I'm a Brow Minimalist—13 Clear Brow Gels I Swear By, Ranked

Does anyone else have that one menu item that you desperately want to love as much as everyone around you, yet no matter how many times you dabble, it never quite does it for you? Well, that's kind of how I feel about tinted brow gel. (And, if you want to keep talking about food, it's also how I feel about Pho—don't come for me!) But, I digress, back to brow gel! No matter how many brands or formulas I try, I always gag at the way it looks on me. Everyone else I know can't seem to live without their prized tube of the stuff (and I always think it looks great on other people), I just can't get behind it. That said, what I do love is clear brow gel. In fact, it's one of three makeup products that I'll use every single day no matter where I'm going or what I'm doing. (Even if it's just laying on the couch and eating my weight in Postmates.)

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(Image credit: @erin_jahns)

I'm incredibly minimalistic when it comes to my brows. As far as maintenance, I barely touch them, and I just get them cleaned up by a professional two to three times a year. Makeup-wise, the only products I use are my fave brow pencils (and sometimes Glossier's Brow Flick $18) topped off with clear brow gel. And, if I'm going makeup-free, I'll skip all of the former and just do the latter. That said, not all clear brow gels are created equally. I've tried formulas that have comedogenic (aka—pore-clogging) ingredients that cause me to get painful little pimples embedded in my brows, and there are also plenty of options on the market that are too wet and gloopy or too stiff or just annoyingly remove any product you have on underneath when you swipe it through. Over the years, I've become a clear brow gel Goldilocks of sorts, and below, I'm sharing 13 winners—ranked—that have earned my seal of approval. Keep scrolling for the best clear brow gels of all time, according to me. 

13. Sephora Collection Clear Brow Gel

12. Hourglass Arch Brow Shaping Gel

11. Milk Makeup Kush Clear Brow Gel

10. Grande Cosmetics GrandeBROW-FILL Volumizing Brow Gel

9. Well People Expressionist Brow Gel

8. Benefit Cosmetics 24-HR Brow Setter Clear Brow Gel with Lamination Effect

7. MAC Brow Set

6. Anastasia Beverly Hills Strong Hold Clear Brow Gel

5. Make Beauty Clear Brow Gel

4. Glossier Boy Brow

3. Kosas Air Brow Clear + Clean Lifting Treatment Eyebrow Gel with Lamination Effect

2. Beautycounter Brilliant Brow Gel

1. Kimiko The Brow Sensei

Shop more brow essentials I love:

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Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.