Category Archives: Mascara

Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara Review, Photos

Hourglass Film Noir Mascara – I did not curl my eyelashes

Usually, I don’t find high end mascaras worth it so I stick to my drugstore favorites.  However, last year I bought Sephora’s LashStash sampler which contained several mini-versions of high end mascaras when it was on sale. It’s a really good way to try out a bunch of mascaras – however, it’s already April and I haven’t even finished the second one (which is why I’ve decided to sell several of the untouched ones on my -->blog sale -->). The first one I opened was -->Fairydrops -->, which I hated, and the second was Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum, which I absolutely love.

The Hourglass mascara is in a lovely, classy black tube, and the brush is (very slightly) hourglass shaped. The brush does not end up with clumps of extra mascara on the end, which I appreciate.

I have two absolute requirements in a mascara. First, it needs to separate my lashes well – I hate clumps, and I dislike using a lash comb.  Second, it needs to last without flaking – I tend to rub my eyes, and I hate flakes.  Hourglass Film Noir fulfills both of these requirements beautifully. You can see the great separation I have in the photo, and there was no flaking even after a 16 hour day.

I also (of course), want as much volume, length, and curl as possible – I love the “false lash” look, which I have never really achieved – though I’m always hoping for it! Hourglass mascara does a great job of lengthening, but doesn’t add much volume. It adds a lot of curl, even without curling my eyelashes.  Overall, I’m very happy with how my lashes look with this mascara, even though it does fall short on the volume front.

Easy removal is a bonus for me, but since I’m used to wearing waterproof mascara, I’m used it removal taking a few minutes.  I find that Hourglass Film Noir, which is not a waterproof mascara – but lasts like one! –  is easier to remove than waterproof mascaras, but more difficult to remove than most non-waterproof mascaras.

If this mascara was under $10 like all my other mascara favorites, it would be my all time favorite mascara ever. It is my favorite mascara formula ever.  But – it’s $28, and frankly, for a makeup item that needs to be replaced as often as mascara, I don’t think it’s worth it for the price.  So, I will treasure and use up my mini tube, but I don’t expect to buy a full size one!

If you’re less wary of expensive mascaras than I am, you can purchase Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara at Sephora.

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This post is from Project Swatch. All rights reserved.

Fairydrops Scandal Queen Mascara Review, Photos

 

I realized that I have recently posted several rave reviews, and you might think that I love every product I try, which is assuredly not the case! So, I thought I would post a couple products that did not live up to my expectations to warn you away from them 🙂 Of course, your experiences may vary, and if you are happy with any of the products I post negative reviews of, I’d love to hear about it!

I had heard such amazing things about Fairydrops Scandal Queen mascara that I broke my drugstore-only mascara rule and bought a full-size of it from Sephora.  I ended up returning that one, but I have a mini from the LashStash sampler set, and that’s the one I’ll be reviewing today.

As you can see, Fairydrops Scandal Queen mascara comes in some pretty cute packaging.  The packaging isn’t really my style though; I prefer sleek, minimalistic packaging to something cute like this. But, packaging is never really a big deal to me – so that doesn’t influence my opinion of it.

It is a fiber mascara, with a uniquely shaped wand. I find that the wand doesn’t really affect how the mascara applies – it applies more or less like most mascaras I’ve tried.

It actually looks quite nice when I first apply it – it is very dark black, and gives me nice volume, length, and more curl than almost any mascara I’ve tried.

clean lashes

fairydrops scandal queen

If this mascara continued to look how it does freshly applied, I’d be very happy with it. BUT – I tend to rub my eyes, so it’s essential that my mascara can stand up to that.  And this is what happens when I (gently!) rub my eyes when I’m wearing Fairydrops Scandal Queen mascara:

This is not a good look, and not something that’s acceptable. As you can see, there’s tons of flaking all over my eye area. I know it wasn’t just a bad tube, because this happened with the full size tube and the mini tube of this mascara.  I’ve had other mascaras flake on me, but nothing has ever flaked this badly.

So – if you rub your eyes, I’d advise you to stay far, far away from Fairydrops Scandal Queen mascara.

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This post is from Project Swatch. All rights reserved.

Maybelline One By One Volume Express Mascara Review and Photos

I’ve talked before about how Maybelline One by One Volume Express (waterproof) is my all-time favorite mascara.    I find that it gives me volume without clumps, length, and – most importantly – doesn’t flake or smear, even when I rub my eyes.

It has a medium sized rubber brush. I find that this size and shape brush is easy to use, and I don’t have any trouble reaching all of my lashes with it. I think that the design of the brush, more than the formula, is what makes this apply so well for me (though it’s the formula that keeps it from flaking).

Of course, the proof is in the pictures – so here are before and after pictures for you.  I usually do one solid coat of mascara, so that’s what I have pictured here. 

clean lashes

one coat

It’s also possible to build this up with multiple coats, but that’s not really my style – if I want really thick lashes, I’ll just wear false lashes.

What’s your favorite mascara?

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This post is from Project Swatch. All rights reserved.