Category Archives: Mascara

Spotted: Maybelline The Falsies Big Eyes Mascara – Plus Photos, Quick Review

Purchased

I was up very early this morning, and just about nothing was open but 24 hour drugstores. So, I went to Walgreens and found several new displays, including one for Maybelline’s new mascara – The Falsies Big Eyes. It’s double ended, with one brush for the upper lashes and one brush for the lower lashes (photographs of both brushes are below!).  Given that the back of the package lists only one list of ingredients, I believe both the upper and lower lashes mascaras are the same formula.   Continue reading

ELF 3-in-1 Mascara Review, Swatches, Photos

Purchased

ELF 3 in 1 Mascara

A few weeks ago, I gave a rather bad review to Rimmel’s Scandal Eyes Show Off mascara – you can read the full review here, but the gist of it was that the formula was terrible (lots of smudging!) but I liked the shape of the brush.  Lyn from Cheap as F suggested that I try ELF’s 3-in-1 mascara instead, which has a similar brush, with a spiked ball on the end, but is a tubing mascara with a good formula.  A $3 tubing mascara? I bought it two days later.

ELF 3 in 1 Mascara brush

I apologize for the poor quality of the above picture, but you can see the shape of the brush well. It’s a silicone brush with very short bristles, and the spiked ball at the top. It does tend to come out of the tube with a little extra drop of mascara on the tip, but it’s easily wiped away with either a tissue or the edge of the mascara tube.

I love the shape of this mascara brush – smaller silicone brush tend to work well for my lashes, and this is no exception.  Both the standard part of the tube and the ball tip work well; they separate my lashes and leave them completely free of clumps while adding length and a little bit of volume. I’ve never tried a tubing mascara that adds much volume – this is about as good as it gets.  There was a bit of a learning curve in terms of not getting mascara on my face with the ball part while using the other part of the wand to apply mascara, but I figured it out pretty quickly.  Also worth noting is that the wand is fairly flexible – I don’t like the flexibility, as it’s a bit harder to use the wand, but it’s workable. For a $3 mascara this good, I can live with it!

I unfortunately don’t have a good before picture at hand, but here’s the after picture, which I think shows the mascara off very well:

ELF 3 in 1 Mascara swatch applied

I can wear this mascara all day (12+ hours) with no smudging, smearing or flaking.  Since it’s a tubing mascara, it removes easily with warm water. Oddly, it seems to come off in small pieces rather than in long tubes – as other tubing mascaras I have tried have – but that is just an oddity, not a problem.

Overall, I definitely recommend this mascara! It is super cheap, has a great wand, a great formula, and is my new every day mascara when I want a more natural look and / or easy removal.  Thank you so much, Lyn, this mascara is great!

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Rimmel ScandalEyes Show Off Mascara Review, Swatches, Photos

Purchased Affiliate Links
Rimmel ScandalEyes Show Off MascaraI haven’t tried very many Rimmel products, so during a 50% off sale at Walgreens, I picked up the new Scandal Eyes Show Off mascara – mainly because I was intrigued by the brush.  I’ve seen several brushes with a spiked ball on the tip, but this is the first I’ve tried.   Continue reading

Wet n Wild Color Up! Colored Mascara Swatches & Quick Review

Purchased
Wet n Wild Color Up MegaVolume Mascara

Olive Green // Indigo Blue // Cashmere Plum // Retro Pink

Yesterday, I spotted a new Wet n Wild limited edition collection consisting of four colored mascaras: Olive Green, Indigo Blue, Cashmere Plum, and Retro Pink.  They’re in Wet n Wild’s Megavolume mascara formula, which I had not previously tried.

Here’s the same skin swatch I posted yesterday:

Wet n Wild Color Up Mascara Swatches - Olive Green // Indigo Blue // Cashmere Plum // Retro Pink

Olive Green // Indigo Blue // Cashmere Plum // Retro Pink

You can see that the formulas of the mascaras differ; the green has the best formula by far.  The blue is extremely pigmented, but difficult to work with because it stains the skin so badly (it was VERY difficult to remove the stain from the swatch on my arm – it took a lot of oil, a lot of makeup remover, and a lot of scrubbing). The plum is a lovely color but very wet – I have the mascara open now, and I’m hoping that drying it out will improve the formula. The pink is a bit too wet, but not as bad as the purple.

Here are close-up photos of the mascaras on my lashes:

Olive Green

Indigo Blue

Cashmere Plum

Retro Pink

As you can see, all the colors show up fairly well. I had the most difficultly getting Cashmere Plum to show up because the formula is so wet, which makes the color hard to build.  Note that the blue will definitely stain light-colored lashes.

These are quite subtle from a distance, but I like how they add just a little color. Here are some photos of the green, which I am wearing today, from a bit more distance.


