Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara - The Final Verdict

So the Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara is over! Have we found a champion? Let's review the five mascaras I used this past week and see which one comes out on top!

All five of the mascara's I reviewed. From L to R: Fabulash by Revlon, Falsies by Maybelline, Sexy Curves by Rimmel London, LashBlast by Covergirl, and Million Lashes by L'Oreal.

Fabulash by Revlon
Pros: Good curl hold, pretty long lasting, classic packaging
Cons: Smudged pretty easily, not waterproof, tended to clump
Final Verdict: Okay, but not great. I'd probably pass it up.
Score: 2.5/5

Falsies by Maybelline
Pros: Intense volume, literally looks like you're wearing false lashes, cool curved wand, waterproof
Cons: Very hard to remove, some clumping, spiky
Final Verdict: I think this mascara is good for a night out, but not every day wear.
Score: 4/5

Sexy Curves by Rimmel London
Pros: Waterproof, medium volume, smooth application, cool bubble wand, cute packaging
Cons: Require recurl after application, minimal clumping
Final Verdict: Fabulous every-day mascara!
Score: 4.5/5

LashBlast by Covergirl
Pros: Smooth application, quick-drying, waterproof
Cons: No volume, no curl holding, hard to remove
Final Verdict: Good back-up mascara, but not strong enough for every-day wear.
Score: 3.5/5

Million Lashes by L'Oreal
Pros: None.
Cons: Disgusting smell, no volume, no curl holding, wears off quickly, clumpy
Final Verdict: If you're considering buying it, don't. If you own it, throw it out.
Score: 0/5

Sooo... In last place, clearly, we have Million Lashes by L'Oreal. I won't get too far into details, but I just did not like it. Revlon's Fabulash also scored low, but I think it's okay as an emergency mascara (perhaps for travel bags or the purse you don't use often?). Covergirl's Lashblast did not live up to expectations, either. I think it's very dull and would not recommend it as a primary, every-day mascara.

Which leaves us with Maybelline's Falsies and Rimmel London's Sexy Curves. And the winner is...

RIMMEL LONDON'S SEXY CURVES!!!!!! This mascara is gorgeous and wears perfectly. The waterproof power is incredible and it gives you gorgeous lashes all day, everyday.

Maybelline's Falsies Mascara takes home the runner-up award and my recommendation for Night Out Mascara. It's volumizing power is perfect for those of us who hate false lash application, but love the look of false lashes. Now you can have the best of both worlds with this mascara! Be sure to comb out lashes to avoid clumps immediately after application and then recurl lashes if you want it to work, though.

This concludes this week's Battle of the Brands. Do you have another cosmetic item you'd like me to do a comparison on (i.e. concealer, bronzer, lipstain, cream blush)? Let me know in the comments!

Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara - Voluminous Million Lashes by L'Oreal

Day five has arrived! Over the past four days, I've reviewed Fabulash Mascara by Revlon, Falsies Mascara by Maybelline, Sexy Curves Mascara by Rimmel London, and Lashblast by Covergirl.L'Oreal's Voluminous Million Lashes in Blackest Black (635) originally costs $8.99 at Ulta but was marked down to $7.99.

Today, we'll be trying out L'Oreal's Voluminous Million Lashes. This mascara also has a rubbery applicator free of fiber bristles that is also quite flexible (for what reason, I have no clue.). The face of the advertising campaign is the lovely Eva Longoria, which definitely influenced me when I considered which mascaras to test.
Frankly, I don't love the packaging. Yes, it's gold and shiny and blingy, but name just stamped on there? I think it makes the mascara look cheap, like it came out of a $10 makeup kit at Christmas time. Not my cup of tea!
But let's try it out, shall we?

10:00 AM
Ew. Not liking this formula at all. It absolutely REEKS.. like, straight up smells. How disgusting! If I didn't know better, I would think it had gone bad. It smells like old, dead flowers. GROSS!

Aside from the smell, I kind of feel like this did nothing on my lashes. They won't hold a curl (I've curled them twice now) and they certainly don't look voluminous. The mascara might have added a little length, but not enough to really make this worthwhile. At least it dried in like 30 seconds.


3:00 PM
Yeah, this mascara is a waste. Normally I'd reapply a few coats, but it smells so terrible, I can't bring myself to. It really looks like I'm wearing no mascara at this point, except that I can still feel the clumps along the base of my eyelashes.

