Milani Lash Trifecta Mascara Review

Milani Lash Trifecta ($7.99 at drugstores) is a brand new mascara for Spring 2016 and I've been wanting to get this review posted since a few of you have asked me if I've tried this and the other new Milani mascara, Big & Bigger Mascara (review coming soon on that one). So I've been using this for about a month now, I'm definitely ready to share my thoughts...keep on reading after the jump!

Maybelline Lash Sensational Luscious Review /First Impression

I spotted the new Maybelline Lash Sensational Luscious Mascara ($8.99) at CVS last week and I've gotten a lot of requests for a review on this! I guess a lot of people are really curious since the original Lash Sensational is so popular, so I decided to do sort of a first impression post rather than an actual review since I've only worn this 3 or 4 times. Let's take a look...

Spotted: New Revlon Mascara Bar

Today while I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond, I saw a brand new Revlon display with 5 brand new mascaras! When I reviewed the Ultimate All-in-One formula a few weeks ago, I had no idea that there would be 4 more formulas! The original display I saw at Rite Aid only had that one, so it's pretty interesting to see even more showing up in stores.  Let's take a look at what these claim to do, plus I'll show you what these look like on an actual person!

Revlon Ultimate All-in-One Mascara Review

Last week while I was at Rite Aid, I spotted the Revlon Ultimate All-in-One Mascara and since I'm a total mascara junkie, I bought one to review! It was marked at $9.99 but I realized later when I looked at my receipt that it rang up ay $6 and change. I don't remember seeing any sale signs, so I'm not sure what the promotion was, whether it was just on sale or if you had to use your Rite Aid discount card. But anyway, I've had really good luck with Revlon mascaras in the past, so let's see how this one worked out...

Revlon Ultimate All-in-One Mascara

Friday Faves- Mascara Edition

I'm doing a new series here on the blog called Friday Faves, because I get a lot of requests from you guys asking what my favorites are. I thought it would be fun to talk about my current can't-live-without products at different price points, so I've got you covered no matter what your budget is.

Each Friday, I'll choose one higher-end product and one drugstore product that I've been loving recently and each week will have a different theme, such as blushes, eyeshadows, hand cream, nail polish, etc. This week, I wanted to talk about mascara and the two that I currently reach for every day without fail...Benefit's Roller Lash and Covergirl's The Super Sizer. 

Maybelline Push Up Drama Mascara Review

Maybelline Push Up Drama Mascara ($7.49 at Target) is a brand new formula and is part of the Falsies line. I typically like Maybelline mascaras so I was excited about this one, especially since there's a lot of talk about this being a dupe for Benefit's Roller Lash (one of my all-time favorites). Well, I'll address that in this post and will compare the two as well as my before and after photos wearing both to see which one I ultimately like best. Let's get started! 

L'oreal Voluminous Super Star Mascara Review

L'oreal Voluminous SuperStar Mascara ($9.99 at Walmart and Target stores) is a brand new Lash Primer and Lifting Mascara in one. Read on for my first impression review plus before and afters! 

Mascara is my desert island beauty product...I can have a full face of makeup on but if I'm not wearing mascara, my eyes seem so much smaller and tired-looking. Conversely, if I'm not wearing makeup and decide to just wear mascara, I instantly look more pulled together, fresh, and awake. So I'm a bit of a mascara junkie...I think I've purchased every drugstore mascara that's been released the last several years, as well as some higher-end ones as well (I justify this by the fact that it needs to be replaced so often...haha). When I saw that L'oreal had released a new mascara called Voluminous SuperStar at Target last week did I even hesitate before I threw it into my cart? Nope! 

Let's take a closer look...

Nars Audacious Mascara Coming Soon!

A new mascara from Nars is not something we see very often, but I just got the news that we will be seeing a new one this fall and it's got a crazy hook..actually a bunch of them! It's called Audacious Mascara ($26), and the brush actually has over 200 molded bristles and lengthening hooks to catch every lash and grip them as it coats.  It claims to separate, lengthen, and amplify while the tapered tip grabs the inner and outermost lashes and bottom fringe.

