Apply Mascara, Take Over the World

If you've read any of my previous posts (or even just the name of my blog) then you probably know by now that I am a bit of a makeup junkie. However, my obsession is often most-heavily fixated on one of the most contentious products on the market: mascara.

I think it would suffice to say that everyone has their own feelings when it comes to what makes the "perfect" mascara. We all have different lash goals and we certainly all have different lashes to work with.
 

For more than a decade I have scoured makeup counters, drug stores, beauty stores of all shapes and sizes, trying on every mascara that I could find. Some were very affordable, some broke the bank. Some were everywhere I looked, some were nearly impossible to find and get my hands on. The quest is unending -- I am constantly on the hunt for the newest and the best mascara, and I have found some winners (and a very very long line of losers) along the way.

Here is a small (seriously...) sampling of my current mascara collection:

I could spend hours bashing all of the mascaras that I DON'T like, but I don't really want to write that and I'm assuming you don't really want to read that. We all have our opinions about what's great and what's not so great and that's fine -- different strokes for different folks!

The truth is whether you can spend $5 or $50 on your mascara, I'm sure that you can find a mascara that you love. I have favorites that I can get at any local store that sells makeup and I have others that I have to go out of my way to get (and I am always more than willing to for a great mascara)!

My suggestion? If you are willing to splurge to try a new high-end mascara, buy it from a store like Sephora or Nordstrom -- that way if it doesn't win you over, you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked.

To help you understand my lashes and my mascara goals I will say that I have naturally long and curled lashes that are so light they are nearly invisible some days. I want a false-lash effect that looks like I am wearing a nice (not overly-dramatic) set of false lashes (think Velour Lashes Whispie Sweet Nothings). I want them to be long, voluminous, curled and separated just-so. I am uber-neurotic about how my lashes/mascara look and I have a small collection of Sonia Kashuk lash combs (seriously the greatest $5 you will ever spend) hiding in various places to ensure that they are never looking anything less than amazing.

But I will go ahead and share some of my all-time favorite mascaras and how they made the short list.

1. Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux Cils. This has, for at least 5 years now, been my absolute "holy grail" mascara. I would sing this from mountaintops given the chance. But what makes it so great to me? Well, where do I even begin... first of all, this mascara will absolutely give you a false-lash effect, which has been the goal of many a beauty blogger for quite some time. Maybe others have the time and inclination to put on actual false lashes every day, but I do not. I don't even want to put them on for special occasions -- so I don't! I don't need them with this mascara. I regularly get asked what false lashes I am wearing when I wear this mascara. ALL. THE. TIME. It is creamy, it comes in several gorgeous shades (I also have the purple and burgundy shades as well as both of the black shades), it is long-wearing, and it does everything a great mascara should: it volumizes, lengthens, separates (does not clump), and curls. The mascara itself is a little on the drier side which I personally am a fan of -- I don't like mascaras that are gloopy and wet -- I find them near impossible to work with as they naturally want to clump together. I love the densely-bristled brush that allows every single lash to get wrapped in deep black drama. The only potential drawbacks of this mascara are that there can be minimal flaking (because it is a drier mascara) and it is quite pricy because it is from the ever-fabulous YSL.From the gold tube to the mascara goldmine inside there is nothing that doesn't scream "luxurious" about this product. I also love their Babydoll (rubber-bristled brush) and Shocking (a twisted-bristle brush) mascaras. Babydoll focuses on building beautiful length while Shocking focuses on building intense volume.

 YSL can do no wrong when they make a mascara. I love them all.

2. Armani Eyes to Kill Excess Volume. From the slightly hourglass-shaped brush to the immensely sexy black embossed packaging this mascara screams "I"m a sexy goddess." This mascara gives me a similar false-lash effect to the YSL mascara, but it's a little less intensely lengthening and volumizing. That is by no means to say that it will not blow you away -- it absolutely will. You will get length, volume, separation and some curl from this fantastic mascara, but you may also get a little flaking as it is also a drier formula. I love the brush that allows me to coat my lashes quickly and effectively while keeping them separated. It gives you a beautiful "fan" of lashes without looking spidery or clumpy.

3. Marc Jacobs O!Mega Lash. This is a newer mascara and I have to hand it to Marc -- I was almost unwilling to try another one of his mascaras after I tried his "Genius Gel" which I thought was horrible, to put it gently (another story for another day). Mr. Jacobs has 150% redeemed himself with O!Mega Lash. This beautiful mascara comes with a somewhat-typical looking brush which is, suprisingly, exactly what I think a lot of mascaras seem to be forgetting. A densely-bristled brush is precisely what allows you to pack on volume and build length and most importantly, keep lashes separated while building that length and volume. It seems so simple, yet so many companies seem to screw it up. This formula is smooth and creamy and a little wetter than both the YSL and Armani. I get more-than-average length, volume and curl from this mascara but to me it is a slightly more "natural" effect. I love to use this for an everyday look where I don't want to seem overly-glamorous (yes -- that is a potentially real problem that fabulous people like me have).

4. L'Oreal Voluminous Power Volume. Fun fact of the day, for those of you who do not already know, L'Oreal is basically the Queen of the makeup world. But seriously -- they own both YSL and Armani along with other brands like Urban Decay and Maybelline. They are a beauty powerhouse. So if you ever wondered why there are so many "drugstore dupes" and why their packaging and products often seem identical, well, that's because they are made in the same factory since it's all really one big makeup family! But onto this mascara: it is basically the drugstore version of my beloved Armani Eyes to Kill Excess Volume! It gives a little less length and a little less drama (the formula is a bit less magical), but essentially, they are the same. So if you want Armani Eyes for L'Oreal prices, this one's your girl.

