I wish I had longer, lusher lashes. I must not be alone., the selection of mascaras out there on the market is staggering. I’ve tried at least two dozen of them in the past few years – drugstore, department store, beauty boutique and online. I never seem to last with one brand very long. My lashed are blond - practically invisible, so mascara is essential to me. My aging eyes need some help to look, well, lets just say “fresher”.
So far, I’ve purchased false fiber mascara, waterproof mascara, mascaras that lengthen, thicken, separate, fan out and supposedly curl.
I haven’t yet found the perfect one, so I’ve settled for mascaras that don’t smudge or wear off. Most mascaras do a credible job, but staying power is key with my long hours.
I wandered into Ulta yesterday to grab some eyebrow gel (I also have blond eyebrows – part of the fun of being a redhead, I guess). As usual, a salesperson with perfect makeup found me wandering the aisles. Her eyelashes were amazing, so I plunked down $25 to try the brand new Roller Lash by benefit.
Have you tried it yet?
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod11951085
It comes in a neat retro tube inspired a 50s inspired hair curler. New mascara is always fun since it isn’t clumpy yet and there is always that gleeful feeling that you may have stumbled upon something wonderful.
Day 1
I wanted to give this one a good shot, so I headed to my bathroom mirror to take off what little makeup I had on before trying this one out.
It has very little smell, which I think is a plus. The brush is actually a comb, in a somewhat unique shape that combines a lot of elements of the drugstore brands. I’m pretty sure that the only real difference we pay for in mascara brands is the applicator. This one is curved slightly, with shorter “teeth” on one side. I’m not sure why a brush has teeth all the way around if it is curved. The smaller size of the applicator made it easier to wield around my smallish eyes.
This applicator is also thin, which I like, since I can get down to the roots of my eyelashes without smearing the product. I wiped on a few swipes quickly. It adhered to the lashes nicely for a first coat. The major “selling point” on this mascara is it’s supposed ability to curl your lashes. I have a problem with heavy product weighing down my sparse lashes. My lashes did not curl, however, they did look slightly “lifted” and the color is a satin black, so one coat suffices for a quick fix. Today, I wanted to check out the staying-power, so one coat is all I did. Six hours later, when I went to take it off, it was nicely in place, no smudges, and came off easily enough – easier than the waterproof that I usually wear (my eye makeup remover is Almay Moisturizing Pads).
Day 2
I spent a little more time today prepping my lashes to make sure they were dry and product free. Again, easy application on coat #1. I took my time and brushed upwards with long strokes, and held the brush in place for a little longer than I usually do. I keep a Q-tip handy for clean ups, but I did not need it with this applicator. A slightly annoying thing is the little clump of product on the end of the applicator that I had to wipe off. Each time I dipped it back into the tube.
One of my go-to mascaras is They’re Real, also from benefit (it never smudges, but it weighs down my lashes so they never curl, even with a curler). It has this neat little ball of bristles at the end of the brush to help you with tiny little end lashes and clumping. I wish they would combine these two applicators if it would work out to curl and declump.
I worked on coat #2 a few minutes later and could see some real results. Again, it did not curl my lashes, but did lift them slightly, and didn’t make a clumpy mess with more product applied. I finished off my lipstick and applied a tiny coat #3 to the outside lashes. At the end of the day, no smudges, lashes still lifted slightly. I wouldn’t say they looked long and lush, but improved a bit over my regular mascara.
Day 3
Usually I am either sold or not sold by this time, but the jury is still out on this one. I did the same routine, taking a few minutes longer to try to get it right. This time, I curled my lashes to see if it would help – I didn’t notice any difference at the end. I used a dry eyelash brush before and after coat #1 to see if it helped on eyelash separation (not really, but this mascara doesn’t clump that much).
I feel bad for my left eye. I start out with good intentions, always on my right eye. I take lots of time with “righty”, and then get started on “Lefty”. I always have trouble with the left. I don’t know if it because the angle or my shaky hand, but my left eye eyelashes are always a little clumpier, a little less separated, and flatter. I’m not going to blame the mascara on that. As with Day #2, I got the same results – a slight lift in the tips, nice flat black color, but no show-stopping lashes. I will give it a rave review for long-wear – there was no smudging at all for three days, which is a big plus. But since it didn’t do much for making my lashes look longer or fuller, I probably won’t be shelling out $25 each month just to get a slight lift.