I have to say though...I'm having a little deja vu here because the whole "lash catching hook" thing sounds a lot like the claims on Benefit's Roller Lash that came out earlier this year (one of my faves, btw).  This brush looks totally different though, so I expect the results will be different too! 

Nars Audacious Mascara will be coming to Nars Boutiques and Nordstrom online on August 1, and at Sephora and Nars counters September 1. 

New: Stila Lash Stunner Primer and Huge Extreme Lash Mascara

Stila just released two new lash products with their Fall 2015 collection, Lash Stunner Extreme Lash Primer ($26) and Huge Extreme Lash Mascara ($23).  Let's take a closer look!

Lash Stunner Extreme Lash Primer features two different kinds of fibers built into a creamy, easy to apply formula with no fiber fallout (yes!!). I actually saw this in Sephora today and I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting it, but I didn't want to go over my budget.  The formula is also brown instead of white like most lash primers are.

Huge Extreme Lash Mascara is supposed to be a lightweight volumizing mascara that builds extreme volume and coats lashes with an inky black color. It has a blend of soft waxes that allow you to build multiple coats without making your lashes clumpy or crunchy. I saw this in store at Sephora today also and the brush reminds me a lot of Too Faced's Better than Sex mascara.

Have you tried either of these yet, or are you thinking about getting one (or both)? I really want to take the plunge but I'm holding off for some reviews, as I do with most high-end products.

You can find these at Sephora and Ulta stores and online. 

Maybelline The Colossal Chaotic Lash Mascara Review

Maybelline The Colossal Chaotic Lash Mascara ($5.89 at Bed, Bath & Beyond) is brand new in stores this month and is supposed to make your lashes into "a perfectly sexy mess". Hmm...let's take a look. 

Elf Lash Tint Mascara Review

Elf Lash Tint Mascara ($4 eyeslipsface.com) is part of the brand new Beautifully Bare collection that Elf released a few weeks ago (see my post on all of the new products here). Beautifully Bare is all about "makeup so flawless it looks like you are not even wearing makeup". I purchased all of the products in the line for review, and being the mascara junkie that I am, I decided to test out the Lash Tint mascara first. 

CoverGirl The Super Sizer Mascara Review

CoverGirl The Super Sizer Mascara ($5.49 at Harmon) is a brand new release this Spring and so far, I've only seen it in Harmon (and not yet in it's sister stores Bed Bath and Beyond or Christmas Tree Shops at the time of this post).  Harmon tends to get new products before the drugstores but I'm sure it won't be too long until this pops up at CVS, Walgreens, Target, etc. 

Let's take a look...

The Super Sizer promises "bold, corner to corner volume for full, fanned out lashes" plus 400% more volume.  That's quite a claim...how can we even measure that? 

L'oreal Miss Manga Rock Mascara Review

L'oreal Miss Manga Rock is a new mascara that promises to give you "spiked overloaded volume" with a 360 degree spiked brush. I have to admit, when I first saw the photo of the model on the display I totally lost interest in this. I thought, "why would anyone actually want spidery clumpy lashes? Isn't that what we're always trying to avoid?" I mean, it looks kinda cool and funky on her, but in real life? Nah...But being the beauty blogger that I am, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to just go for it and see what happens.  So let's take a look...

The model on the Miss Manga Rock Display

The packaging and tube look very similar to the original Miss Manga, except the cap is yellow instead of pink. 

Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara Review

I really like Rimmel mascaras for the most part, but I haven't had much luck with any of the Scandaleyes line.  I find the brushes to be too big to control and the formulas are just so-so, at least on me.  So when I spotted the new Scandaleyes Retro Glam mascara, which is new for Spring 2014, I thought I'd give it one more shot.

