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?

It may stay for long, if I don't WASH IT OFF FIRST!!!

ARE YOU SEEING THIS???

Ugh, Gross. 

THAT is my FACE with the BeneFit Stay Flawless 15 hour Primer and a foundation over the top.

I know it's out of focus, but you can still SEE THE PORES and the surface dryness that I don't have in real life!!! Ok, well, everyone has pores but I work really hard to make mine as invisible as possible!

I'm going out of order. Sorry! Let me begin.

I was super excited to hear about the BeneFit Stay Flawless 15 hour Primer stick, it looked amazing in the demos! A few swipes here and there and presto! Your foundation would remain in place!

WELL, it does. With a few problems.

It's sticky. Like, "Just rubbed a glue stick on my face" sticky. It has a cooling sensation when it first goes on, but there's zero dry down. It stays tacky until you put something over it. And then, the nightmare began for me.

I used this with BB cream (solid and liquid) and it beaded up like crazy! No matter how much I buffed and buffed, I wound up with CLUMPS all over my face. BLECH!

So I tried it with liquid foundation twice. Again, with a brush because I've grown accustomed to using a brush. And lo and behold the clumps the clumps! I thought I was using too heavy a hand, so I lightened up my grip on my brush, tried to stipple, tried to lighten my stroke.

Nope. No matter what technique I tried I got the clumps. The only positive I have to say about BeneFit Stay Flawless 15 hour Primer stick is that yes, my makeup DID stay on for about 15 hours. It just didn't look the way I wanted it to look for those 15 hours.

I wanted to like it, I wanted to love it but I don't. I really don't. I made my $32+tax(US) purchase at Ulta and that's precisely where it's going back. 

Below is a picture from CanadianFashionista.net (with a post that likes the product so you can read both), I highly recommend you make up your own mind before blindly purchasing like I did. 

That's just how I am though, I'll read posts here and there, but ultimately if it's something I desperately want to try, I'm buying it. 

Image from http://www.canadianfashionista.net (it's a good post!)