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Archive for the ‘Mascara’ Category
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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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.
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Thursday, February 18th, 2010
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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.
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Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
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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.
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Monday, January 18th, 2010
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 Because I can be slow as molasses in January sometimes (or, you know, most of the time), it took a couple of seconds for the penny to drop with this one. “One-handed mascara?” I thought. “But… aren’t they ALL one-handed mascaras?” Well, no, they’re not: you need one hand to hold the wand, and the other hand to hold the tube you dip it into: or you did until now, at least, because Belvada’s new release allows you to do it all, one-handed.
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.
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Thursday, January 7th, 2010
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You’d think I’d have learned my lesson with Diorshow mascara by now, given that I’ve bought – and been unimpressed with – two different versions off it, but nope, apparently not. Not only did I almost buy ANOTHER tube of it in duty free while I was stuck for 17 hours at Las Palmas airport last month, I also find myself looking at this new version and thinking “Hmmm, I wonder what that’d be like on?”
No! I will not succumb to the lure of Diorshow. Well, no unless someone else tries it first and tells me it’s absolutely amazing, and actually, maybe not even then, to be honest, because the previous incarnations of this have been one of those products I’ve WANTED to like, but which just haven’t really worked out for me.
What’s different about Extase, then? Well, this one contains “Metamorphosis Powders”, which sounds like something out of Harry Potter, to be honest (Seriously, where do they get these names?) but which are designed to expand in size by up to 50% after application. This should, theoretically, mean long, luscious lashes, and it does, indeed contain conditioning agents too, to help repair any damage done by curlers etc. Dior say this can be used either on its own, or on top of your usual mascara, which is probably how I’d use it, being a fan of the “more than one mascara at any given time” technique.
If you’d like to try it out yourself, it costs $28 and is available from www.sephora.com .
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
The ol’ ‘lipgloss with a light in the lid’ has become fairly commonplace in the beauty world, but now here’s Too Faced with a mascara-with-a-light-in-the-lid. Ha! Didn’t expect that, did you? Or maybe you did. Maybe you frequently apply mascara in the dark, and all this time you’ve been thinking, “Lordy, if only someone would invent a light-up mascara!” And now someone has.
It’s not just the lid that lid that lights up, though: it’s your actual lashes. Because this contains, according to Too Faced, “millions of microscopic mirrors”. This means that when you apply it, the light bounces off said mirrors, making your lashes look shiny and glossy. Or that’s the theory, anyway. It also thickens and conditions the lashes, and contains “Panthenol and Vitamins C and E keep lashes healthy and Red Algae increases Keratin resistance for maximum lash flexibility”. So now you know.
Fancy trying it out? It’s $25 from www.sephora.com.
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Thursday, October 15th, 2009
 I don’t often get my hopes up about new mascaras these days.
Oh, don’t get me wrong: I’m still more than happy with my usual Lancome and Fiberwig combo, but each new mascara I review usually leaves me feeling decidedly underwhelmed, which is why Tarte’s Lights, Camera, Lashes! came as such a pleasant surprise.
I wasn’t expecting much. This is billed as a “4-in-one” mascara, claiming to lengthen, curl, volumize AND condition, acting as “a push up bra for your lashes”. So it had a lot to live up to, basically. With the possible exception of the “conditioning” claim (I’ve only used it twice, so it hasn’t really had a chance to make much difference to the actual condition of my lashes, although it may well deliver on that front too, given time), I actually think it delivers on all of those. Yes, I know, it surprised me, too.
Let’s see…
It curls. I didn’t curl my lashes before applying it in the pictures above, and, as you can see, it has definitely curled them. So that’s one box checked.
It lengthens. Yep: Mr Dollface actually asked me if I was wearing what he referred to as “eyelash extensions” today, so I’d say it’s done some good there, too. Another box checked.
It volumises. I had to be careful with this one. I like my lashes long and spidery, so the temptation for me is to layer on the mascara like there’s no tomorrow. And that can obviously lead to clumpiness, which you can see a bit of on my right eye. I used less product on the left eye, and got less clumping, but less volume, too. There is a happy medium somewhere between the two, though, and I managed to arrive at that the first time I used this mascara, although I didn’t take photos on that occasion.
Overall, I really liked this and would definitely buy it again. I don’t often say that about mascara, so that’s high praise indeed. You can buy this at www.sephora.com, where it costs $18.
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Friday, October 9th, 2009
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A mascara called “Va Va Voom” – sounds right up my street, doesn’t it? This is Boots 17’s latest release, and it promises to deliver drama, volume and a formula that allows you to apply as many coats as you like without it clumping. Sounds good, but does it work?
The first thing you’re likely to notice about this product is the oversized brush. As regular readers will know, I prefer my mascara wands on the slim side, because the thicker they are, the harder I find them to use. Actually, this one was easier to use than many similar wands I’ve tried, although ultimately I don’t think the big, bristly style will ever be my favourite – I’m too clumsy to avoid getting the product all over my eyelids with this type of brush!
That said, this mascara wasn’t too hard to apply, and left only a couple of spots on my eyelids. The “after” pciture above shows the results after just one coat, and I actually found that one coat was best for me with this, as it did tend to clump a little with extra layers, and those layers also dragged out the curl in my lashes. I’m wearing several coats in the top picture, and don’t think it looks as good.
For a budget mascara, though (it’s only £5.68), this does a pretty good job. I found the effect to be fluttery rather than dramatic, and it’s a mascara I’d probably reserve for day-wear, but if you like larger mascara brushes, you’ll probably get on better with it!
Boots 17 Va Va Voom Volume Mascara, £5.68
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Thursday, October 1st, 2009
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Collagen is one of those ingredients that crops up in all kinds of beauty products, so I guess it’s no surprise to see it in Collection 2000’s new Collagen Curl mascara, which launches this month.
As the name and the curved wand suggests, curling is one of the main purposes of this product, but it also claims to provide dramatic volume, too – up to 7x the volume of your natural lashes, in fact. The shape of the wand is designed to fan out the lashes, making your eyes look bigger and brighter.
This is available in Black, Ultra Black and Plum, and will cost just £4.88. Visit the Collection 2000 website for information on stockists.
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Monday, September 21st, 2009
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Even although only one of the mascaras in my Sephora Lash Stash has met my (admittedly very picky) requirements so far, I still think it’s a great buy, especially for mascara addicts like myself, because it gives you an opportunity to try out of all these different products for only a fraction of the price the full-sized versions would cost.
Just when I thought it was safe to go back into Sephora, though, they go and bring out a new Lash Stash, containing ten DIFFERENT mascaras. Sigh. Looks like I already have something on my Wish List for my next trip to the States, then.
This time round you get :
- 0.16 oz Hourglass Superficial Lash
- 0.09 oz Urban Decay Skyscraper Multi-Benefit Mascara
- 0.13 oz Korres Abyssinia Oil Volumizing and Strengthening Mascara
- 0.14 oz Benefit A Little Bit BADGal Lash Mascara
- 0.2 oz Smashbox Lash DNA
- 0.03 oz Laura Mercier Thickening and Building Mascara
- 0.07 oz Fresh Supernova
- 0.1 oz Sephora Lash Stretcher
- 0.14 oz Tarte 4 Day Stay Lash Stain
- 0.12 oz Cargo LashActivator
All of these cost just $39: a bargain. And lots of fun, too. Get it at www.sephora.com, and if mascara isn’t your thing, there are also versions containing perfume and skincare products in trial-sized versions.
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