I recently spotted the new L'Oreal Brow Stylist Definer ($10.49) at CVS and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to bring one home to compare it to one of my favorite brow products, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz ($21). Visually, it looks almost identical so I couldn't wait to see if this was a more affordable dupe. Let's take a look...
According to the packaging, the Brow Stylist Definer is an "ultra-fine tip shaping pencil" and features a 0.5mm tip on one end, and a spoolie blending brush on the other. It comes in three shades, Blonde, Brunette, and Dark Brunette...at least those are the shades that were at my local CVS. It's possible that there are more, but I'm not positive. Compared to the Anastasia Brow Wiz, which offers nine shades including reddish tones and black options, the L'Oreal range is quite limited. I ended up going with the middle shade, Brunette to see how it compares to Anastasia's Soft Brown, which is the shade I've been using for the past year or so.
One of the best features of this pencil (and the thing I love about Brow Wiz) is the ultra-fine 0.5mm tip. It allows you to fill in brow hairs using light strokes and they actually look like real hairs, so the effect is very natural. Then, you can just comb through your brows using the spoolie brush on the other end to soften things up a bit.
When I compare the two side-by-side, they're almost identical. The only real difference I've found is in the spoolie brush. The Anastasia version is a bit denser and seems to catch and smooth the brow hairs just a tiny bit better, but when it comes to the actual pencils, the L'oreal one blew me away with it's creamier texture. Not that Brow Wiz is hard or difficult to apply, but the L'Oreal pencil was even softer and allowed me to make very light quick strokes that looked even more natural. But it wasn't so soft that it felt like it was going to break or smudge everywhere. In fact, it stayed put very nicely!
When it comes to shades, L'Oreal's Brunette and Anastasia's Soft Brown are very close! The reason I love Soft Brown from Anastasia is because it's a more neutral shade for my cooler toned hair color. I find that most brunette brow pencils are way too warm for me, but the L'Oreal Brunette shade works well for me. It's a tiny bit warmer than Anastasia's Soft Brown, but it's hardly noticeable.
Overall, I can honestly say that the new L'Oreal Brow Stylist Definer is a wonderful dupe for Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. I've been using the L'Oreal version exclusively for the past two weeks and I don't even miss my Brow Wiz. That's how you know you have a dupe, when you don't even miss the original! It's also half the price, but I'm sure you'll be able to get it for even less during a sale or using your CVS Extra Bucks. Also, CVS tends to price things a little higher than other drugstores so it may be even less at Target or Walmart when it arrives there.
Highly recommend!