My recent purge of makeup, influenced by listening to the audiobook The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (highly recommend) has left me with only a few mascara tubes, and honestly, they’re really letting me down. (I’m lol-ing as I type this because that was just such a eye-rolling statement – but, hey, this is a beauty blog, and it’s true, dammit!)
Anywho, three days before my wedding I made a somewhat rash decision that I was going to jump on the bandwagon and try lash extensions. Why I chose to do something new three days before my wedding is beyond me. You know how pregnant women often say they have “pregnancy brain,” when they do silly things or make poor decisions, let’s just say, I had “wedding brain.” Anyways, I’m planning to do another blog post all about my experience with lash extensions, which was not entirely negative, but they definitely impacted my real lashes, which were already long and full – again, blame “wedding brain” for getting lash extensions.
Back to my mascara letting me down (tee hee) … with my recent purge I only left myself with a handful of mascara tubes that had been purchased within the past two to three months. With the exception of the mini tube of BeneFit’s They’re Real, which was a points perk from a Sephora purchase, the mascaras I kept were all from the drugstore.
Here’s a round-up of the mascaras I’ve currently been using and my somewhat whiny thoughts on ’em:
Covergirl The Super Sizer Mascara by LashBlast
This type of brush appeals to me because I prefer plastic, hard bristles as opposed to soft ones. I also really like the size of the brush, because it allows you to get mascara close to the root of the lashes, while avoiding smudging your lids. I remember really liking this one when I first tried it a month or two ago, but with the tragic loss of lashes from the extensions, I now find this does nothing flattering for the remaining ones. This mascara is a total fail for holding curl, and seemed to emphasize the fact that my lashes are few and far between (literally). I do like the wand for coating the smaller lashes near the inner corner of the eye, but that’s about it.
This one gets a lot of attention in the beauty community; but I find it to be clumpy. While it does give volume and the intensity of the black is great, it does nothing for length and leaves my lashes clumpy. I gave this another shot last week and by mid day the mascara had transferred to my brow bone. So I was walking around with black smudges on my face for who knows how long. Fail. Try L’Oreal Telescopic mascara if you’re in to plastic-type bristles – I remember really liking it but my purge obsession made me toss it (it was probs over a year old so it needed to be chucked).
I’m having a love-hate relationship with this one. When I first tried this the formula was too wet, my lashes sagged even after curling them. I let the formula dry out a bit and I found myself loving it. The wand is definitely my thing, plastic bristles with a curved applicator, and I was left with no mascara transfer on my brow bone – so that’s the ‘love’ part of the relationship. The ‘hate’ part is the formula was perfect for about two weeks, and then it dried out completely! It hasn’t even been two months! Grr. Anywho, I will try this one again, because when the formula is at the perfect consistency (after about 3-4 weeks of opening), it’s all love, baby.
Maybelline Lash Sensational – Luscious Full Fan Effect
I picked this up on a whim because my local grocery store was having a sale on Maybelline mascaras. (Having a grocery store that sells makeup can be dangerous. Here’s a tip – I tend to throw a mascara or nail polish in the cart, but tuck it under another item in the cart, such as the bread, so when my husband goes to put ’em on the conveyor belt, it’s too late to put it back on the shelf. I just pretend it magically appeared in the cart and it must be a sign to get it. I should be a marriage counselor.) I originally went to pick up another Lash Sensational in the pink tube, but saw this and crossed my fingers that the formula would be better. Although the wand is okay (a little flimsy), and the colour is super dark, I had issues with transfer every.single.time I wore this. Around 10am I’d go look in the mirror at work and the mascara had smudged along my brow bone. It doesn’t help with length, nor does it hold a curl – it actually is such a heavy formula that my lashes sagged. Boo. Stick with the sister Lash Sensational if you’re curious to try either. It’s way better IMO.
Really don’t get the hype surrounding this one. Maybe because BeneFit PR-s the crap out of their products and everyone who YouTubes or has a blog has gotten it sent to them and feels like they have to promote it. (Grrr…don’t get me started). Either way, this did nothing for my lashes. Which I’m surprised because again, it has the plastic bristles I usually enjoy. My lashes looked like spider legs, and they clumped together so my eyes looked like they had about five spider legs coming out of them. Not cute. Kind of scary TBH. The formula is also really wet, so my lashes were weighed down. The ball at the end, although a great idea, does nothing other than make the lashes clump more. Still curious to try BeneFit’s Roller Lash, but I’m really not into forking over $31 for a mascara based on how I feel about this one.
You could argue that mascara is like wine – everyone has their preference and knows what works for them (and what makes them cry, violent, or break out into dance), so take my above rant with a grain of salt! I am blessed with long lashes, which were also full until I got a bad case of ‘wedding brain’ and opted for lash extensions three days before I tied the knot. I recommend checking out MakeupAlley.com for further reviews on these from other gals (my fave product review site).
Maybe I’m just too picky? Ultimately I’m looking for my lashes to look somewhere between Julia’s from Gal Meets Glam, and Lauren Curtis’ from YouTube. So far, it’s not happening. Merp.
BUT, I’m currently testing out this Covergirl The Super Sizer Fibers mascara and so far, I’m SUPER impressed. I’ll save my full thoughts for another post.
Any mascaras you’re obsessed with? Let me know!
Thanks for reading!
-L
robeandrose.wordpress.com 
I’m not too sure if you’re based in Australia, but as ModelCo does ship internationally, I do want to recommend their VolumEyes mascara. It doesn’t have the hard plastic bristles that you and I prefer, but the formula and brush more than makes up for it. They’re not wet, but not dry or clumpy either, they don’t feel heavy, and they do not smudge either (I wear them while wearing glasses, the bane of most mascaras because of the humid environment that goes on behind the lens). Of all the mascaras that I’ve tried, Tarte’s Lights Camera Lashes included, this was the best I’ve had so far.
Stephii Mattea xx
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Thanks for the recommendation! Will definitely look into that. I’m Canadian (wish I was based in Australian!). Yes…I remember trying that Tarte mascara and loving it … maybe I should try it again!
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