Mascara Review: we find the best products for your peepers!

February 13, 2012

Fed up with mascara that clumps, streaks and dries out? We've tested to find the best for you....

The trend for really B-I-G lashes shows no sign of stopping. Let's face it, false lashes look - well, false -in anything other than the most glamorous of situations. Which means that mascara is currently the most important item in your make-up bag. There are so many different types of mascara, and so many different brushes, gimmicks and gadgets to keep you buying...eyelashes have never been so spoilt for choice.

The downside of mascara being so popular is the price: we're infuriated by how often we spend a small fortune for a product only to find it doesn't perform anywhere near as well as the 'blurb' says.

Between us at Faceworks, we've tried most of the newer wand style mascaras that use all sorts of wierd coloured plastic spikes, combs and even bomb-shaped applicators. Our view is that the best style is still the original miniature bottle brush type.. and the dinkier the brush, the better. Big wands that give you a 'false lash effect' don't get to the little lashes or right down to the lid.

What we want: an easy to use mascara wand that reaches right to the roots, a product that separates each lash, coats without clumping, doesn't smudge during the day, and above ALL, sweeps onto each lash to noticeably lengthen and lift even the tiniest lashes. Too much to ask for? We don't think so. Here's our pick of the best:

L 'Oreal Extra Volume Collagene. Retail price: £11.29

Marks: 3 out of 10              

We believed the glossy ads and were excited to try this, paricularly with so many celebrities warbling "You're Worth it", and batting huge sets of (dare we say fake-looking?) lashes, but it didn't live up to the hype. The formula sticks to the oddly barrel-shaped brush and clogs lashes. The result is clumping with uneven coverage and the testers' lashes looked shorter than usual. The marks given out of 10 were because it didn't smudge, but for the price and the way it's advertised, we thought it was very poor.

Boots Natural Collection Lashlength. Retail Price: £1.99

Marks: 8 out of 10

The cheapest product we tried ticks all the boxes. The brush is a little dense so lashes aren't covered easily, hence the lower than perfect marks. For an everyday mascara, we loved this: easy to remove too, no smudging and lots of different types in the range, all at the same fantastic price. A no-nonsene one you can't go wrong with.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous. Retail Price: £8.19

Marks: 4 out of 10

Our tester chose this because the previous Lash Stiletto from Maybelline; now discontinued, was her favourite. The new product has a curved brush that needs to be in exactly the right position to get good coverage, making it unnecessarily fiddly to use. It is gloopy and coats the lashes in lumps that need to be brushed through to the ends. It is better than the L 'Oreal, but not as good as it used to be before they made it 'voluptuous'. Bring back the old formula!

Rimmel Lash Accelerator with Grow Lash Complex. Retail Price: £8.99

Marks: 10 out of 10

We were dubious about the 'Grow Lash Complex' as Rimmel don't say what it consists of on their website. The advertising states: "strengthens, nourishes and renews lashes to promote natural lash growth for up to 117% longer looking lashes after 30 days". The brush is slightly rounded with enough space between the bristles for lashes to be coated fully from root to tip. It gave the longest lashes out of all the ones we tried, stays put all day long and after three weeks the increase in length was noticeable. Even without the growth factor, this mascara gets our top marks.

Clinique Lash Power Mascara Extention Visible. Retail Price: £16.00

Marks: 7 out of 10

The most expensive mascara we tested, and the smallest! The brush is tiny but because of this, excellent at getting to the smallest lashes. The product is glossy but it lost one mark because it dries out in the tube after a couple of weeks of everyday use. The second mark was lost due to being hard to remove with our tester's usual product  - possibly using Clinique's own make up remover would solve this problem. It did give very long lashes initially and didn't smudge, but after it dried out this effect was lost. Disappointing for such a high initial outlay: third mark gone.

Collection 2000 Skyscraper Length and Definition Mascara. Retail Price: £4.99

Marks: 5 out of 10

Big long lashes looked great but it took ages to remove. The brush is really good with long and short areas and very little is dispensed each time: so no worries about clumping. The benefits of this mascara are wiped out  (or not!) by the time it takes to remove the enormous panda spots that you get when taking it off. Definitely a no-no if you ever sleep in your make-up! Our tester went back to her old product, even though the effect was good.

Coming soon: We test Nanoblur and Snoxin by Indeed Laboratories.

We're testing these two products to find out if they really do what indeed Labs say..watch this space!

Nanoblur

 'Nanoblur is not skincare. It is quite simply tomorrow’s high technology, today. It is not a cream. It is a suspension of millions and millions of particles that reflect light perfectly in billions of directions to make the skin’s surface appear completely flawless. Within seconds, pores appear to disappear. Fine lines appear to vanish. The skin texture appears nearly perfect. With one application on any skin surface (even on your hands), you will be convinced that Nanoblur will make you look up to 10 years younger in a matter of seconds.'

Snoxin

'The highest allowable concentration of the most effective anti-aging peptides come together in this advanced serum to combat all aspects of skin aging appearance, including the look of dynamic wrinkles, deeper folds, fine lines, crow’s feet, textural irregularities and sagginess. Better than $500+ department store and clinical serums*. An effective response to potential anxieties associated with laser treatments and injections.'

 

 

              

 

 

 

 

 

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