One of my personal favorite beauty brands is back with yet another game-changing release, and this one has my spirits especially high. Milk Makeup's Kush Brow Gel is the latest in the flurry of cannabis-infused products that have hit the market as of late, and it promises some lit results. Watch out, Glossier Boy Brow, you might have some serious competition.
When Milk Makeup launched its Kush High Volume Mascara ($24, milkmakeup.com), marijuana and mascara enthusiasts alike were stoked. It claimed that it would not only take your lashes to new lengths, but would condition them along the way, thanks to its CDB-infused formula. Currently, the product has a review average of four-and-a-half stars out of five stars on Milk's website — clearly, it's living up to the hype.
CBD is short for cannabidoil, which is a chemical compound derived from cannabis plants. Because it's non-psychoactive, it won't get you high — a quality that allows it to be legal in all 50 states. It's been credited for its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties, and when ingested through capsules, it has also been proven to help with anxiety and insomnia. Within the beauty sphere, it's been making waves for its soothing, calming, hydrating, and conditioning properties. It makes sense, then, that a bevy of products — from skin cleansers to mascaras — formulated with CBD has hit the market as of late. High times for the beauty industry, indeed.
Milk's newest hemp-inspired launch comes in four shades and promises to condition brows while simultaneously shaping them without stiffness. There's Hydro (clear), Haze (blonde), Dutch (medium), and Grind (black-brown), so no matter the hue of your arches, one Kush Brow Gel will fit the bill. Along with CBD, two other key ingredients in the product's formula make it so stellar: heart-shaped fibers and panthenol. As explained by Milk in a press release, "Tinted heart-shaped fibers thicken brows by adhering to skin and hair for long-lasting fullness, shape, and definition. Hollow fibers are packed with formula for another hit of high volume." Panthenol, on the other hand, is a form of vitamin B5 that helps with ultimate hydration. Yeah, you're going to have some moist AF brows after using this product.
An editor at Allure got to test the product out before it hits shelves (it'll be available at milkmakeup.com and sephora.com on June 26 and in Sephora stores on July 6) and her review is quite positive, overall. "If you're into thicker-looking brows and too lazy to painstakingly draw on hairline strokes, Kush Brow Gel is a great express brow definer," she writes. "Its sticky-icky texture makes every swipe quite generous, so that is something to watch for, but it's got enough hold to style your brows any which way you like." As she also points out, "Eschewing beeswax in favor of CBD oil makes this product cruelty-free and vegan (as all Milk Makeup products are) and also seems to be the ticket to that flexible texture — I imagine this way it's less susceptible to the formula-bending effects of even mild temperature changes and therefore less likely to flake (just my theory)."
While it'll certainly take more than one use to determine whether or not the product will actually have long-term conditioning effects, it's promising to know that even without that benefit, it gets two thumbs up. I've never been one to use a brow pencil (I have light blonde brows and when I take a pencil to them, they look wild) so this is a product I definitely want to try.
If you're also eager to test it out, Milk Makeup is having a Kush Brow Gel pre-sale on June 22, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET. With any Kush Brow Gel pre-purchase, you'll also get a Kush Pin and Kush Mascara Deluxe Sample, so head on over to Milk Makeup's Instagram bio, where you'll find the link to the offer.