5. Essence I Love Extreme Volume Mascara. To be honest, the first time I saw this brand at Ulta my immediate thought was, "Oh, that's sweet -- they have a whole little end-cap of tween makeup." But I have since learned that regardless of whom Essence gears their marketing towards these people know what's up when it comes to mascara (at a GREAT price!). For those of you who want to spend $5 on your mascara -- this one is for you! I LOVE this mascara (AND it's sister, I Love Extreme Crazy Volume Mascara, which has a rubber-bristle brush instead) -- it has an enormous densely-bristled brush and a super-creamy formula that swipes on instant length and pretty great volume. For $5 I could not imagine let alone ask for more from a mascara. This is literally better than half of the high-end brands that I have paid 4x the amount for. If you are thinking of getting a mascara like the Perversion mascara from Urban Decay STOP and BUY THIS INSTEAD! It gives you the same feel (super smooth like whipped butter) with a better result and less clumps.

5. Maybelline The Falsies Mascara. I'd be lying if I said I get excited when Maybelline comes out with a new mascara. In fact my response is quite the opposite -- I usually moan and then begrudgingly go try it out, feeling it is my beauty-blogger duty to be able to speak knowledgeably on all things beauty. But there are exceptions to my annoyance with so many of their mascaras and the main one is The Falsies. I LOVE the spoon-shaped brush that makes it so easy to coat all of my lashes in one motion instead of two, because the brush is perfectly contoured to the shape lashes naturally go in -- an arc. The formula itself is creamy, pigmented and doesn't make a hassle out of getting quick length and volume. If you need a great drugstore standby, give this one a go (though I recommend that you stick with the original -- there seem to be numerous spin offs of this very mascara from Maybelline and I don't know why: they made it right the first time).

6. Maybelline The Colossal. This was the first Maybelline mascara that I made an exception for. Something about it's bright yellow tube and purple metallic lettering made me amused enough to give it an honest go, despite how many times other Maybelline mascaras had not lived up to their hype or my expectations. I think that because they were the first brand to create a mascara back in the early 1900's that they somehow feel obligated to keep trying to dominate the mascara world. Personally, I think destroying "Great Lash" would be a good first step, but obviously that's just me. But I digress: I gave The Colossal a try and was pleased to find that the somewhat-wet formula did a great job at delivering clump-free volume. If you want a very volumizing mascara that doesn't add a lot of length, this is a great choice.

7. Eyeko Black Magic Mascara. This fun little gem comes in some unique packaging -- a squeezable tube designed to allow you to get the most product out of it with minimal waste. I love the curved brush that allows you to quickly build length and volume on all of your lashes simultaneously. The formula is a bit wetter than most of my other favorite mascaras but dries very quickly on the lashes and does not smudge like wet formulas tend to do. The brush also separates as it coats leaving your lashes looking perfectly pretty without needing to comb through them a lot when you're done applying as many coats as you wish. Like the Marc Jacobs mascara this gives more of what I consider to be an "everyday" look and not a ton of magical lash drama. The different sides of the brush actually have different shapes -- one is flatter -- that allow you to build length or volume, respectively. This probably works nicely for people who use the same hand to apply mascara to both eyes, but being my weird ambidextrous self I apply mascara to my right eye with my right hand and to my left eye with my left hand. Thus, the only drawback to this mascara (for me) is that my lashes don't look equally amazing when I do this since I am using the flat side of the brush on one eye and the rounded side on the other! It would also suggest that people who are right-handed and left-handed with experience this mascara very differently, because based on how you hold the wand you will alter the overall outcome of how the mascara looks on your lashes (for anyone who doesn't believe the wand makes half the difference in mascara, try this mascara).

8. Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara. This is one of very few rubber-bristled brushes that I actually love. Not unlike the Marc Jacobs I find that this mascara does all of the things I want a mascara to do (volume, length, curl, separate), it just doesn't do it so intensely that I feel like I should be wearing stilettos and couture with it (funny, since it is Chanel). From the sleek packaging (if you wonder why I mention packaging sporadically it's because when you're buying a high-end mascara, packaging is a portion of the price -- it's luxury, so it needs to look like it!) to the creamy formula this product is coveted by rich housewives everywhere (or so I imagine). Like my beloved YSL line, the Chanel line also offers some fun, beautiful colors in this mascara that look great on all eye colors. If you want a glamorous high-end mascara but over-the-top drama isn't your style, try this mascara.

9. Buxom Lash Mascara. This is the other instance in which I fell in love with a rubber-bristled brush. The super-creamy formula and the perfectly-shaped hourglass brush build beautiful volume and length and separate perfectly. They used to make a blue-black shade, too, but it seems to have disappeared, sadly -- it was GORGEOUS. If you are looking for a great rubber-bristled mascara that won't be over-the-top and are looking to get closer to the high-end without really splurging, then I recommend giving this beautiful mascara a try. The formula flakes a bit once it begins to dry (after a week or two of use), but it's not noticeable to most (I laser-focus on small details). This mascara is just great to put on -- I can't say that about all mascaras that I love, but something about this brush and formula just feels nice putting it on!


Aaaaand that's all! I could have made a 10th but technically it is a discontinued so it wouldn't be very helpful to anyone for me to gush about how much I love it (it would also further depress me that it was discontinued).

What are some of your favorite mascaras? What price range do you consider "splurging?"

I'd love to hear about what mascaras you enjoy and why, or even which ones you don't and why!


xo,
M