The packaging claims to give a bold, wide-eyed look and that you can get a big, false lash look in "one simple stroke".  I haven't found a mascara yet that can do that in one coat, usually I have to build several to get a false lash look.  So lets see what happens...

This has an oversized brush, similar to the other Scandaleyes formulas, but this one is an hourglass shape that's supposed to fan out the lashes to give "bold wide-eyed volume".  

I found the formula to be a little on the wetter side but not too bad.  The large brush caused me to get some mascara on my eyelids, despite my best efforts to be careful.  I did like the way the shape of the brush was able to grab lashes at the corners and it combed through them nicely to avoid clumping. 

While I was able to get length out of this one, my lashes lacked much volume.  One coat didn't really do a whole lot for my lashes and I found that I needed multiple coats to get a lot of length.  

Before:

After 1 Coat:

After Several Coats:

Overall, I got nice length from Retro Glam and not a lot of clumps.  It also didn't smudge.  But if you're looking for tons of volume, you won't get it here. Think I'll stick with Rimmel's Max Bold Curves, which is my favorite in their line.

What do you think?  Have you had any luck with the Scandaleyes line?

Covergirl Bombshell Volume Mascara Review

I'm a fan of Covergirl's LashBlast line, so when this new Bombshell Volume one came out recently, I just had to try it!

There have been quite a few double-ended mascaras at the drugstore in recent years, but this is the first one from Covergirl. The idea behind this one is that the first step gives volume, while the second coat intensifies (not sure if that means more volume, length, or both), and also seals it in for an all day finish.

The wand on this one is very thick, probably the fattest mascara tube I've ever owned!  The two brushes are quite different:

Step one is a plastic club-like brush with short bristles, similar to the other Lashblast formulas

Step 2 is more of a traditional mascara brush, softer with longer bristles.

For me, the formula is perfect, not too wet or too dry and not clumpy at all. I found this very easy to apply and build multiple coats.  My lashes stayed soft and didn't get crunchy at all, even after several coats. It also didn't smudge or flake, which is a huge plus!

So here's my result. 

 Before:

After Coat #1:

After Coat #2:

I thought the first coat did a decent job on its own, but I was wowed after the second coat!  My lashes looked like falsies and my eyes looked bigger and more open.  This is my favorite drugstore mascara up there with Jordana Best Lash Extreme and Revlon's PhotoReady.

I'll add this to the Wall of Mascara so you can see how it stacks up against others I've tried.

What do you think?  Are you a LashBlast fan, or do they not work for you?

ELF 3-in-1 Mascara Review- Possible It Cosmetics Hello Lashes Dupe

While in Target yesterday, I couldn't help but check out the ELF section to see if there was anything new. Well,  I didn't see anything new, but I picked up the 3-in-1 mascara to try out.

When I got it home, I realized that it has a wand with a ball tip, like It Cosmetics Hello Lashes, which is $29. Since the ELF version is $3, I thought I should see if it's a dupe! First, some packaging/brush shots.

For reference, here's It Cosmetics Hello Lashes:

The verdict?

If you like Hello Lashes, you'll like ELF 3-in-1. It performs about the same and doesn't smudge. BUT...

I'm not a fan of the wand. I get that the ball is meant to be used vertically to push up and separate the lashes, while the rest of the wand is used horizontally. But using it that way, the ball, which is the widest part, kept depositing mascara on my lids, even when I was super careful. It just made a huge mess! It was also a very wet formula, which didn't help. 

Here are my before/afters:

I've pinned this to my Dupes board on Pinterest. Please check it out for lots more dupes!

Milani Total Lash Cover Mascara Review

Milani Total Lash Cover Mascara was just launched as a part of their new Spring 2013 line and I spotted it at Walgreens yesterday for $4.99.  Let's take a look!

The brush is really unique- it's made from both nylon and plastic bristles.  The nylon ones plump the lashes and give volume, while the harder, plastic bristles separate the lashes. 

