Amy’s Recommendations – Cosmetics – Mascara

Ratings:

Love it!!

Impressive

I like it / It’s ok

Dissatisfy

Never again

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 4, 2004

Brand:

Annabelle

Name of Product:

Magnifeye

Rating:

A non-waterproof mascara that does not flake, does not clump, does not smear, does not dry out lashes and does not smudge even on the shortest lashes, does such perfection exist?  The answer is Yes with Annabelle’s new mascara - Magnifeye. I must say I am very impress with Annabelle’s products.  First they come out with high quality & long wearing single pots of eye shadows & blushes, now they come out with a mascara that beats some of the department store brands I have tried.  This mascara literally wears all day.  I think the longest time I wore this mascara was during a 12-hour shift, at the end of my day, the only makeup that still look fresh as if I just put it on is my mascara.  Not only does this mascara stays on well and has all the properties I mentioned above, it is also great value.  Mascara is should be changed every 3 – 4 months because of hygienic reasons.  I personally do not want to spend more than $10.00 on a mascara, especially if I have to replace it every season.  I got my MAGNIFEYE for $4.99 when it was on-sale, regularly $6.99.  This mascara will lengthen and thicken your lashes, it does a better job to thicken than to lengthen.   If you are looking for a mascara that will add great lengths to your lashes, this might not be the best choice.  See my review on L’Oreal Lash Out Mascara.  5 satisfied flowers on this lovely mascara.  The only nag I have about this mascara is the color selection; there are only 3 colors to choose from.  But for those who want to stick to the neutral colors, this is your best bet!

* Image courtesy of www.shoppersdrugmart.ca

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

Brand:

Clarins

Name of Product:

Pure Curl mascara

Rating:

The name says it all, this is a curling mascara.  Let’s break down the properties:

Curling: It does a good job in curling long lashes and keeping the curl for hours. But for people with short lashes like myself, it doesn’t do much to curl my lashes.

Wear-Ability: It wears ok, bear in mind that it is not water resistant.  I recommend you use it with Clarins’ Mascara Fix to seal it.  It will make it waterproof and prolong the wear-ability. It does not flake or clump.

Color Selection: There are 6 colors to choose from, I personally love the violet & navy blue, they are both beautiful but not too bold.

In sum, I like this mascara, particularly the two colors mentioned above.

All Clarins products are made with plant extracts and enrich with anti-pollution properties.

* Image courtesy of www.clarins.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 4, 2004

Brand:

Clinique

Name of Product:

Lash Curling Mascara

Rating:

It seems like every brand has their own lash curling mascara.  I find this mascara similar to Clarins’ pure curl mascara.  Again it does not work on short Asian lashes, but I assume it would work good on long lashes, given that long lashes are not hard to curl.  The wear-ability of this mascara is so-so, it will smudge if you tear.  If I were to pay over twenty dollars for a mascara, I expect much more than just curling.

* Image courtesy of www.clinique.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 4, 2004

Brand:

Estée Lauder

Name of Product:

More Than Mascara®
Moisture-Binding Formula

Rating:

I like this mascara and the name explains it – moisture-binding.   This mascara made my lashes soft to touch.  It makes me feel better when I wear this mascara because I am actually pampering my lashes while looking pretty.   The wear-ability of this mascara is good.  It will smudge if I tear, but under normal dry circumstances this mascara will last quiet a couple of hours before it will smudge a bit under my eyes.  That is probably because I have oily lids that will affect the wear-ability of all my mascara.  In sum, I like how this mascara makes my lashes feel, but it did not do much to lengthen or thicken my lashes.   It is one of those mascaras that you keep around for a quick touch up when you run out to do nothing special.

* Image courtesy of www.esteelauder.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 4, 2004

Brand:

L’Oreal

Name of Product:

double extend mascara

Rating:

I have heard success stories of this mascara, but for me it was a disaster.  It did not lengthen my lashes by 60% as it promised on the package.   Let’s analyze this:

Lengthening: It did make my lashes a tad bit longer like any other mascara would, it was nothing special in terms of lengthening.

Thickening: It did thicken my lashes because the white coat + the black coat are so heavy that they make my lashes clump together. 

Experience: After curling my lashes, I put on the white coat as instructed.  By the time I am done with both eyes, my lashes are all straighten out.  Fine, I apply the black mascara on my lashes, now my lashes are loaded with mascara that are so thick and heavy that it actually blocks some of my view.  And it is a challenge for me to try to curl my lashes again without smudging it or clumping them all together.  After spending 15 minutes on my lashes, I give up and decided to go out.   Only within 2 hours I have mascara smudged all over my lower lashes.  People thought I had a bad job of smoky eye done. 

After giving this mascara a few tries using different methods, in the trash it goes.  There goes my $12.99.

Like I said, some people have success with it, you never know how good / bad a product works on you until you give it a try.

