Monday, March 12, 2012

Maybelline Great Lash BIG and L'oreal Ultra-Volume Collagene Mascara Review

I found out a while ago that I have a friend that has kept her mascara for almost a decade and to my horror has actually used it recently. She claimed that it was just the white part, and it didn't smell funky or was in any way bad. Mascaras...scary things.

Anyway, before the times of the great invention made public - the false eyelashes, there was mascara. For the women who don't like going through the hassle of sticking falsies on, or just don't know how, here are 2 mascaras that I quite like. I haven't found one that I love so....

They are Maybelline's Great Lash BIG Mascara, in Blackest Black and L'oreal Ultra-Volume Collagene Mascara in what I also assume to be simply, just Black. 


Maybelline Great Lash has a couple of formula's like the original Great Lash, and the waterproof one. The one I have claims to give bigger lashes (duh), and I think just has a larger/different wand than the original Great Lash. This is not the waterproof formula. I apologise for the flaking condition the tube is in. This is why companies should print not stick. Apart from that, I do like the strawberry themed colouring of the tube. The neon green cap makes it extremely easy to spot in a mass/mess of tubes.

L'oreal Ultra-Volume Collagen Mascara, which I shall henceforth call LUVCM,  is enriched with Hydra-Collagene, supposedly known for its volumising  properties, and claims to plump lashes up to 12x. *coughbullshitcough*. No more elaboration on marketing. I bought this because I thought it was waterproof, but it's actually not, so it was a mistake buy. Nonetheless, it has gorgeous packaging, a glossy plastic that almost looks like glass. It has a black tube in a transparent outer casing. Very nice, but also attracts fingerprints. Reminds me of Lancome at any rate. 



Here's a look at the wands. Nothing out of the ordinary.


LUVCM applies a rich matte black. It both volumizes and lengthens quite drastically, and is overall still quite a natural looking mascara. When I first bought this mascara, it applied like a dream. It didn't clump, even when layering. It has since dried out and clumps a bit when I try to apply it. So ladies, remember to cap this baby tightly if you have it!

I would suggest layering this mascara while it's wet and to stop applying the moment it starts to dry up because it WILL clump. I would also not put more than 2 coats of this. I guess clumps could always be managed by an old mascara wand or a comb but we all know we're in search of the mascara that does not need that.

I don't usually curl my lashes, so the lengthening effect is not obvious, but look closely at the closed eyes and you'll see that my lashes have grown quite a bit by the 2nd coat.

This is not waterproof so don't expect it to hold up. It smudges a bit on my undereye after a few hours, but that could be because I didn't curl my lashes. At any rate, I find that I only need to clean my undereye once if I'm out the entire day.


My eyes are not symmetrical, neither are my eyelashes. This eye of mine seems to have sparser, less evenly spread, but longer eyelashes.

Maybelline Great Lash BIG (MGLB) is favourite mascara to date for a natural look. Reviews online have said make up artists rave about this product but in their opinion it does shit. I do not agree!

MGLB is not the blackest of mascaras in the market, even though the colour I have says blackest black. But our lashes are not incredibly black either anyway. It Does darken lashes, but not in a HEY LOOK AT ME! way.

It's lengthening properties are perhaps more visible than its volumizing, but I feel it does both very well. The brush catches every lash and coats them evenly. This mascara rarely clumps. Unless of course, you're an idiot who puts like 10 coats of mascara. 2 coats work well for me because I'm lazy. On lazy days, I only coat my bottom lashes because they lengthen my lower lashes but nobody can tell I have mascara on. It's awesome!

As again, I like to layer this when my mascara is still wet and stop when it's dry, but this mascara can be layered when dry. The photos above are layered when dry, as I had to pause to take the photo then add a layer.

MGLB is not a waterproof formula, so yes it will smudge. I had this with me when I was in the cold climate of Sweden and I found it didn't smudge when I was out of the heat and humidity of Singapore. Yay!


Summary:

Pros (LUVCM):

  • Intense matte black
  • drastically lengthens and voluminizes with just 1 or 2 layers

Cons (LUVCM):

  • Smudges on the undereye
  • clumps when layered too much
  • seems to be drying out too fast

Pros (MGLB):

  • Super natural looking
  • Lengthens very well
  • Can be layered quite a bit and still not clump and still look natural

Cons (MGLB):
  • Smudges on the undereye
  • Needs at least 2 layers to build up to desired length
  • Does not voluminize that well

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