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Category Archives: MascaraDollface Reviews: Boots No. 7 Exceptional Definition Mascara
Boots No. 7′s Exceptional Definition Mascara claims it’s about to “transform the way women wear mascara”. Naturally, then, I was as excited as a kid at Christmas when it landed on my desk, because a new mascara? That’s going to give me defined, fluttery lashes? Bring it on, Boots! The key to this product is the brush, the purpose of which is threefold:
Posted in Beauty Product Reviews, Mascara
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Dollface Reviews: Boots 17 Wild Curl MascaraAs longtime readers will know, when it comes to mascara, I’m all about the curl – or about holding the curl in place, anyway. A product can lengthen and thicken as much as it wants, but there’s nothing like a bit of curl to widen and emphasise the eye, so if my mascara doesn’t lock the curl I get from my trusty eyelash curlers in place, it’s of no use to me whatsoever. This is why I rate Lancome’s waterproof mascara’s so highly, and it’s also why when I was sent a tube of Boots 17′s Wild Curl Mascara, which claims to hold curl for up to ten hours, I was really keen to try it. It looks like this:
Suitably “wild”, no? The brush looks like this:
Posted in Beauty Product Reviews, Mascara
Tagged boots, boots 17, hypnose drama waterproof, wild curl mascara
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Dollface Reviews: Lancome Hypnose Drama Waterproof MascaraBrace yourselves, readers: I think I may have found a mascara I like even more than Lancome L’Extreme. I know, I didn’t think it would ever happen either: trust me, I’m as surprised as you are, although you’ll probably be a little less surprised to know that the knew King of the Mascaras (perhaps) is also by Lancome, who continue to reign supreme as the Supreme Rulers of All Mascara. At least as far as I’m concerned. Although it’s been out for a while, I’d resisted buying Hypnose Drama until the waterproof version came out, knowing that if it’s not waterproof, I probably won’t be all that impressed by it. I’d actually forgotten all about it, though, so when I spotted the waterproof version at Sephora, I instantly threw it into my basket, and then rushed home to try it out. Folks, I love this. It’s an amazing mascara, and totally lives up to the “drama” of the title, creating long, black, curly lashes that could pass for falsies if you were to look at them in some dim light. The brush on this is long and slightly curvy, and it’s this that gives Hypnose Drama the edge over L’Extreme for me, as it lengthens and curls. As fabulous as L’Extreme is at lengthening the lashes, I find I need to curl my lashes first for maximum impact. Although I did curl my lashes before taking these photos (force of habit), you can do without, and the lashes will still look curly: perhaps not to the extent that they will if you’ve used an eyelash curler, but still more than they would on their own. Or more than mine would on their own, anyway.
What’s more, the formula holds the curl all day. When I take this off at night, I find that although the mascara comes off easily with my regular eye makeup remover, the curl is still there: bonus!
(Bear in mind that these photos are extreme close-ups, and thus extremely unforgiving: the product looks much smoother in real life). A quick word about the waterproof qualities of this: when I was on vacation, I wore it to the beach one day by mistake (I say “by mistake” – I wouldn’t normally wear mascara to the beach, but we’d intended it to be a very brief visit, with no swimming, before we headed somewhere else, but we ended up hanging around, and, of course, getting wet…) and was hit several times smack in the face by massive waves, which more than proved the staying power of the mascara: not a single run or smudge!
In conclusion: I think I may have found a new favourite, but before I formally award the title, I’m going to wait a week or so, because I also picked up a tube of Hypnose Precious Cells at the airport. It’s not waterproof, so it may not be a totally fair competition, but hey, I had some dollars left, it was there… you know how it goes. Precious Cells review coming up soon, then. For now, if you want to try Hypnose Drama Waterproof, it’s $24.50 direct from Lancome or £20 if you’re in the UK (Which, incidentally, kind of sucks, doesn’t it? Why do we have to pay more?).
Posted in Beauty Product Reviews, Holy Grail Beauty Products, Mascara
Tagged hypnose drama waterproof, lancome
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Lancome Hypnôse Precious Cells Mascara
In the meantime, though, let the record show that this is a two-in-one product, in that it’s both a thickening mascara and a lash stimulant, so while it will give you an instantly thicker look to your lashes, the brand also claim that if you use it for 28 days, you’ll start to see an improvement in the natural thickness of your lashes. It does this using apple plant extract, plus some anti-hair loss ingredients which will help strengthen lashes at the root, condition them, and stop them falling out. Sounds good to me, and I guess it was only a matter of time before someone hit on the idea of combining one of the lash-enhancing products that are so popular right now with an actual mascara. The product retails for £22, and is available in black, brown and blue. Anyone tried it? Rimmel London 1-2-3 Looks Mascara: three looks in one
Option 1 provides 3x the volume of your natural lashes, for a “daytime” look. Option 2 volumises the lashes by 5x, for a more dramatic look. Option 3, meanwhile, gives you 10x the volume, for what Rimmel describes as “show stopping volume”. Personally, I’m not sure I’d ever use the first two options here. My philosophy with mascara, you see, has always been “the bigger, the better” and I just can’t see why you’d want 3x the volume when you COULD have 10x the volume. I am a mascara obsessive, however, and I tend to think that every time is the right time for show-stopping volume. “Daytime look”? Pshaw! Give me the gigantic lashes and give me them NOW! If, however, you like to change your lash look according to the time of day or type of occasion, this could be worth checking out, and at just £8, at least it’s not going to cost too much to investigate. Anyone tried it yet? What did you think, if so? Dollface Reviews: Estee Lauder Sumptuous Waterproof Bold Volume Lifting Mascara
Waterproof mascara? That promises to lift the lashes? This was always going to be one I’d want to try, so when Estee Lauder sent me a sample of their Sumptuous Waterproof Bold Volume Lifting Mascara last week, I couldn’t wait to try it out. The name really tells you everything you need to know about this product. I was sent it in 02 – Brown, but it’s also available in black, and if you prefer a non-waterproof product, well, they do that too. When it comes from mascara, my preference is for products that make the lashes stick up towards the eyebrows (this makes your eyes look much bigger than a product that lengthens but doesn’t lift), and keep them there all day, and to my delight, that’s exactly what this does. In the image above, my lashes are curled, and I’m wearing mascara on the left eye only, to give you an idea of the difference it makes. This mascara creates a spiky effect, and looks a little clumpy in the image, probably because I layered on quite a bit if it – it’s actually much better after one or two coats, but, me being me, I can never resist adding just one more… This also gives a nice lengthening effect, and because it’s waterproof it doesn’t smudge or run, although it does remove easily enough with my trusty old Boots Botanics Soothing Eye-Makeup Remover. It costs £18 per tube, and is available from Estee Lauder direct, or anywhere with an Estee Lauder counter.
