An honest test of Anastasia Dipbrow on oily skin

Few brow products carry the cult status that the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade enjoys. Beauty editors, makeup artists, and casual buyers alike praise its pigment payoff, the way it shapes sparse arches, and the promise of a long-wearing finish that survives real life. What gets discussed far less often is how the pomade behaves on the kind of skin that tends to betray makeup first: an oily, sweaty forehead. I have a combination forehead that turns dewy by midmorning and shiny by lunchtime, which is exactly the kind of canvas I wanted to test against the daily grind, the gym, and a humid Australian summer.

Australia is a useful testing ground for any product that claims longevity. Summers in Brisbane and Darwin climb past thirty degrees with high humidity, and even in Melbourne the weather can swing from icy mornings to muggy afternoons within the same week. Add in beach days at Bondi or St Kilda, sweaty commutes on the tram, and the simple Australian preference for spending weekends outdoors, and a brow product has to work hard to stay looking sharp. I wore Dipbrow for two full weeks across different conditions, fitting it into a routine that also included my current take on why i'm obsessed with liquid blush and how to apply it without streaks, to see whether the famous pomade lived up to its reputation on a face that produces far more sebum than the average.

Prepping the brows and applying the pomade

Dipbrow rewards prep work, especially on a slick forehead. I started each test day by washing my face with a gentle gel cleanser, then pressing my brows dry with a tissue rather than rubbing them. A swipe of astringent toner across the brow area helped, and I let it sink in fully before touching the skin again. On foundation days, I used a thin mattifying primer on my forehead and a separate lightweight, oil-free primer along the brow itself.

Australians shopping for brow products will find Dipbrow stocked at Mecca and Sephora, both mainstream retailers that openly disclose their compliance with local regulations. Cosmetics sold here must follow the rules set out by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and ingredient lists on Australian-packaged products are required to be clear and accurate. The Dipbrow pot I picked up carried a readable ingredient panel, including the castor seed oil and waxes that give the pomade its creamy but firm texture. Knowing what is in the pot matters when a product sits close to the eyes all day, and the local regulatory framework makes that research straightforward.

Once the brows were properly prepped, application was where Dipbrow really showed its strengths. The small angled brush tucked into the lid works fine, but a slightly denser synthetic brush gave me a sharper tail and cleaner front. I dipped the tip into the pomade, swirled it against the inside of the lid to remove excess, then laid down short hair-like strokes starting at the tail and working toward the front. The formula is famously pigmented, a blessing for someone with pale, sparse brows like mine but a hazard if you press too hard. A common mistake is treating Dipbrow like a cream shadow; it behaves more like a soft wax that sets within a minute or two.

The way I handled the rest of my forehead made a real difference too. After moisturiser, I waited a full five minutes before picking up the brush so my skin could absorb everything. When shaping the front of the brow, I used the tip of a clean spoolie to feather the product rather than layering more pomade on top. The result looked softly filled instead of drawn on, which matters when the rest of the makeup leans toward glow and you do not want one stripe of the face to look heavy. A light veil of translucent powder across the forehead, not on the brow hairs, kept the surrounding skin balanced.

The humidity and sweat test

This is where Dipbrow earned or lost its reputation. On day three, the Sydney forecast showed humidity above seventy percent, so I committed to a long harbour walk, a packed train ride home, and a yoga class in a non-air-conditioned studio. By the time I had walked forty minutes from the office, my forehead was already dewy, but the tails of my brows still looked sharp. Yoga was the real stress test. Downward dog, sun salutations, and a thirty-minute flow left my face red and beaded with sweat, especially along the hairline and the centre of the forehead.

After towelling off and waiting for my skin to settle, I checked the brows in the studio mirror. The colour had not budged, the tails were still crisp, and the front of the brow where the hair is finest was only slightly faded. There was no streaking and no migration of product into the skin around the brow, which is the dreaded bleeding effect watery pencils tend to produce. The only place I noticed wear was the inner corner where I had used the lightest touch, and even that was easily repaired with a fingertip and a tiny bit of leftover pomade.

