Giorgio Armani Eye & Brow Maestro in Red/Acajou

Eyebrows have gone from being an under-appreciated, over-plucked afterthought in the beauty world to an essential part of the perfectly done face over the past decade. For me, personally, even if I leave the house with only concealer, clear lip balm, and a bit of mascara, I always take the time to make sure my brows are on point.  It's mainly because my hair color is not what I was born with, and I need to give my brows a bit of love to pull it off.

I went brighter and darker red for fall this year, so my beloved Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder in Caramel wasn't working with my new shade. It's admittedly a work in progress, and I'm currently a Redken Chromatics 5C.  Here's a shot of just how bold it is:

Anything with blonde in it clearly wouldn't work, and I needed to amp up the pure red in my brows. Enter Armani Eye & Brow Maestro.

While browsing the new releases from Armani, I noticed that a new line of brow products had just been released: Eye & Brow Maestro ($34, 5g/0.17oz, Made in France). These lovely creams are touted as brow color, eyeliner, cream eyeshadow, and root touch-ups. Naturally, I was drawn to shade #03 Acajou (Red). I'll be honest, the multiple names for every Armani shade are really throwing me off.

I was the first one to try the tester at my local counter, and both the SA and I were shocked at what a perfect match the shade was for my hair. Here's a shot of one of my brows, with the product combed through. This was taken indoors, with flash. It's pulling significantly more orange in this shot. Unfortunately, my outdoor shots didn't turn out well.

Let's take a moment to speak about this shade. There is a beautiful shimmer present in the pot that doesn't translate into the brows. I suspect that it might show up if you used this product as a eyeshadow wash.

I've been using this for about two weeks, and I'm in love. This is a waterproof (I tested this and it's true) product that is so simple to use. Just dip a spooley brush into the product (or rotate it lightly over top of the surface) and comb into your brows. This sets quickly, and doesn't require any other product to set (unlike the powder/gel combo I was used to). It also gives a wonderful, natural finish. The product sits in the eyebrow hairs, not on the skin like a liner/powder. This is the most expensive brow product I've ever tried, but it should last awhile and is worth it in my opinion. I'm actually going to pick up the new brush soon as well.

Although I'm using it as a brow product, let's look at this swatched since it could work an eye product as well.

Outside, in direct sun:

Outside, not in sun:

Outside, with flash:

Looking at it as an eyeliner, I immediately thought of Clinique Brush-on Cream Liner in Black Honey. The Clinique is darker and more of a true raspberry, but they're both reddish cream liners.

Since I rarely see a comparison of redhead-friendly brow products (and admittedly they're difficult to find), I decided to pull all of them for a comparison shot. Armani Eye & Brow Maestro is by far and away the most pigmented, as well as the reddest. I hope this is helps other redheads!

This is outside, without the aid of direct sun:

1: Giorgio Armani Eye & Brow Maestro- 03 Acajou/Red
2: Bare Minerals Brow Color- Redhead (DC)
3: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo- Caramel
4: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo- Auburn
5: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Whiz- Caramel
6: CK One Color Brow Pencil & Gel Duo- 200 Foxy Redhead


Giorgio Armani Eye & Brow Maestro is available in 8 shades, and is currently at Armani counters.