Posted in Beauty Product Reviews, Mascara
Tagged bold volume lifting mascara, esteee lauder, waterproof mascara
2 Comments
Dollface Reviews: Lacura Beauty Volumising Mascara
No, that’s not a typo on the image: this mascara really does only cost £2.39, which has to make it one of the most affordable mascaras around, if not the most affordable. It’s by Aldi’s brand Lacura, which, you may remember, caused a bit of a stir last year with its Wrinkle Stop serum, and which has gone on to produce many more skincare and cosmetic products, some of which I’ll be reviewing here soon. For now, though, the mascara, which Aldi sent me a couple of weeks ago, and which I’ve been putting through its paces ever since. This bills itself as a volumising mascara, but unlike most similar products, it comes with a slim brush rather than a thicker one. Perhaps because of this, I didn’t actually notice a whole lot of volumising, but I did find it easy to use and accurate, and the product goes on smoothly, and without any clumping. As regular readers will know, my preference is for mascaras that lift and curl, as opposed to ones that add volume, so I’m always slightly biased when testing ones that don’t give me huge, spidery lashes! This is definitely more of a daytime mascara, and the look it creates is subtler than I would usually wear, but I was impressed with how nicely it goes on, and how long it lasts. I almost always wear waterproof mascara, which this isn’t, but it does a good job of staying put all day, and I haven’t had any running or smudging with it. I particularly like to use it on the lower lashes, because the shape of the brush is ideal for that, and there’s always just enough product on the brush to coat the lashes without making them clump together. Overall, not a show-stopper, but definitely a good budget buy if you’re looking for a product to emphasise the eyes without spending a fortune. It’s available at Aldi. Collection 2000 Big Fake Mascara
The blurb being used to market Collection 2000′s new ‘Big Fake’ mascara describes it as a provider of “flirtatious forties glamour”. Now, I love false eyelashes, and I also love all things 40s (I’m sure I don’t even need to mention that I love mascara, do I?) so this sounds almost as if it was designed just for me. There’s more, though: “This marvellous mascara will double your lash length in one fell swoop!” says the blurb. And even although, for some of us, that would mean eyelashes that reach our hairline, never mind our eyebrows, I’m pretty much sold. I’m slightly out off by the fact that this is apparently Collection 2000′s biggest brush ever: I tend to prefer narrow mascara wands to big fat ones, but at just £4.99, I could be willing to give it a whirl, anyway. If you are too, it’s available from March 17th at Tesco, and from April 12th from other retailers. Clinique High Lengths Mascara
I’d apologise for bringing you yet another mascara post this week, but if you’re a regular reader you’re already familiar with my mascara obsession, and if not, well, just lookit this! That’s quite some mascara wand, no? This is Clinique’s new High Lengths Mascara, which is due for release this February, and as the name – and the appearance – suggests, this baby is all about length. Great! Me too! According to the people at Clinique, High Lengths “stretches lashes to unrivaled lengths with beautifully defined separation”. It does this by dint of that long, skinny applicator, which has a few different things going for it. Most noticeable is the length and shape: I much prefer thin applicators for mascaras, because I find them much more accurate, and much less messy than their chunky counterparts, so so far this one is looking good to me. The tines are also strategically placed, along one side of the wand only, and this is so that you always have the right amount of product on the applicator. The side without the tines is a smooth, bright green, so you always know which way round it’s supposed to go. Add to all of this a bunch of lengthening and conditioning ingredients, and you have what sounds like a really interesting product. Will it live up to the claims, though? We’ll have to wait until February to find out. Belvada one-handed mascara
So, how does it work? Well, rather than screwing open the tube, and then pushing the mascara wand back inside it when you want to re-load the brush, this uses a sliding mechanism to open, pushing the wand through the mascara, and ensuring the brush is evenly coated. As well as being able to use it with one hand, this also means you get less clumping, and your mascara should last for longer, because you won’t be tempted to “pump” the brush, which, as we all know, is what makes mascara dry out. This gets amazing reviews on the Boots website, with people saying it’s well worth the £20 price tag. If you want to try it for yourself, you can buy it here.  | |||||||
Rimmel’s new 1-2-3 Looks Mascara 
