Make Me Brighter

Mascara Trial 5

cleegiants — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Have you heard the mascara "rule" that you're supposed to throw out mascara every three months? It's one that I'm most likely to follow; or so I thought. If I used mascara everyday, I could see one using up a tube, but if kept in a contained area and not exposed, I think it's okay. Unless it's dried up - and you'd definitely be able to see that - go ahead and use it!

I say this because I discovered Stila's Major Lash Mascara in my makeup drawers and upon researching, I've seen that it's been discontinued. I think that means I've had this mascara for a little while, probably longer than three months. That's unfortunate too, ecause I think this mascara works well! Stila has come out with MAJOR Major Lash Mascara, so maybe I'll try that at some point, but one Major is good!

Stila Major Lash is a luxurious cream-based formula that adds instant color to shine and define. Can be layered for a more dramatic look, keeps lashes soft, and curls on command. The best part there is no flaking and lashes remain large and in charge throughout the day.

This mascara does give me major lashes, although clumping may occur with more than 2 coats. My lashes seem to do this crisscross thing that no amount of lash combing will straighten out. Considering you can buy lashes that crisscross, maybe I'm on to something here.
MAC 41 Lashes

It's not quite a perfect crisscross, but you can see the effect. The fact that it does start to clump after 2 coats is a downer, but if you can find it, I'd say it's worth a shot. Now wouldn't be a bad time to buy, as it's only $8.50 right now at Ulta. In comparison, MAJOR Major Lash Mascara is $22.

My rating: 3.5/5

Previous Mascara Trials:
Mascara Trial 1: Cover Girl Lash Blast
Mascara Trial 2: Maybelline Define-A-Lash
Mascara Trial 3: Imju Fiberwig
Mascara Trial 4: Smashbox Bionic

Mascara Trial 4

cleegiants — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Continuing the hunt for the perfect mascara leads me to this one: Smashbox Bionic Mascara in Jet Black. It's also available for a limited time in Black Violet. I'm not sure if it's my photography skills (or lack thereof), but I honestly think that this mascara looks better in person. While glancing at myself in the mirror, I thought it looked pretty good, but these pictures don't look that great. Oh wells. I'll have to keep experimenting with my camera settings.

I think that this would be a pretty good everyday mascara for me. It adds good blackness, length, and volume-without being too dramatic. Office appropriate? Yes. Good for your 70s disco nights? Probably not. You won't get every lash, but clumping isn't as bad as with others. It also held curl a lot longer than I ever expected; an hour after applying (hey that's a lot in my world!) my lashes were NOT pointing down yet.

Bionic Mascara gets a good 4/5 rating from me. Available at Sephora or Smashbox counters for $19.

Previous Mascara Trials:
Mascara Trial 1: Cover Girl Lash Blast
Mascara Trial 2: Maybelline Define-A-Lash
Mascara Trial 3: Imju Fiberwig

Mascara Trial 3

cleegiants — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:30:00 -0800

Today's Mascara trial is Imju Fiberwig. If you're in the U.S., it's only available at Sephora stores as far as I know. It should be more easily available in Japan or other Asian countries. As a Japanese brand, it had plenty of hype before arriving stateside, but I can't say it's all worth it.

Courtesy of Sephora.com:
Fiberwig is the top-selling mascara in Japan - beating the competition with remarkable, "false-eyelash like" results.

What it is formulated to do:
Engineered to create the perfect lashes with twice the amount of micro-fine interconnecting fibers, the instant drying formula creates a long lasting film coat around your natural lashes. Fiberwig imparts a perfect, smudge-proof maximum lash extension effect with a water-resistant formula that's easy to remove with warm water, without risking, damaging, or losing your natural lashes.

What else you need to know:
A jet black fiber film coats the surface of each lash with long-lasting, clump-free, lash lengthening color that's resistant to tears, sweat, and oil.

Honestly, I don't know that it matches falsh eyelashes. It is lengthening, but definitely isn't clump free as you'll from the pictures. I actually think one coat of Fiberwig is probably better for my lashes, but with a better lash comb, I think more coats would create a nice effect. Again, doesn't hold curl, but that's not what it's claiming.

1 coat of Fiberwig:

Eyes closed:

My ineptitude with additional coats will prevent me from posting additional pictures, so just imagine the lashes a little darker but with the lashes sticking together a little. A little too spidery unfortunately. Overall, not bad for one coat, but pricey at $22, especially for my lashes.

My rating: 3/5.

Previous Mascara Trils:
Mascara Trial 1: Cover Girl Lash Blast
Mascara Trial 2: Maybelline Define-A-Lash

Mascara Trial 2

cleegiants — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:30:00 -0800

I've been playing with my mascara the past few days and have come to a preliminary conclusion that my lashes are my least favorite feature. The only redeeming quality in them is the length. They're not thick, they don't curl, and they point straight down. Please take my reviews with this knowledge in mind, so everything is relative. If there's one thing I've noticed about mascara reviews, it's that they can vary greatly among users. Many may love a mascara, but there will always be a small subset that hate it.

Okay, down to the actual mascara. This is Maybelline's Define-a-Lash. First off, a reminder of my naked lashes.

Here is my eye after one coat of Define-a-Lash:

Seriously, not much of an improvement. With my eyes closed, it looks a little more dramatic.

After some curling and another coat:

Better, but clumping is becoming a problem. It's even more evident when I close my eyes.

In short, Define-A-Lash doesn't live up to its name as well as it should. It certainly doesn't hold curl although it doesn't claim to, but that's what I'm going to be looking for in a mascara. The clumping is the biggest problem, so unless you have naturally thick lashes and can only use 1 coat of mascara, pass on Define-A-Lash.

My rating: 2/5.

Previous Mascara Trials:
Mascara Trial 1: Cover Girl Lash Blast

Mascara Trials

cleegiants — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Today is the start of a new era. As this country welcomes a new president, I too am starting a new series. This will be focused on mascara. In full disclosure though, mascara and I don't get along. It's not mascara's fault, it's just my eyelashes themselves. Like the hair on my head, my eyelashes are stick straight, point straight down, and don't hold curl. I can spend 10 minutes curling the lashes, applying mascara, and recurling; only to have them pointing straight down again in 5 minutes. The only thing I like about my lashes is that they are fairly long. I just want them to curl! The lack of curl makes mascara fairly useless in everyday matters. It takes too long to gain any semblance of curl but applying mascara to uncurled lashes leads to smudging and an unattractive raccoon look.

A picture is worth a thousand words right? Here are my naked lashes.

Yes there are lashes there!

And 15 minutes later, my lashes are curled for the moment and mascara is applied. This particular mascara is Cover Girl's Lash Blast Mascara. It's the one in the big orange tube. I liked the mascara a lot more before I saw these pictures. It seems a bit more clumpy than I remember. Overall, I think it adds good volume and darkness to my lashes. Lash Blash doesn't smudge, which is good. Except for me rubbing my eye (something got in!), the mascara maintains its intensity for hours. Unfortunately it doesn't hold curl, but I've yet to find a mascara that does.

Here's a picture where one eye has been completed and the other is still bare. I really love how curled eyelashes open up my eyes, making them appear bigger.

My rating: 3.5/5

I have many more mascaras to try, so stay tuned.