who would rather keep the money closer to home. It holds 4.5 stars across only 32 ratings on the Australian listing, so treat that as an early signal rather than a verdict.

The design is the interesting part. Natio uses an angled teardrop tip rather than a round point, giving two working edges: a pointed end for fine hair like lines and the tail of the brow, and a wider end for filling the body. You are not constantly rotating the pencil hunting for a usable edge, the daily irritation a round tip creates once it wears flat.

It is mechanical, so no sharpener, with a built in grooming brush. The barrel carries 0.2 grams and measures about 141 mm. Natio lists the formula as buildable, smudge proof and long lasting, and the brand is cruelty free. The safety notes flag keeping it away from direct heat, which is worth knowing if you leave makeup in a hot car. Dark Brown is linked, and Natio's chart places it in the medium to full coverage band.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Thirty two ratings is a thin evidence base next to the tens of thousands behind the NYX, Maybelline and e.l.f. pencils, and that is the honest reason it is not higher up. The 0.2 gram fill is small, so it will not last as long as a chunkier barrel. And the teardrop tip is a preference: from a round micro point, the wide edge lays down more colour than you wanted.

1000 Hour Micro Blading Eyebrow Pen: the pick for hair like strokes

Every other pick here is a pencil. This is the only liquid pen among our seven picks, and a genuinely different tool. Instead of wax it lays down water based liquid pigment through a fine applicator, which is why the strokes read as individual hairs rather than shading.

1000 Hour is a brow and lash specialist, and the pen holds 1.5 grams. The instructions matter more with a pen: clean dry brows, shake before use, then short hair like strokes with light pressure from the inner corner outward, letting the pigment dry before you touch the brow. Acrylate copolymers do the film forming work, which is why it dries rather than blending on contact.

The rating sits at 4.0 stars across 41 ratings, the lowest average in this guide. Brow pens are polarising. To fill a brow quickly with soft colour, a pen is the wrong tool. To draw hairs into real gaps, nothing in the pencil column does it as convincingly. Medium Brown is linked, and because a pen deposits more visible pigment than a pencil at the same shade name, go a shade lighter.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The 4.0 star average is the lowest of our seven picks, and the recurring complaint across brow pens is a tip that dries out when the cap is not sealed. It is also the least forgiving format here: a pencil stroke smudges out in the first few seconds, a pen stroke sets where you put it. The listing warns to keep it away from eyelashes, a real caution given how liquid it is.

Which eyebrow pencil should you buy?

Match the situation on the left to the pick on the right, then check its card above.

What should you look for in an eyebrow pencil?

Five things decide whether a brow pencil ends up in daily use or in a drawer, and only one is price.

• Tip width. The most important spec, and almost nobody publishes it. Maybelline quotes 1.5 mm, the narrowest figure any of our picks states outright. A narrow tip draws hair like strokes; a wide one shades. If a listing says micro or precision without a number, compare the tip to the barrel in the photo.
• Twist up or sharpen. A mechanical pencil is more convenient and holds a consistent tip. A wood pencil is cheaper and lets you shape the tip how you want it, at the cost of owning a sharpener. The listing wording tells you which: look for twist up, retractable or mechanical.
• Shade rather than brand. The wrong shade in an excellent pencil looks worse than the right shade in a mediocre one. For dark hair go a shade lighter than your hair; for blonde or light brown hair go a shade darker.
• Whether there is a spoolie. The brush on the other end is half the technique: it grooms the hair before you draw and blends the strokes after, which is what stops a filled brow reading as drawn on. Six of our seven picks include a brush or comb; the liquid pen does not.
• Wear claims. Waterproof and long wear formulas hold up better in Australian humidity but need a proper remover. If you swim, run or work outdoors that is worth it; if you have sensitive eyes, a standard formula is easier.

Worth saying plainly: a brow pencil is a colour tool, not a treatment. If your brows are over plucked from a previous decade, the fix is a pencil plus patience and a decent pair of tweezers. Our guide to the best tweezers in Australia covers that side of the job.

Wood pencil, twist up or brow pen: which format suits your brows?

Format is the decision most guides skip, and it matters more than brand. Here is how the formats map onto the jobs people need done, using only the picks above.

Australian shade naming is the other thing worth decoding, because the words on the barrel are not standardised across brands. Soft Brown and Medium Brown are the mid brown workhorses for light to mid brown hair. Dark Brown and Deep Brown are for dark brown hair. Black Brown is not black; it is a dark brown with a cool cast, and it is what most people with black hair should buy, because true black reads as harsh in daylight. Taupe and Ash Brown are the cool greyish shades for blonde, silver or cool toned hair. Between two shades, buy the lighter one.

How do you keep an eyebrow pencil working properly?

Brow pencils need little maintenance, but a few habits decide how long one lasts.