I’ve been wearing this one – which again, has the best formula – for about 7 hours today and it’s wearing very well – no smudging, smearing, or flaking thus far. I’ll update if I end up having any problems with the formula!

Overall, these are fun mascaras at a great price point, and a great way to experiment with the colored mascara trend. I would recommend the green one without reservations. The blue is lovely, but tricky to apply due to the staining issue – I would recommend it only if you’re willing to be extra-careful when you apply.  I’m still on the fence about the purple and I’ll have to see how it is after it has a chance to dry out. As for the pink? I have no idea how to wear a pink mascara – but I guess I would recommend it if you’re looking for one!

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post.   Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Spotted: Wet n Wild Color Up! Colored Mascara

Purchased
Wet n Wild Color Up MegaVolume Mascara

Wet n Wild Color Up MegaVolume Mascara

I was just at Walgreens, and I spotted several exciting new displays.  I’m going out this evening, but I’ll do my best to post as many as I can (starting with what I think will be the most popular!) before I need to get ready.  First up: Wet n Wild has a new, limited edition, collection of four colored mascaras out in the megavolume mascara formula.

Here’s the full display (I believe all items in the display except the mascaras are permanent items):

Wet n Wild Color Up Mascara Display

click to enlarge

And a close up of the mascaras:

Wet n Wild Color Up Mascara Display 2

Here are some quick skin swatches of the mascaras:

Wet n Wild Color Up Mascara Swatches

Olive Green // Indigo Blue // Cashmere Plum // Retro Pink

 First impressions:

Olive Green is fantastic; great formula, the color shows up beautifully on dark lashes.

Indigo Blue is difficult to work with because it stains the skin instantly – you have to be very careful when you apply!

Cashmere Plum is too wet; it may work better once the formula dries out a little. I may leave the tube open for a couple hours and see if that helps.

Retro Pink is also a little too wet; I have no idea what kind of look goes with a pink mascara!

I have lots to post and little time to post it, so swatches of these on my lashes will need to wait until tomorrow!

EDIT: Swatches (on the lashes) are in this post.

*I purchased all products in this post. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Wet n Wild New 2013 MegaLength & MegaVolume Mascara Review, Photos

wet n wild 2013 megavolume megalength mascara

Wet n Wild has recently released five new mascaras – Megavolume, Megalength, Megaprotein, Megaimpact, and Megaplump – all come in washable formulas, and I believe only Megalength and Megaplum come in waterproof formulas.  These are the same names as Wet n Wild’s previous mascaras, so I’m not sure if these new mascaras are new formulas, or just new packaging – but from photos, it does look like the wands of at least some of the mascaras have changed, which can make a big different to the performance!

wet n wild megavolume megalength mascaras

First, let’s take a look at the wands – Megalength has a silicone wand with very short bristles.  It’s sort of like Maybelline’s The Rocket mascara wand, but smaller.

Wet n Wild Megalength Mascara Wand

Wet n Wild Megalength Mascara Wand

 

The Megavolume mascara wand is very different. It’s a traditional-type mascara wand, and it’s quite large.  I had trouble applying this mascara – I got it all over my eyelid. I actually usually use a mascara guard to prevent that, but I don’t use one when I’m testing mascara since I know most people don’t.

Wet n Wild Megavolume Mascara Wand

Wet n Wild Megavolume Mascara Wand

And now, performance! Here is a before/ after of the Megalength mascara on my left eye..  It performed well. It’s supposed to lengthen, lift lashes, and be clump free, and it does all of those things.  It doesn’t give much volume, but it doesn’t claim that it will.

No Mascara // WnW Megalength Mascara

No Mascara // WnW Megalength Mascara

And here is a before / after of my right eye with the Megavolume mascara. Again, I had real difficultly applying this mascara – it didn’t seem to transfer from the brush to my lashes, and then it got all over my eyelid (you can see it along my lashline).  This one did clump some, which is typical of a more volumizing formula. I did not like this one as much, but some might – it just depends on what you’re looking for.

I also tried layering the mascaras. Applying Megavolume and then Megalength worked beautifully – I got volume, and then the Megalength brush acted like a comb and separated my lashes. This gave me the best result I was able to achieve with these mascaras. I did get some mascara on my eyelid – which would have bothered me if I had been wearing eyeshadow! Applying Megalength first and then Megavolume didn’t work at all – it created a lot of clumping.

Both mascaras wore well for me – no smearing, smudging, or flaking.

Overall, I’m a pretty solid “meh” on these mascaras. They’re definitely not going to replace my everyday favorites, but if I needed a super cheap mascara for some reason, I’d head straight for the Megalength!

Have you tried any of Wet n Wild’s new (or older) mascaras? What’s your verdict?