7:00 PM
No real reason to update. I hate this formula

11:45 PM
Nothing seemed to really come off when I washed my face this evening. But my lashes feel clean and free of mascara, which to me, just means that it didn't stay on throughout the day. Super depressing!

Clearly, I was not a fan of this mascara. I think the smell was terrible and the formula was poorly made. I'm quite shocked this came from L'Oreal, a drugstore brand that normally produces the highest quality cosmetics at an affordable price. This mascara was a complete dud.

Tomorrow, I'll reveal my number one choice and rank these mascaras first through fifth place. Which one do you think will be the winner?

Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara - Lashblast Mascara by Covergirl

Day four is here! Previously on the Battle of the Brands, I've reviewed Fabulash Mascara by Revlon, Falsies Mascara by Maybelline, and Sexy Curves by Rimmel London.

Covergirl's LashBlast Mega Volume Waterproof Mascara in Very Black (825) is $8.39 at Ulta.

Today, I'm trying out Covergirl's LashBlast, a mascara with such rave reviews that it's become an icon in pop culture, like Kleenex (as seen in the movie Whip It: "You can never have too much LashBlast"). What makes this mascara stand apart from others? Hopefully, I'll find that out today!


LashBlast has a synthetic rubber applicator with no fiber bristles. I think the applicator is a bit too wide, though, and I really had trouble getting my smaller, inner corner lashes with it.
The formula also has a strange smell? At first, it sort of smelled like cookie dough to me (haha..), but now it just smells 'off'.

10:00 AM
Just applied the mascara! It applied smoothly and reached all of my longer lashes 0n the middle and outer corner of my eye, but the lashes on the inner corner were just too small to really get coated. I definitely notice some lengthening of my lashes which is great and so far, it's holding a curl fabulously. Not much volume to report, though. I guess no volume will really compare to The Falsies mascara from a few days ago. This mascara dried pretty quickly (it took about 30 seconds).

3:00 PM
This mascara seems to have worn off a bit and I'm kind of surprised, really. I mean, I've heard such fantastic things about it, but it just isn't impressing me. There's like zero volume and my curl didn't last very well. This is kind of just sitting on my lashes =/

7:30 PM
Just applied another coat because I thought it looked so blah. It looks okay now, but I'm really not thinking this is a winner. It did apply very smoothly, though, which is surprising. Normally, when applying a mascara over a dry coat, the formula can clump and get really nasty. That wasn't the case with LashBlast, but I wondering if that's because it just wore off earlier.

1:30 AM
This mascara was almost impossible to remove! I had to rub my lashes for a good 2 minutes before the formula even began to soften. While this definitely proves it's lastability, it also proves that your eyes are going to hurt after wearing it. Not so sure that's a good thing..

To be quite honest, LashBlast disappointed me. After hearing such rave reviews and seeing it tied into a major motion picture (albeit a Drew Barrymore movie. She is the current model for Covergirl's campaign and produced Whip It), I really expected it to do and be everything a perfect mascara should. I don't think it really brings much to your lashes in terms of volume or curl-holding power and it's a pain in the butt to remove. I'm not saying this is a terrible product! However, I'd probably only use it as a backup, a mascara I could keep in my purse to throw on before running into a grocery store. At the same time, for the price I paid (it was the most expensive mascara I sampled this week), I don't know if I'd repurchase.

Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara - Sexy Curves Mascara by Rimmel London

The Battle wages on! Today is day three of my Search for the Perfect Mascara and I have previously reviewed Revlon's Fabulash Mascara and Falsies Mascara by Maybelline.

Rimmel London's Sexy Curves Waterproof Mascara in Black (001) is $7.50 at Ulta.

Unlike Revlon's and Maybelline's Mascaras, Rimmel's has a rubbery silicone applicator and not the classic bristles found on most mascaras. Here's what it looks like...
I'm not really sure why they made it this way, but maybe it's more sanitary because it's easier to clean? This is also a waterproof formula, so let's see how that holds up!

10:00 AM
My eyelashes still felt like they had some residue on them from yesterday's experiment, but I decided to apply this mascara anyway. The applicator was nice and definitely grabbed each lash, but it seemed to pull a bit (maybe because of that darned residue?). It also seemed to take forever to dry (at least 2 minutes). Still, I think it looks rather nice..
11:30 AM
WTF?! This formula is not holding a curl at all. Isn't supposed to because it's called Sexy Curves?! Hmph.... Guess I'll have to go break out the eyelash curler.

