Kanebo Eyebrow Pencils in EB01 & EB02

Last year I was reunited with my overall favourite eyebrow pencil ever by Shiseido. You'd think after so many years apart, all I'd want to do is focus on it and not look any further. Wrong. While I'm happy to have the traditional wooden pencil as my daily go-to at home, I'd been itching to try an automatic version for overall convenience and travel. So, continuing with the theme of „the Japanese definitely know their brow game,“ I picked up the Kanebo Sensai eyebrow pencil in EB02 a few months before embarking on some lengthier travels.

Their retractible brow pencil only comes in two shades, which you're supposed to be able to customize to fit your needs depending on the amount of pressure you apply. Spoiler alert, I liked the first one so much, I got the other one too. However, I don't think the two are as universally flattering as the company promises.

While much of the look can be influenced by skin tone, eye and hair colour, I can't see the overly warm EB02 working for anyone other than cherry blondes and redheads. I have natural, light red hair and even on me it looked a tad orange, even when surrounded by my colouring, which should make the tone more subdued. There are also limits to how dark you can get it to look, I'd definitely call it a light to light medium colour. I didn't mind the look, especially in the summer. It felt light, natural and youthful (I hate that word, but it did! I pretty much felt ten years old again).

The opposite applies to EB01, which, in theory, should work for ashy blondes, but in reality, unless you want to make a „light hair, bold eyebrows“ statement, is better suited for medium dark hair. Nevertheless, I somehow did end up buying both!

The pencil itself has an unusual oval shape, which is supposed to help achieve a natural look. To be honest, for me it made it harder to achieve a natural, believable brow because of how much thicker of a stroke you're working with. This was particularly tricky with the lighter of the two because when applied on bare skin with no brow hairs, the contrast between the line and your real brows is more obvious. EB02 is also quite similar to my beloved Shiseido, so rather than re-purchase it when done, I opted for the darker EB01, so I'd have options for when I want a natural brow, a „going out“ brow or a little bit of column A and column B.

The pencils are not waterproof, but very long-wearing. They come in premium packaging (as well they should for the price!), housed in a plastic well and a nice cardboard box. As per usual, Kanebo Sensai instructions come on black silk paper, which ends up in the bin, but still feels oh so lovely to unravel for a few moments. On one end you have the retractable pencil, and on the other you'll find a spoolie (yay – Shiseido, take note).

My general objections to automatic pencils still apply – you can't get as fine of a point as with a traditional, "sharpenable" pencil; you get much less product for a significantly higher price; and the plastic housing is much more wasteful and harmful to the environment than the biodegradable wooden ones. There's no denying the convenience, especially if you're on the go and don't want to bother with lugging around a sharpener that you'll definitely lose, just when you need it. It's one less thing to think about, but I personally wouldn't use one on a daily basis. For me, a pencil like this is for travel or a special occasion, in regards to choosing the darker shade.

You get 0.2g of product and pictured is the amount you get in a brand new one, EB01, versus the EB02 I'd used regularly (but not exclusively) for about 4 months. I believe I ended up stretching it out to 5 months of use, which is a bit hard to swallow since it takes me over a year to go through the Shiseido eyebrow pencil. Again, convenience comes at a cost.

I used up the EB02 and ended up gifting the EB01 to my mom (confession – I had her buy it for me with the intention of offering her to try it out for a bit, knowing she'd love it, and giving it to her, because it's something she'd never have bought for herself). I still recommend both, especially if you can get either of the shades to work for you.

Kanebo make great „basic“ products for people who want to enhance their features and enjoy a well-made item while doing so. There's no dizzying shade ranges or loud advertising, but if you fit their profile, you'll love much of their line.