Drugstore Pick: Mascara
Mascara can be hard. What many people forget: mascara is ultimately an extension of the hair on your head. If your hair is naturally stick-straight, its often a rarity to have eyelashes that will curl-up like crazy. If your hair is super thick, it’s pretty normal to see thicker eyelashes when you look in the mirror. Again, this is an OFTEN scenario…not always. Color-treatments and medications will affect your hair and its ability to hold color, hold curl, look thicker, etc.
What’s with the Eyelash 101, you ask?? It’s simple. Because all of our hair is so different from one another, it means our lashes usually are too. Which makes recommending the perfect mascara…much harder than it would normally seem. The mascara that works AMAZING for me, might be a nightmare for you because we are looking at it from two different angles! Without some type of thickening/volume extras in my mascara, I feel like my eyeballs look BALD. And I hate it. A beautiful lengthening mascara sounds awesome to me, but often separates my lashes SO much that I end up looking in the mirror and thinking, “Where the blank did my lashes just go?!” Make sense? Hope so.
So, amidst my drugstore mascara hunting, I opted for three options. Two of them specialize in what’s most important to me: VOLUME! (I feel like everyone should want this but…there are a tiiiiiny handful of women out there with these thick, robust lashes that I regularly beg the Lord for and they may not look for volume first.) I LOVED two of my new finds, and hated one so much, it felt like a cruel joke. I actually can’t believe that it’s still even in my possession. We’ll start from the bottom as usual. Here we go:
3. Elf Studio 3-in-1 Mascara: Retails for $3. If you’re thinking about buying this mascara, stop. If you know someone that bought it, dig through their bag and throw it in the trash. But if you want to waste $3, then this is for you. What it claims to do: Lengthen, define and volumize. What it does: It doesn’t lengthen, it definitely doesn’t volumize but on a reeeeally good day where this is the last mascara on earth, we MIGHT be able to say it defines a lash or two. Keyword: MIGHT. The brush had serious potential as it looks almost identical to a Department store mascara that I know of, that costs over $45, but the formula just didn’t deliver. Verdict: Skip it and spend $3-4 on one of the next two options.
2. Maybelle The Rocket Volum Express Mascara: Retails for $7. I LIKE this mascara. We aren’t married…we’re just…passing notes in class. Its called The Rocket because: it works FAST, as it claims to do so repeatedly on the Maybelline website. The brush enables a ton of product to be dispersed quickly and with lots of volume, making your application shorter than ever. I dig the brush, I like the formula and I love having the blackest-black color option. My complaints: It flakes a little on immediate application. If you apply this in the most ideal way, you’d do ALLLLL of your eye makeup first, clean up under your eye with a makeup wipe, and then move on to your foundation and under-eye concealer. When you apply it in that order, you’ll have zero problems. However, if you are someone who absolutely can’t wrap their head around applying mascara before doing your concealer and foundation, well then you’re going to see tiny black flakes. Another complaint: It’s not super buildable. Meaning, you’ve gotta apply it quickly without stopping because once it dries, it dries. Applying more and more will actually look worse and worse, and ultimately probably cause those flakes that I kept seeing. But, it doesn’t clump. Verdict: It’s a toss-up. When used the right way, it’s totally doable and looks great. For those on the go, it’s a win. However, if you aren’t liking the idea of a fast-application and want to work at your mascara a little more, move on to #1.
1. THE WINNER: Loreal Voluminous Power Volume 24H Mascara: Retails for $7-9. I love it, love it, love it. Again, The volume got me right out the gate. It’s infused with collagen, (HELLO…that stuff that gives the Housewives those craaaazy duck-lips, but this is temporary!) it’s a long-wear which means you won’t have to babysit it all day, and it makes your lashes look full and plumper than normal. I love how buildable it is, and without all of the flakes!! It’s clump-free, smudge-free, fragrance-free, ophthalmologist-tested and all around, a no-brainer. I picked up the blackest shade, (as always,) and loved the super-matte packaging to boot. Verdict: Winner. No doubt.
Hope you got some insight on what to pick-up and what to skip. Have a mascara that you can’t get enough of that specializes in something that you need?? Tell me about it!
Try it, love it, tag me!
Xx