12:30 PM
Well, this formula is DEFINITELY waterproof. That's good, right? And since I've recurled my lashes, they seem to be holding the curl. Yay!

3:30 PM
Still looking awesome. I think this mascara gives the perfect amount of definition for day time. It's not too full or dramatic, just a nice way to bring attention to your eyes.

7:30 Pm
I think I'm in love. The bottle is even cute :)
I mean, how adorable is that?! It's such a lovely shade of blue and the reflective packaging makes it look a bit more upscale because it's so shiny.

1:00 AM
This mascara came off with gentle rubbing at the lashes while I was in the shower with a bit of makeup remover and soap: not bad at all! Thankfully, my lashes feel residue free, so I should be ready to try Covergirl's LashBlast in the morning =)

Right now, I'm totally loving this mascara. It did everything I'd want my everyday mascara to do and looked really pretty. No major complaints other than that I had to recurl my lashes, but that's no biggie. It's waterproof power is DEFINITELY impressive!

The Great Debate: Gel Liner vs. Liquid Liner vs. Pencil Liner

Lining your eyes is an important step of any beauty routine because it can make the overall look more dramatic, more playful, more sultry, or even more polished. It all depends on what tools you use and the technique used to draw the line.

Eyeliner can be a disaster, though, if you're not familiar with the products available and simply dive in without picking one that you're comfortable with. The three main types of eyeliner I would recommend checking out are pencil liners, liquid liners, and gel liners. Also, try out a waterproof formula because eyeliner can run or smudge and leave a big sticky mess if it's not waterproofed.

Pencil Eyeliner
Considered the most easy to work with by many beauty brains, pencil eyeliner is just that: eyeliner in a pencil form. This means that when the point gets dull (or breaks) you can just pull out your sharpener and get a point back that works for you. The best pencil eyeliners have a creamy formula, not a dry one nor an oily one. Creamy formulas will be a cinch to apply and manipulate (i.e. smudging), but will not budge after they settle on the eye. In my humble opinion, it is hardest to find a good, creamy eyeliner pencil at a decent price as many drugstore brands are too oily and slide all over the eye. Still, if you think pencil eyeliner is for you (and it is, for anyone new to eyeliner), you should check out Rimmel London Waterproof Eyedefiner ($4.12 at Walmart), L'Oreal Extra Intense Eyeliner ($6.50) or mark.'s No Place to Run Eyeliner ($8.00). Please note that if you go to Walmart or another drugstore, you will see cheaper pencil liners on the shelves. I would not recommend these products because the formula is either too dry or too oily.

Liquid Eyeliner
This type of eyeliner can be extremely messy if not used with a steady hand and gentle application. However, if you practice making lines on the back of your hand first and take your time when applying it around the eye area, then your eyeliner will come out gorgeous! I find liquid eyeliner best for job interviews or important business occasions because you can make the thinnest line possible with it, which looks more polished than a pencil liner. You cannot tightline or use liquid eyeliner on your waterline, though, because it will not dry properly and then will lead to a runny mess that will irritate your eyes. One of my all-time favorite liners is e.l.f.'s Waterproof Eyeliner Pen (only $1 at Target or eyeslipsface.com!) because the formula is long-lasting, waterproof, and quick-drying and the packaging is so much easier to work with. The pen looks exactly like a pencil, except it has a felt tip and never needs to be sharpened, so you can literally draw it right onto the eye. Some other stand-out liquid liner formulas include Maybelline Line Works Liquid Liner ($5.94), Covergirl Liquid Liner Pen Line Exact ($6.97), and mark.'s On the Edge Hookup Liquid Eyeliner ($6.00).

Gel Eyeliner
A happy median between pencil and liquid liners, gel liner is my preferred type of eyeliner. I find that a good gel liner has a creamy consistency, but is quick drying and very smooth on the eye. Gel Liner is applied with an angled or thin brush that can be purchased separately or sometimes comes bundled with the liner. I have seen people apply gel eyeliner directly to their waterlines and then seal it with some eyeshadow in the same color. While I've never tried it, I'm pretty sure this would actually work and give you a long-lasting, smudge-free line. Gel Eyeliner can also be used as an eyeshadow base if you smudge it across the lid (really good technique for dark, smokey eyes). Sonia Kashuk's Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Liner ($8.99 at Target) is by far the best gel eyeliner I have ever used. It's creamy, non-drying, and easy to apply. Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Eyeliner ($6.98) is another well-reviewed gel eyeliner and comes with an application brush as does e.l.f.'s Studio Cream Eyeliner ($3.00).