• Advance a twist up a millimetre at a time. Most wind out but not back in, so over advancing snaps the exposed product off.
• Use a cosmetic sharpener. Cosmetic pencils are softer than graphite and a blunt stationery blade tears them.
• Wipe the tip weekly. A pass with a clean tissue takes off the layer of skin oil, brow gel and foundation that makes an old pencil skip and drag.
• Cap a brow pen every time. Liquid pens dry out from the tip in, and a cap that does not click means a much shorter life.
• Clean the spoolie. Warm water and gentle cleanser once a fortnight, dried bristles down.
• Keep pencils out of hot cars. Wax formulas soften above about 30 degrees and never quite recover their tip.
• Replace on hygiene, not on emptiness. Most brands suggest replacing an eye area pencil between one and two years.

Doing brows well also needs decent light and a mirror you can get close to, which is more often the failure point than the pencil. Our guide to the best makeup mirrors in Australia covers the lit and magnified options.

You'll also want these with your eyebrow pencil

A pencil gets you most of the way. These turn a filled brow into a finished one.

• L'Oreal Paris Infallible 24H Brow Lamination Gel, Clear sets the hairs in place so a good brow does not unravel by lunchtime.
• e.l.f. Dual Pencil Sharpener is the cheap fix for the one weakness of the Rimmel wood pencil, with two hole sizes.
• Disposable spoolie brushes, 100 pack means a clean brush for grooming and blending every time.
• Tweezerman Stainless Steel Slant Tweezer is the reference point for slanted tweezers, and tidy edges make a pencil's job easier.
• Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water removes a waterproof formula without scrubbing the eye area.
• Rechargeable eyebrow trimmer and facial hair remover is the electric alternative for stray hairs on the brow bone.

What else did we consider?

Plenty came close. Here is why they missed out.

The wet n wild Ultimate Eyebrow Retractable Definer in Taupe is a genuinely good dual sided retractable pencil with a large Australian review pile, and the hardest cut. It was not consistently available when we checked, and we did not want two picks with the same availability question in seven.

The Maybelline Tattoo Brow 36HR Pencil is the long wear option people ask about, but its Australian star average sits below the other Maybelline pencil here.

The L'Oreal Paris Infallible Brow Xpert has a clever triangular tip, but its Australian rating rests on a small review base.

The Essence Micro Precise Eyebrow Pencil is a reasonable budget pencil, but the Rimmel holds a higher average across roughly twenty five times as many ratings on the Australian listing.

The NYX Fill and Fluff Eyebrow Pomade Pencil is a pomade in pencil form and worth a look if you like a fuller, sculpted brow, but it sits outside this guide, as do brow powders, pot pomades and tinted gels.

Finally, the pencils topping the American roundups are excellent and are stocked here at department store counters. They are four to eight times the price of everything above, and we could not find an argument for that gap in the Australian evidence.

Eyebrow pencil questions Australian buyers ask

What is the best eyebrow pencil for sparse eyebrows?

For sparse brows the tip matters more than the formula, because you are drawing individual hairs rather than shading a shape. A liquid brow pen like the 1000 Hour Micro Blading pen draws the most convincing single hairs into real gaps, while the Maybelline Brow Ultra Slim and its 1.5 mm tip is the more forgiving pencil answer because you can blend the strokes out with a spoolie.

Which eyebrow pencil brand is best in Australia?

No single brand wins outright, but four names dominate Australian brow pencil reviews: NYX, Maybelline, Rimmel and e.l.f. NYX pairs a fine tip with a wide shade range, Maybelline holds the highest star average of our seven picks, Rimmel is the cheapest of our seven picks, and e.l.f. is the most reviewed.

Is a brow pencil or a brow pen better?

They do different jobs. A pencil deposits wax and pigment you can blend for a few seconds after you draw, which makes it more forgiving for filling a brow that already has hair in it. A pen lays down liquid pigment that dries in place, drawing more convincing individual hairs but leaving no room to fix a stroke. Start with a pencil.

How do you choose the right eyebrow pencil shade?

Match the shade to your brow hair rather than the hair on your head, and when you are between two options buy the lighter one. People with dark hair should go one shade lighter than their hair, and people with blonde or light brown hair one shade darker. Black Brown, not black, is the usual right answer for black hair.

How long does an eyebrow pencil last before you need a new one?

It depends on how much brow you are filling rather than on a calendar. A pencil used on gaps two or three times a week will outlast the same pencil used to draw a full brow every morning. Most brands suggest replacing eye area pencils between one and two years on hygiene grounds, and a brow pen has a shorter life because the tip dries out if the cap is not sealed.

More NestPath guides worth reading before you shop

These cover what ends up in the same drawer.

• Best mascara in Australia for the other half of the eye routine.
• Best tweezers in Australia for shaping before you fill.
• Best makeup brushes in Australia for moving from pencil to powder or pomade.
• Best makeup mirrors in Australia for the lighting and magnification brows need.
• Best makeup bags in Australia so the pencil is not loose in a handbag.
• Best dermaplaning tools in Australia for fine hair around the brow line.

About the author

Anish Puri founded NestPath in 2026 after going through the Australian first-home-buyer process himself. NestPath focuses on Australian first-home buyers because the existing review sites are American, generic, or both. Anish handles editorial selection across the homeowner hub. Reach out: hello@nestpath.com.au