There's a few products that are indispensable in my beauty routine, and one of them is definitely mascara. My brows and my lashes define my look, and without doing my brows and lashes, I feel like my face doesn't have the same amount of expression. Finding the right products is obviously paramount to getting the look you want, and over the past months I have received a couple of mascaras for reviewing purposes, and bought a couple of others. This is a roundup of my four favourites, and a breakdown of what makes them great so that you can figure out which one of these would be your perfect match.
Let's start with a picture of my lashes sans mascara. The baseline.
My lashes are pretty good. I have length, and my lashes aren't sparse, but they're not the kind of crazy-amazing that makes mascara superfluous. I definitely need mascara to open up my eyes, and I usually go for length over volume. I prefer the long, whispy look over thick and intense, but everyone has different preferences when it comes to mascara, so keep that in mind when reading my review of these products.
First up, Dior's Diorshow mascara with fiber formula in dark brown.
I reviewed the Diorshow mascara in full here, and I still love the product as much as I did then. This mascara has a bigger brush than I usually prefer, but because the formula is relatively dry, you don't get the amount of staining and smudging you usually get with a bolder brush. The drier mascara formula and the big brush ensure gorgeously separated lashes with lots of curl, absolutely zero clumping, and amazing length. Also keep in mind that this is the mascara in brown, and that it will be even more intense and amazing if you'd get it in black. This one is the most expensive mascara in my round-up, retailing at around €33, but in my opinion it is 100% worth it.
Next up, MAC's Haute & Naughty Lash mascara.
As you can see, this one basically gets you two mascaras for the price of one. If you only screw off the pink cap, you get a long, thin wand with minimal product on the brush, because most of the product is rubbed off when you pull out the wand. This is often called the "daytime" part of the mascara, because it gives a more subtle result. I also really like how flexible the wand of this part of the mascara is. I don't know why or what kind of difference it makes, but it just SEEMS different than most mascaras.
If you want the big, bold lash, though, you should open up the mascara from the glitter cap, which has a larger opening and thus leaves more product on the brush. This is called the "nighttime" wand. However, the most popular way of using this mascara is to first use the "nighttime" wand to get intense black lashes, and then use the "daytime" want to separate your lashes and get off any excess product that might be there. And that's what I did here.
As you can see, MAC Haute & Naughty definitely gives you intensity. Inky black, thick and spiky lashes is what you'll get. The formula is quite runny and goopy, though, and application is messier. You will probably be getting mascara on your eyelids near the base of your lashes, but that's super easy to clean up (my fav way is letting the smears dry and then use a Q-tip to easily wipe it off without messing up your eyemakeup). If you want a more subtle result, you can stick to the daytime wand, also eliminating the issue of getting mascara all over your eyelids. This mascara does give you the most hassle of all of the mascaras in this post. It takes some effort and work to separate your lashes without taking away the length this product gives, and it does tend to get lumpy easily if you go in for a second coat. I do love the versatility of this product, and since this mascara basically gives you two mascaras for the price of one, €23.50 is a pretty good price if you ask me.
Onto Urban Decay's Perversion mascara.
I absolutely adore Urban Decay's Perversion. Someway, somehow, the formula has the perfect balance between thick and dry. The brush is also amazing: the bristles are short and plenty, haphazardly placed along the base of the wand rather than in neat horizontal rings. The shortness of the bristles allows you to get close to the root of your lashes, and their placement ensures perfect separation. While Perversion gives nice volume, I appreciate the fact that my lashes still look very natural. You don't see the product "on" the lashes.The only thing I don't like about this mascara, is that it smudges quite a lot on my brow bone. This won't be an issue if your lashes are shorter than mine, obviously, but if I look up, my lashes easily touch my brow bone and toward the end of the day, they leave some black smears that I have to keep wiping off. Really annoying. If anyone has a tip to keep that from happening, hit me up! It's something I get with all mascara's, but I notice it more with Perversion, sadly. This one costs €25.70.
Onto the last one: Maybelline's The Colossal Go Chaotic!
Maybelline's Go Chaotic is one of those few products whose campaign shots were so bad that it turned people off from trying the mascara. I mean, I don't think that this is a look that anyone on the entire planet is going for.
NOTHX. However, I was majorly impressed when I saw Veracamilla's lashes looking friggin amazing when she used it. See for yourself. Wow. I immediately ran out to get it for myself, and I loved it straight away.
I have no idea why they marketed this product so badly when it is so very, very good. Again, a drier formula, which I prefer because it is so good at getting those long, perfectly separated lashes and a minimal amount of staining. The brush curls at the tip, which makes it very good at getting at those lighter lashes at the inner corner of the eye. There's nothing I don't like about this mascara, not even its price: €15.50.
Let's look at all of them next to each other. For the sake of comparison, I also added a pic of my old favourite
mascara: Maybelline Volum' Express. A perfectly fine mascara that provides nice separation, but the length and volume
effect isn't nearly as epic as that of the other five, which clearly
illustrates why I picked these winners to review.
They're all pretty next level and you would definitely not be let down if you get any of these. All of these also leave your lashes feeling soft rather than stiff and crunchy, and none of them flake much during the day. But there can only be one winner, and for me, it's Maybelline Go Chaotic. I feel like it gives length, volume and separation that is at least as good as Urban Decay's Perversion, but its formula is a bit drier, which keeps the mascara from smudging on my brow bone. Go Chaotic is the mascara I reach for most often, followed closely by Perversion. Sometimes, drugstore brands just get it so very right!
Which of these is your favourite?
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