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!

Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara - Falsies Mascara by Maybelline

Day two of my Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara! Yesterday, I reviewed Revlon's Fabulash Mascara, so let's continue on with Maybelline's Falsies Mascara!

Maybelline's Falsies Waterproof Mascara in Very Black (291) is $6.99 at Ulta.

Maybelline's The Falsies Mascara is the lastest in the company's Volum' Express line. The one I bought is the waterproof kind, which I find normally helps the formula last longer. Let's see how it goes!


11:30 AM
The Falsies has a super cool wand that has a slight curve in it. This helps your lashes hold their curl and lengthens the lashes as the wand and formula are pulled through them.
So far, I really like this formula. It doesn't seem to clump up, but it does make my lashes look a little spidery (the lashes look like spider legs). At the same time, it definitely adds volume! I really think I look like I'm wearing false lashes. It's also holding a curl very nicely. The mascara dried within 45 seconds of application: another major plus!

3:45 PM
This mascara is still holding up. I think it's given my lashes really impressive volume and has held the curl fantastically. The spidery-ness is still sort of visible. No smudging to report, though!

10:00 PM
My lashes still look super full and long and have held a curl, but the crunchy, spider-legs look is still apparent. I do have to acknowledge that the formula stayed on all day and didn't budge, but I don't like that my lashes never softened up.

1:30 AM
This mascara was really hard to take off! I scrubbed at it with a cotton pad and my makeup remover and it hardly budged. Eventually, it started to rub off and then, after washing my face, it was all gone. It did burn a bit when I tried to get it off and my lashes feel a little tacky still. Eww!

Overall, I think this is a step up from the Revlon mascara I tried yesterday, but I'm still not thrilled. The spiky, spidery lashes aren't cute, so I need to find a way to make this work. I definitely think this product is worth hanging on to, but I need to play around with it until I can find a way for it to apply smoothly and look polished.

Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara - Fabulash Mascara by Revlon

Today is day one of my new series, Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara. Over the next several days, I will be trying out various drugstore brands of mascara in search of the perfect one. Each mascara will be judged on lasting power, how it feels on the eyes, curling power, volume creation, lash lengthening, and packaging. At the end of the series, I'll pick a new favorite!

Revlon's Fabulash Mascara in Black (002) is $6.89 at Ulta.

10:00 AM
Just applied the Fabulash Mascara! The wand looks super cool...

Please pardon my messy hair. I just got out of the shower.

But I'm not so sure about the formula. It seemed to clump pretty badly on my lashes (you can kind of see it in the picture below)...

And it still hasn't completely dried! I finished putting on mascara about 10 minutes ago and it's still a bit wet. Not cool, Revlon, not cool!


2:00 PM
Surprisingly, the mascara held a curl really well. I'm used to my lashes falling flat even if I do use an eyelash curler and mascara normally makes it much worse. It still looks a little clumpy, though which is kind of gross.

7:00 PM
GAH! Major smudging under the eye from this mascara!! Definitely not a fan of that. Lashes are still curled though, which is nice. I also really like that it doesn't make my lashes feel crunchy or hard: they're pretty soft. I would post some photos, but my lighting isn't great enough for you to see all the detail.

2:00 AM
Just about to go to bed. I think the mascara held up pretty well throughout the day. As I was taking off my makeup, I noticed that it made my lashes look a little bit longer which was nice, but there was still some smudging (not so nice). The mascara didn't come off at first, but when I used a cotton pad directly on my lashes, it came off pretty easily.

Overall, I think this mascara is okay. It held a curl and lasted longer than my previous mascara (which I will reveal at the end of the contest), but I was not a fan of the smudging and clumping. I don't believe this was a waterproof formula, which is another downfall.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I review Maybelline's Falsies Mascara as the Battle of the Brands rages on!