Beauty Battleground: A Requested Mascara

 

 After my previous Mascara review, it was suggested by a friend that I try Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara (Thanks for the suggestion Lydie!!! <3). I adore Too Faced and had heard great things about that mascara so I made my purchase from Sephora and eagerly waited to try it.

I was not impressed.

The Claim: (from Sephora.com)

"What it does:
Inspired by the curves of a woman’s body, the hourglass-shaped brush was designed with extra stiff bristles to maximize the performance of this carbon black, collagen-fueled formula. One coat and lashes are full and defined. Two coats and lashes are even more luscious, curled, and dramatic. Three coats help you achieve the most intense, black, multidimensional lashes possible."

My Impression:

Yes, the brush is plush and oddly shaped. The mascara is thick and clumpy on said brush.

Yeah. 

 I know this mascara has a cult-like following among some mascara users. But regrettably, this is going back.

I can't see spending $23 for a mascara that didn't do what it was supposed to on my lashes. You can see by my photo grid, it lifted them (most mascaras do), it darkened them (again, like mascara is supposed to) but as far as curling or looking luscious? NOPE. It made them straight and clumped and weird. 

FULL DISCLOSURE TIME: To be fair, I did not curl my lashes before applying the mascara in the photos however the result was exactly the same. The curl didn't hold, my lashes looked the same as they do in the photo spread above. That's why I didn't even bother to include it.

While I'm not in a major hurry to get this mascara off me; I'm still disappointed and returning it. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. And for 23 bucks, I SHOULD LOVE IT!

The winner and still champion mascara is Cover Girl 24 Hour LashBlast, which is under $8US, holds curl like a champ while giving me volume and length.

Beauty Battleground: Mascara Wars

Normally, I would provide documentation for my findings, but frankly I'm so irritated at the results of my mascara head-to-head that I'm setting aside my instinct to take pictures of the results to just go on tirades.

The Products:

Benefit Cosmetics Rollerlash Mascara - purchased at Sephora.com 
- product claim (from sephora.com): Bye-bye, eyelash curler! Roller Lash not only lifts and super-curls, but this instant curve-setting formula holds for 12 hours, is easy to remove, and contains provitamin B5 and serine, known for their lash-conditioning benefits.

Mirenesse iCurl Secret Weapon 24 Hour Mascara from Birchbox subscription
- product claim (from birchbox.com): This jet-black mascara is like Taylor Swift at the Grammys—it just keeps on winning. This award-winning favorite from the Aussie brand is leading the pack, and for good reason. It separates, lifts, and curls lashes for some serious, long-lasting drama.

skepchick.org

The final battle findings:
 
Neither one of these mascaras did what it claimed!
In the interest of fairness, I attempted to use each for a week. Both on uncurled lashes and curled lashes. I got the same lame results with both!
My lashes were stick straight, clumpy, flat/no volume whatsoever. BOOOOOO! The Mirenesse was a sample, so I'm just tossing it. But the Rollerlash? Yeah I spent good money on that! It's going back. Today.


 No matter what mascara I try, I still go back to THE BEST MASCARA I'VE EVER USED and am never disappointed.

What do you think? Is there a particular mascara that holds your devotion?

Eye can SEEEE you!! (just kidding!)

So I've been trying to take a decent picture of just my eyes for what I'm embarrassed to say about 2 weeks. I know. It shouldn't have been such a pain, but it was!
This post is a reference post and a "look, see!!" post in that I took a results picture from my Best Mascara I Ever Used post.

 

Here is my eye without any makeup. The lashes are virtually non-existent. The tips are blond-ish and with my McWhiterson skin, they get completely lost.

And here is that same eye, with the lashes curled and two quick coats of the Covergirl 24 hour mascara.
It's a pretty remarkable difference, even with just a simple curler.

Happy New Year!!

I probably should've posted about this fantastic find before the New Year, but hey it wasn't readily available (I'm not sure it's even worldwide released yet!) and I needed to give it a good solid try so I could gather my thoughts. Here goes:
THIS IS THE BEST MASCARA I'VE EVER USED!! I do not use those words lightly. I've become somewhat of a joke among my girlfriends because I'm always looking for new mascara. I follow the not-so-widely-known-nor-practiced rule of Department Store Mascara should be replaced after 3 months, Drugstore Brand Mascara should be replaced after one month. The discrepancy has to do with the levels of preservatives in the formulas and that clumpy-lumps that cling to the bristles and your lashes are the results. Never mind the bacteria (barf!) I know some people not only don't know the rule, but they don't really care. It's up to you, but I would rather shell out a few bucks for a fresh tube than fight the uphill battle of trying to separate my lashes from one another from a cruddy mascara application. MOVING ON!
See above: RE BEST MASCARA:

This is the newest member of the CoverGirl LashBlast Family, however I've yet to see it turn up on the website. I've been a fan of the chubby tubed LashBlast since it launched, however I was dissatisfied with the curl hold. It gave volume in spades, but one half coat too many and my lashes would lose any and all curl. So on with the search I went. With the release of this newest formula, I can say, with complete conviction that this mascara meets all the criteria of amazing.

1. Volume - LashBlast is known for volume, the brush helps to build up volume in lashes without leaving bulk
2. Hold - I curl my lashes the way I like then apply the mascara. Once I'm done with the coating, the curl will stay all day until it's time to wash my face. I have yet to experience any loss of eyelash curl throughout my wear. That's remarkable! Usually there's at least some, but not with this little beauty!
3. Length - just like the other LashBlast mascaras, I find the "added length" to be adequate. Unless a mascara has actual fiberous elements (which can flake off and irritate the eye), most lengthening mascaras don't actually add to the lash. Since most lashes are blonde at the tips or lighter brown, adding color (aka mascara) makes the hair look longer. It's an illusion.
4. Wear - Since I haven't seen a commercial or ad print about it, I don't know if they are touting CoverGirl LashBlast 24 hour mascara as waterproof, and I prefer non-waterproof formulas of mascara (they tend to make my lashes brittle in the long run) so I can't say for sure if they will in the future. There's no flaking or fading and my lashes aren't hard or crunchy. However I can tell you from experience, this mascara must must must have a separate makeup remover in order to get it off. I tried the baby shampoo trick I posted about, but that mascara barely smirked at it. I tried an oil based makeup remover, and had to use it 3 times at least before washing my eye area with the baby shampoo. I ended up buying the CoverGirl Makeup Remover which is a creamy remover and using a cotton round, found that it works the best. However, I definitely recommend doing the baby shampoo trick after since it leaves the eye area covered in residue.

So there's my first recommendation of 2012! CoverGirl LashBlast 24 hour Mascara, follow this link to an Amazon storefront with the details on the ingredients, you can also find opportunities to purchase on ulta.com, target.com, soap.com, etc.