* Image courtesy of www.loreal.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 4, 2004

Brand:

L’Oreal

Name of Product:

Lash Out Mascara

Rating:

Think looooooong beautiful lashes!  Notice I say long, not thick.  I really like this mascara; it is a mascara that I will repeatedly repurchase until the day I am too old to put on any mascaras.   It does not smudge, flake nor clump.  It will wear all day right though the whole 9-hour shift, and this is only for the non-waterproof formula (image the wear-ability of the waterproof formula). I like the way it lengthen my lashes without making them thick, it gives a very natural & soft look, excellent for work or a casual night out.  I just love the teddy bear brush this mascara has, it wraps around your every lash with just the enough amount of color without any smudging whatsoever.  This is one of my most favorite mascara.  Enough said, get my point?  Too bad the color selection is limited; I guess we can’t ask for too much, can’t we?   5 loooooong flowers awarded!

* Image courtesy of www.loreal.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

Brand:

L’Oreal

Name of Product:

Le Grand curl

Rating:

Looking for a curling mascara?  This is a good one out of all those I tried.  It does hold the curl longer than others do.   This mascara does not smudge, flake nor clump, however it does not wear as long as Lash Out (see above), but it will stay on for a good 4 – 6 hours.  I did not really experience any substantive lengthening or thickening with this mascara, I don’t think it was meant to do either (in a big impact).  I see this mascara as one of those casual night out or casual weekend outing mascara, when you want to achieve that natural no makeup look.  4 curling flowers for this mascara.

* Image courtesy of www.loreal.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

Brand:

L’Oreal

Name of Product:

Voluminous - Volume Building Mascara

Rating:

If you are looking for volume, then you should give this mascara a try.  The name says it all, this mascara will add volume and thicken lashes visibly.  Beware of slight clumping with this mascara, start with a clean sweep of the first coat, then add a second coat if needed.  The wear-ability of this mascara is so-so, it does not wear as good as Lash Out or Le Grand Curl.   This mascara has a good brush that deposits a good amount of mascara on your lashes.  As for the formula, it is thicker in texture compare to Le Grand Curl.  In sum, if you want full, thick lashes and you do not care if it does not add much length, then grab one of these Voluminous Mascara at your local drug store.

* Image courtesy of www.loreal.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

July 14, 2004

Brand:

M.A.C.

Name of Product:

Fiber Rich Lash Mascara

Rating:

I got this mascara as a gift.  I was educated on this product long ago but never had the chance to try it.  The color I got was WILD INDIGO; it is a lovely dark royal blue.  What can I say?  I love this mascara in every way, it lasts through my 8 hour shift without smudging, clumping nor flaking.  With the short lashes I have, I always have problem with mascara smudging on my lower lash line. But this one not only past the test, but it did much more than just staying in place.  It contains hundreds of fine fibers inside each tube to build up the lash volume with every sweep.  My lashes are literally 2 – 3 times its originally size after applying 2 coats of this.  I definitely recommend this mascara for all those who want VOLUME to their lashes. 

*Image courtesy of www.maccosmetics.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 5, 2004

Brand:

Maybelline

Name of Product:

Great Lash Mascara

Rating:

What does this mascara do?  Nothing really, in terms of lengthening / thickening.  It is like a lash tint, all it will do is to give your lashes some color.  If you already have long beautiful thick lashes, but you can use some extra colors then give this a try.  I did not experience any smudging, flaking or clumping with this mascara.  It wears ok, definitely not water-resistant.   In sum, I don’t think I will repurchase because like I said, it does nothing for me. But for $3.49 CAD you can’t complain too much.

* Image courtesy of www.maybelline.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

May 5, 2004

Brand:

Maybelline

Name of Product:

Illegal Lengehs

Rating:

This mascara claims to lengthen lashes.  It did not do an outstanding job in lengthening lashes.  I do notice that it has a brush with short bristles.  With this brush I can get the tiny lashes at the inner / outer corner of my eyes, something that I cannot do a good job with with the normal size mascara brush.   It is a good mascara to have around to touch up on those tiny lashes, but as for lengthening, consider using Lash Out Mascara on top.   The wear ability is so so, nothing really exciting.  It behaves like an average mascara: not tear resistant and might smudge a tad bit by the end of the day (of course this depends on whether you have oily eye lids/ lashes).   3 flowers for this average mascara with a non-average brush.

* Image courtesy of www.maybelline.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

Brand:

Maybelline

Name of Product:

Sky High curves Mascara

Rating:

This mascara claims to lengthen lashes by 30% and will maintain a 30-degree curve all day.  Well it did not live up to that claim on my model.  I used this mascara on her for a photo shoot, I tried curling her lashes before (and after), and this mascara did not help to curl at all.  As for the lengthening, it surely did not do an extraordinary job.  Like other Maybelline mascaras I tried, this one did not surprise me.  I did not see any smudging, flaking or clumping, but mind you the model only wore it for a few hours for the photo shoot.  For a more accurate review of this product you will have to give it a shot.

* Image courtesy of www.maybelline.com

Reviewed by:

Posted on:

Brand:

Revlon

Name of Product:

High dimension mascara

Rating:

This mascara comes in a cool range of colors: Black Flash, Bronzed Brown, Blue Sapphire, and Black Garnet.  All of them have illuminating particles in it to make them look metallic.  Let me remind you the illuminating particles is not really that visible on your lashes, only in certain angles people can see that you are not wearing plain black mascara.  I did experience a tad bit of smudging for this mascara.  May I remind you that it does not really lengthen nor thicken; it is just a mascara that has metallic colors.   If you want to give your lashes more than just color, then this is worth to try.  

* Image courtesy of www.revlon.com