I loved this brush, because I didn't need a separate lash comb after applying the mascara- I just turned the brush slightly, and used the plastic bristles, which allowed me to comb through any lashes that were stuck together.  The bristles aren't as close together as my normal lash comb, so it didn't work quite as well, but it still got the job done, and it was really convenient. 

One note though...be careful when using the spiked side, as those plastic bristles are a bit sharp.  

So here are my before/afters which I'll post to the Wall of Mascara for reference.  I think this does a good job of volumizing and lengthening without clumping or flaking.  It didn't give me the biggest lashes ever, but for everyday I like the convenience of having one brush that does it all.  I might keep this one in my purse for on-the-go applications.  

What do you guys think?  What's your favorite Milani mascara?

New Milani Products for Spring 2013

Milani has launched some great new products for Spring 2013.  Check 'em out!

Ultrafine Liquid Liner- $7.49 

Sparkling intense color, long-lasting, waterproof formula.   The ultrafine felt-tip applicator makes it easy to apply a thick or thin line and dries down to a sparkling finish. Black also available in a vinyl finish!

Grandissimo Lashes Mascara- $5.49

Bigger is better! The mega volume brush creates a false lash effect. Dramatically enhances and thickens even the littlest lashes. Long-lasting, smear-proof, and non-clumping formula. Paraben-free. 

Eyeshadow Primer- $6.49

Intensifies and extends the wear of any shadow, over 8 hour wear. A lightweight invisible finish works on all skin tones. The primer helps provide a seamless canvas for eyeshadow application and minimizes creasing throughout the day.   Makes any cream or powder eyeshadow long-wearing!

Color Statement Lipstick- $5.49

Make a statement without saying a word!  True Instant Color. One stroke, full coverage application. This next generation lipstick gives the ultimate in color, texture and finish.  The lightweight creamy formula contains Vitamins A, C, & E to moisturize and nourish lips.       Paraben-free. 

Available in Vinyl, Metallic, Cream, Shimmer, Pearl & Matte finish.

Eye Tech Bold- $7.49

The next installment of our best-selling Eye Tech series goes BOLD! The bold felt-tip point creates a variety of dramatic winged looks in one stroke application.  Smear & smudge-proof, this liner lasts all day. Paraben-free. 

Color Statement Lip Liner- $3.99

Make a statement without saying a word. True Instant Color. Satin color in one stroke application. This next generation lipliner is a long-wearing, easy-glide formula to line & fill-in your lips. Paraben free.

So what do you think?  See stuff you like?  Do share!

Flower Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara Review

The other night, I headed to Walmart for a pretty big Flower haul.  My local store finally got the rest of the line in stock, and I was super excited to pick up some more products, since I really liked the Extreme Measures mascara and the Lip Service lip butter.  

I'm in the process of testing everything, but the first thing I tried was the Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara.  It retails for $7.98 at Walmart.

This mascara has a really interesting brush that goes from straight to corkscrew with a twist of the cap.  Here's the description from the Walmart site: 

Flower Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara transforms lashes to appear dramatically longer, fuller and defined. A unique adjustable brush lets you customize lash volume and length.

Flower Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara:

• D-panthenol helps to smooth lashes and stimulate growth
• Naturally derived gellifying agent for ease in application
• Rice wax for smudge-proof color
• Helps to strengthen lashes

The brush has a twist cap at the top and the brush basically contracts when you twist.  The straight position is for lengthening and separating the lashes, the middle position (slightly twisted) is for curling, and the full corkscrew position is for volumizing. 

I've read some really great reviews of this mascara, but I have to say, I'm not overly impressed by it.  The brush worked best in the lengthening position, but the other two brush styles seemed to make my lashes clump up.  The formula gave me only average length and volume, even after applying multiple coats.  The good part is, it gave my lashes some curl, and didn't smudge all day.

 Here are my before and afters...I'll post it to the Wall Of Mascara, so you can compare my results to other mascaras I've tried.  

Overall, I'm not really sold on this one.  People may think I'm crazy, especially with all the great reviews I've seen so far, but oh well.