No matter which eyeliner product you pick, remember to throw out your old one and buy a new one every 3-4 months regardless of whether you used it up because bacteria can collect in or on it and you don't want to put that near your eye.

Which eyeliner is your favorite? Is there a particular product you love? Tell me all about it in the comment section!

The Search for the Perfect Liquid Foundation

Foundation is definitely the most important step in any makeup application because it evens out your complexion and creates a truly blank canvas for you to work with. Therefore, finding the one that is perfect for you is really, really important. So what should you consider when comparing foundations? I'd recommend looking at texture, thickness, coverage, time it takes to dry, and oiliness, but you can judge foundations on tons of other qualities as well.

Over the past year and a half, I have made it my business to try as many liquid foundations as possible in search of the one, as in the one foundation that will highlight my best features, lovingly hide what I don't like, and will stay with me forever (yeah, I just compared finding the perfect foundation to finding true love.). In this post, I'll give some reviews of the most noteworthy products and hopefully help you find your true love.. er, I mean foundation!

1) mark. Get a Tint Tinted Moisturizer Lotion ($9.00)
This is actually a tinted moisturizer -- different from a foundation because it is more sheer and lightweight -- but I count it as a foundation because you still apply it after your primer and concealer, but before eyeshadow or powder. A decent amount comes in the tube which is fantastic!
Pros: Lightweight, contains SPF 15, has a moisturizer built into the formula.
Cons: I noticed that it completely melted while I was outside over the summer which is NOT good. It got in my eyes and stung terribly. This product also takes a while to dry.
Final Verdict: Great product if you're not going to be outside in the sun. Which is kind of silly, since it does contain SPF protection.
Rating: 2.5/5

2) Rimmel London Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation ($6.90 at Ulta)
Love the packaging because the tube is super thin which makes it easy to slip into a makeup bag for travel. At the same time, the tube is a bit small, so I feel like I'm not getting as much product as I paid for.
Pros: Thicker consistency, good coverage, creamy application, dries within 45 seconds of application.
Cons: I don't think it actually lasted 12 hours like it promised. And I didn't really notice any shine control.
Final Verdict: Although it doesn't do exactly what the packaging promises, I still think this was a pretty good product and would consider purchasing again if only for travel.
Rating: 3/5

3) Covergirl TruBlend with Blendable Minerals ($6.50 at Walmart)
This brand has a reputation for being a strong contender in drugstore makeup, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The packaging isn't too cute and the pump got dirty kind of quickly. The glass bottle also kind of scared me (if I drop it will it shatter and get foundation everywhere?), but it was thin and easy to fit into a makeup bag.
Pros: Pump makes it super easy to apply, great coverage, thicker consistency.
Cons: Seemed to take forever to fully dry, left my skin feeling a bit oily. I don't think it actually lasted all day, especially in my t-zone.
Final Verdict: It's a great back-up foundation, but I'm not sure I really love it. I'll probably purchase it again because the price is so fantastic.
Rating: 3.5/5

4) Revlon PhotoReady Makeup ($11.97)
I heard wonderful things about this foundation from other makeup gurus on Youtube, so after much thought (because it is a bit pricey), I decided to give it a try.
Pros: OHMYGOSH! Almost everything!! It's incredibly lightweight, but gives fantastic coverage. No scent, SPF 20, dries quickly.
Cons: It dries quickly. Haha.. I know I just said that was good, but since it does dry pretty fast, it's very hard to blend it once it's on your skin. So, if you're not quick with your foundation or stippling brush, your foundation could look a bit streaky. The bottle is also made of glass and is a bit of an odd, round shape.
Final Verdict: This is the best liquid foundation I've ever used! It's smooth, has great coverage, light formula, and dries quickly with no oiliness. LOVE it!!
Rating:4.5/5

Do you have a foundation you'd like me to review? Or do you have your own review for one of these products? Share it!