Reviews: Drugstore Mascaras

Hey,

I'm going to be reviewing some recent mascaras I've tried out in the last few months.  I do not have pictures up as of this writing but I will soon!

1. Maybelline: Falsies Volume Express (waterproof)

I didn't like this at all.  I found the formula to be extremely clumpy, sticky and thick for a mascara.  The brush itself did not lend itself to smooth application since chunks of mascara seem to have stuck to the "stem" of the brush (I'm not altogether sure what to call it), although I'm not sure if this is the fault of the brush itself or the formula of the mascara.  The wand was also made to be flexible and while I can see the appeal of this it ended up feeling weaker than it should have as the main point of flexibility is too close to the brush itself, making it a bit floppy to work with.

This clumped up my eyelashes like no other.  If there is one thing I detest it's globs of mascara on my eyelashes making them look like spider legs--totally this mascara.

I must say though, this did not seem to smear at all, and I have pretty oily skin that tends to lead to smearing/smudging throughout the day.  Of course the waterproof formula helps for this, but that is something in its favor.  

2. Maybelline: Lash Stiletto (waterproof)

I found this to be a generally acceptable mascara.  It did seem to lengthen, as promised, but it didn't strike me as particularly special.  One the whole though, the formula was generally rather nice, and the wand was rather typical.  I'm actually not sure there's much to say about this, it just seemed "okay" to me.  It kind of seems like a lot of the appeal for these was the improved packaging that made it look a bit more high end than most drug store mascaras.

3. Covergirl: LashBlastLength (water resistant)

I really can't say much about this since I actually only tried this out yesterday, but I really liked it!  It comes with a plastic bristled brush which I'm starting to find that I prefer since I need to have very defined lashes (I hate HATE spider lashes).  The plastic bristles here are very small and numerous so it does the job of defining the lashes really well.

I did wear it out in some really humid, hot weather (for Oregon) and it stood up really wonderfully, no smearing at all.  I was also really impressed with the lengthening (and volumizing, defining, etc) for this mascara, I will definitely buy this again!

I also note that while the packaging is very plain (something I tend not to care about when it comes to mascaras really) it seems to have a similar "stiletto" shape like Maybelline Lash Stiletto and I wonder if it was always that way or if they were trying to improve packaging.  If anyone is bothered by that shape (I can see how it would be a pain if you wanted to stand it up) that may be a minor issue. 

I love those short, widely spaced plastic "bristles" (what are they called?).  It works far better for my eyelashes than the more full, brush-like mascara wands, and I think in general it helps prevent clumping a lot. 


*Note: I wasn't paid for this.