So far, I’ve purchased false fiber mascara, waterproof mascara, mascaras that lengthen, thicken, separate, fan out and supposedly curl.
I haven’t yet found the perfect one, so I’ve settled for mascaras that don’t smudge or wear off. Most mascaras do a credible job, but staying power is key with my long hours.
I wandered into Ulta yesterday to grab some eyebrow gel (I also have blond eyebrows – part of the fun of being a redhead, I guess). As usual, a salesperson with perfect makeup found me wandering the aisles. Her eyelashes were amazing, so I plunked down $25 to try the brand new Roller Lash by benefit.
Have you tried it yet?
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod11951085
It comes in a neat retro tube inspired a 50s inspired hair curler. New mascara is always fun since it isn’t clumpy yet and there is always that gleeful feeling that you may have stumbled upon something wonderful.
Day 1
I wanted to give this one a good shot, so I headed to my bathroom mirror to take off what little makeup I had on before trying this one out.
It has very little smell, which I think is a plus. The brush is actually a comb, in a somewhat unique shape that combines a lot of elements of the drugstore brands. I’m pretty sure that the only real difference we pay for in mascara brands is the applicator. This one is curved slightly, with shorter “teeth” on one side. I’m not sure why a brush has teeth all the way around if it is curved. The smaller size of the applicator made it easier to wield around my smallish eyes.
This applicator is also thin, which I like, since I can get down to the roots of my eyelashes without smearing the product. I wiped on a few swipes quickly. It adhered to the lashes nicely for a first coat. The major “selling point” on this mascara is it’s supposed ability to curl your lashes. I have a problem with heavy product weighing down my sparse lashes. My lashes did not curl, however, they did look slightly “lifted” and the color is a satin black, so one coat suffices for a quick fix. Today, I wanted to check out the staying-power, so one coat is all I did. Six hours later, when I went to take it off, it was nicely in place, no smudges, and came off easily enough – easier than the waterproof that I usually wear (my eye makeup remover is Almay Moisturizing Pads).
Day 2
I spent a little more time today prepping my lashes to make sure they were dry and product free. Again, easy application on coat #1. I took my time and brushed upwards with long strokes, and held the brush in place for a little longer than I usually do. I keep a Q-tip handy for clean ups, but I did not need it with this applicator. A slightly annoying thing is the little clump of product on the end of the applicator that I had to wipe off. Each time I dipped it back into the tube.
One of my go-to mascaras is They’re Real, also from benefit (it never smudges, but it weighs down my lashes so they never curl, even with a curler). It has this neat little ball of bristles at the end of the brush to help you with tiny little end lashes and clumping. I wish they would combine these two applicators if it would work out to curl and declump.
I worked on coat #2 a few minutes later and could see some real results. Again, it did not curl my lashes, but did lift them slightly, and didn’t make a clumpy mess with more product applied. I finished off my lipstick and applied a tiny coat #3 to the outside lashes. At the end of the day, no smudges, lashes still lifted slightly. I wouldn’t say they looked long and lush, but improved a bit over my regular mascara.
Day 3
Usually I am either sold or not sold by this time, but the jury is still out on this one. I did the same routine, taking a few minutes longer to try to get it right. This time, I curled my lashes to see if it would help – I didn’t notice any difference at the end. I used a dry eyelash brush before and after coat #1 to see if it helped on eyelash separation (not really, but this mascara doesn’t clump that much).
I feel bad for my left eye. I start out with good intentions, always on my right eye. I take lots of time with “righty”, and then get started on “Lefty”. I always have trouble with the left. I don’t know if it because the angle or my shaky hand, but my left eye eyelashes are always a little clumpier, a little less separated, and flatter. I’m not going to blame the mascara on that. As with Day #2, I got the same results – a slight lift in the tips, nice flat black color, but no show-stopping lashes. I will give it a rave review for long-wear – there was no smudging at all for three days, which is a big plus. But since it didn’t do much for making my lashes look longer or fuller, I probably won’t be shelling out $25 each month just to get a slight lift.