Wear time from morning to midnight

Across the two weeks I logged wear in three environments: a regular office day in Perth, a weekend brunch in Adelaide, and a wedding rehearsal dinner where I was outside for photographs in late afternoon sun. Office days were the easiest on the product. Air conditioning kept my forehead reasonably matte, and Dipbrow looked freshly applied from my nine a.m. meeting through to the drive home at six. Brunch was the surprise winner, because hot food, a long conversation, and a walk back to the car in mild sun all added up to a sweaty forehead, and the pomade still looked fresh by mid-afternoon.

The wedding rehearsal was the toughest of the three. There was dancing, hugging, and a few outdoor photos in golden-hour light, plus the usual anxiety sweat that comes with being in front of a camera. By the end of the night, the inner front of both brows had softened slightly and the upper edge had lost a touch of definition. There was no smudging under the brow, no transfer onto my fingertips when I pushed stray strands away, and no migration into the fine lines at the outer corners of my eyes. Dipbrow prefers set-and-forget wear, and the more I touched my face the more the inner corners faded, but the overall shape survived a ten-hour day comfortably.

Removal and skin comfort at the end of the day

A brow product that survives sweat is only as good as the way it comes off. Dipbrow is a wax-based pomade, so plain water or a quick cleanse is not enough. An oil-based cleanser or a dedicated eye makeup remover melted the product away in under a minute without hard rubbing, which matters because the skin around the eyes is thinner and more easily irritated than the rest of the face. On days when I wore Dipbrow over a heavy primer, I needed a second cleanse to feel fully clean, but that is true of most long-wear formulas I have tried.

I also paid attention to how my skin felt the morning after. Because the pomade does not migrate into pores the way some cream products do, my skin did not feel congested or bumpy around the brows. There was no obvious redness where the brush had touched, and no flaking along the brow bone. For anyone worried about breakouts from heavier brow products, this matters. Dipbrow sat on top of the skin rather than soaking into it, and that behaviour translated into comfort at the end of a long day as well as reliable wear during it.

Where Dipbrow fits in a brow wardrobe

Dipbrow is not the only brow product on my rotation, and it would be unfair to recommend it as the single answer for every Australian with oily skin. After two weeks of testing, I think of it as the heavy lifter of the group: the one I reach for when I know I will sweat, when the weather is muggy, or when I want a defined, photo-ready shape that lasts from morning to night. For casual days when I am dashing out for coffee in my neighbourhood, a tinted brow gel gives a softer, faster finish. For travel days with long flights, a fine pencil is easier to touch up in airport bathrooms.

What Dipbrow did best on my oily forehead was hold a sculpted shape without the dreaded midday fade. What it did less well was forgive lazy prep work, and it was not the right choice for the days when I wanted my brows to look brushed-up and natural. Knowing which product to reach for, and when, is the real secret to brow confidence on skin that tends to get shiny.

Habits that made Dipbrow last on oily skin

A few small habits made the biggest difference in my test, and they translate easily to anyone with a similar skin type. Some days I skipped a step and watched the pomade fade by mid-afternoon; other days, when I followed the full list, the shape looked freshly applied well into the evening.

• Prime the brow area with an oil-free, mattifying primer and let it set fully before picking up the brush.
• Use a stiff, angled brush and remove excess pomade from the tip before stroking the brow.
• Build colour in thin layers at the tail first, then feather the front with a clean spoolie.
• Avoid touching the brow with fingertips during the day, since oils transfer quickly onto the wax.
• Remove the pomade with an oil cleanser or bi-phase remover at night rather than rubbing with a towel.

If Dipbrow on an oily forehead has you curious about how the rest of my routine holds up in Australian heat, you can read more about my testing approach and the products I reach for on the about page, where I share a bit more about the blog and how I approach long-wear reviews.