Mascara is one of my favorite makeup products. I know it sounds odd, me being such a lips-and-cheeks girl who rarely wears a lot of eye makeup. But it's because I wear so little eye makeup that mascara is so important to me: big, flirty lashes and well-groomed brows can make an otherwise bare eye look so polished and clean. So from time to time, I try four or five new mascaras at once to see if any of them can replace my Holy Grail: Prestige My Biggest Lashes.
Let me explain why I love Prestige MBL so much. One layer volumizes and lengthens without getting clumpy or spidery, and it still looks natural. But I can do two or three layers or pile it on top of a primer, like DiorShow Maximizer, for a super-dramatic, flattering look. It doesn't flake or smear. It just...works on my lashes.
And that's the important thing to remember: everyone's lashes are different, just like everyone's skin. You may love a mascara I hate. But just like with skin tones and types, it's easy to find a "lash twin." If one or two or my hits works for you, it's a decent bet that my misses would be misses for you as well. Not to mention, all mascaras make claims about what they do. We certainly want to see if they match up to those claims!
Eyeko Skinny Brush mascara retails for $19 at Sephora. It's advertised as a "conditioning mascara that adds length." The brush is, indeed, long and skinny, and the short, coarse bristles wine around the wand. The tube is certainly cool; it's a squeeze tube that you're supposed to be able to roll up to get every last bit of product. That's the only positive thing I can say. This brush DOES lengthen, but it bends my lashes and looks clumpy, spidery, and dry. The clumps are HORRENDOUS, even after I've scraped the brush off on the rim of the mascara tube and a piece of tissue. And conditioning? I wore this mascara for about 4 days straight, and it dried my lashes out. Not my thang, boo.
CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is a new addition to the popular Lash Blast line, and I got it for about $7.50 at Target. I bought it after seeing it on one of JoshCollierMUA's YouTube videos. It sounded like my kind of mascara, and sure enough, it was. I have seriously fallen in love with this stuff! The thick, slightly-curved rubber bristle brush applies plenty of product, but combs it through to prevent clumps, as per advertisements. The length is decent, the volume is WOW. The formula was slightly sticky for the first few days, but when it dried up, it was smooth and creamy. My only complaints: the water resistant formula is very difficult to remove, so just imagine trying to remove a waterproof version, and the clunky CoverGirl Lash Blast packaging is always a pain in the ass to get a good grip on.
Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume lifting mascara costs $22 at Estee Lauder counters. It claims to be ultra-light, lifting, and volumizing for even the finest, straightest lashes. And I can believe that: the formula is slightly thin, but not wet, and it applies to the lashes without any clumping or sticking. The cone-shaped bristle brush keeps lashes separated and makes it easy to apply mascara to your bottom lashes and the inner corner of your eyes. And it held a curl on my sister's babydoll, stick-straight lashes! I absolutely love this mascara, but not for a "bold" look; I think it makes my lashes look beautiful, but it's still very natural, not super-dramatic. The one issue is that it's a bit difficult to layer--it can start looking clumpy if you try and force it to look thick and dramatic. I have travel-sized versions of this mascara, and I always keep one in my purse!
Maybelline One-by-One was a surprisingly cheap mascara, costing me just $5.50 at Target. The brush is a HUGE, rubber oval with long, porcupine-like bristles. It claims to be "bold without the bulk," a mascara that adds plenty of volume without clumping up your lashes and maintaining a lot of separation. It definitely separates, and the length is very impressive. But the volume is just "okay." The formula is also quite wet and the brush is a tad difficult to handle. I always made a bit of a mess out of my eyelid with this one. I did get a smidge of flaking with this one, but nothing too extreme, just one or two flakes on my cheeks at the end of the day. Overall, it's a good mascara, but I won't repurchase; I greatly prefer CoverGirl Clump Crusher.
Urban Decay Big Fatty mascara retails for $20 at Sephora, but I got mine as a sample. Straight off the bat, the packaging for the sample is HORRIBLE: it's a plastic tube that you don't unscrew, you just yank out, and it makes a huge mess. The formula is quite thick and slightly dry; the brush is super-long and covered with very short bristles. It kinda reminds me of my mom's favorite round hair brush. I was hoping I'd love this mascara because the brush is so neat, but oh my GOD, it was AWFUL! It clumped my lashes, made them look spidery and dry, and flaked all over my face within a few hours. It claims to lengthen, hold a curl, and volumize like woah, but I found that it gave me very little volume and actually pulled out of some of my curl. As someone with naturally curly lashes, I have to say that I'm stunned. I tossed this right after photographing it.
Elizabeth Arden Ceramide mascara is a $20 "treatment mascara" that's supposed to lengthen, define, and stay in place. The brush is what I would consider a "classic brush," very simple and basic. I got my sample in an Elizabeth Arden gift with purchase...THANK GOD. I am so glad I didn't spend money on this trash! The formula seemed promising--creamy and smooth, usually my favorite texture--but it was a pain to get it to comb through my lashes. It clumped like CRAZY, but didn't add much volume or length. It just...clumped. I wore this mascara three times, and I had to force myself to wear it the second and third time, because it flakes like CRAZY! Seriously, I've never used such a flaky mascara before! Again, this baby went straight to the trash.
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