GET 'LASHED' WITH ME! - Finding the Perfect Mascara.
As a Pro Make-Up artist I am often faced with the conflict between certain types of make up that I adore using on Sets compared to the type of make-up that works on my face well and feel comfortable wearing. I have my staple favourites, and my go to routine to create my everyday look that most people have. The misconception of me being a make up artist meaning I must always be immaculate and spending hours making up my own face every day does NOT live at this address! In fact as much as I love doing my own face 'UP', its usually the last thing on my agenda on a workday and instead I have mastered my daytime look to a 'T' and have it down to probably around 10 minutes .
Its fresh, simple youthful and just enough to make me feel like I can face the world. But the million dollar question I always get asked is.. "What 3 products could you not live without?"
My answer is always... " Mascara, Concealer and Eyebrow pencil"
(I often joke that I would sneak in a forth in the shape of a Red Lipstick An Elson by Pat McGrath Labs to be precise!!) but there you have it. Mascara Concealer and Eyebrow pencil, in that order too. Although unlike ,most of the gorgeous individuals I get to work with I am not blessed in the Lash area and despite having a Mane of hair on my head, my lashes have never been Exceptional!! I often Joke that finding the perfect Mascara is like finding the perfect pair of Jeans . Its all about what fits!
I've had my own personal favourites for a while and recently I've been inundated with new ones for my make up kit. But before they hit the kit, I gave a few newbies a road test next to my old faithfuls and if like me finding a mascara to make your lashes feel thicker without clumping, longer without being spikey, Silky without being greasy and Fluttery without being stiff then hopefully my little experiment will give you all the insight you need on finding the perfect way to get Lashed.
(All Mascaras were tried on cleansed and dried lashes)
1.Triple Threat Mascara by ICONIC London £19.00. I have to be honest and say when I first received this Mascara I wasn't really banking on it being anything worth writing home about. I had seen it on 'The Gram' and wasnt 100% sure it would deliver the results i had seen on my measly lashes. But what do you know, here I am at home writing about it. Its totally Ironic really, oh no I mean ICONIC!!.
The Triple threat Mascara for me is the mascara of dreams. It lengthens and lifts and it almost feels as if you can feel you lashes being stretched to create the perfect fluttery lash.
My lashes almost didn't feel like my own but it managed to open my eyes out without it feeling heavy or overly wet. I really love a plastic spoolie. I just find it works on my lashes best and gives the right amount of separation.
I love the depth of the black and whats more it came of easily with one round of cleanser.
It lengthened , thickened and curled. Absolute Triple Threat I would say!
Definitely here to stay 9/10
Moonstruck Epic 4D Mascara by YOUNIQUE £23.00
2. Younique is an online Make Up brand that has a wave of clients that rave about their products especially their range of Mascaras. Having heard a lot I thought I would plunge straight into the deep end and try out their ultimate Moonstruck Epic 4d.
Straight away I was completely nervous about taking the huge bristle brush loaded with Mascara to me eyes. Its literally everything I avoid in a mascara but I went in for the kill and put my lashes through the mill . Now, its fair to say that as a make up artist there is going to be an element of control when using products that wouldn't necessarily be suitable on yourself. We kinda just know how to make it work and that EXACTLY the best way to describe my experience with this Mascara. I managed to get a lovely result but it took some control and a bit of patience. That said I know a sea of my clients that would find this the perfect fit, but unfortunatly despite getting a reasonable result I couldnt spend the time carefully applying this each day and cleaning up around by eyes from the Fuller brush.
It will be hitting the kit but maybe best suited for the pro side of things for the clients with long lashes needing some depth. 6/10
3. Extended Play Gigablack Lash by MAC £17.00
This has been my go to mascara for about 5 years, its been the perfect fit for ALL this time and its taken a while for me to even want to try others. But after a couple of months of dabbling with a few of the newer kids on the block, putting the extended play to my lashes again was like coming home. The brush is very small and compact and gets deep into the root of the baby fine hair I didn't think were possible to have, especially on MY eyes. Its really easy to use and creates a complete silky blackout with full effect on my eye lashes.
Whats more I know from passed experienced that even when I have shed a few tears (Yes I mean actual TEARS when I CRY) I haven't ended up looking like a Panda. It just stays kindly in place, yet removes from your lashes super easily with any cleanser.
With the reasonable price point too from the Pro Brand MAC, this is always going to be the one to beat for me. 10/10
4. Beauty Diva London £23.00
The newest Kid in town Beauty Diva London has fast become a cult brand amongst the social media hipsters and regularly finds itself sold out. I tried this Mascara and genuinely was asked about 6/7 times in one day if I was wearing falsies! Fact.
Its thick, its dark and it absolutely packs a punch. My lashes were visibly longer and looked more dramatic then i had EVER seen them. Really good results but then there was slight trouble in paradise when it came to cleansing. It has the staying power of oil on a paperbag. Well, that was until I mastered it with an oil based cleanser. ( Superfacialist Cleansing Oil) and then it was fine. The results fo me were maybe just a touch too intense but I would definitely use it on night out or when I'm getting more dolled up and want that Dramatic lash effect as opposed to easy everyday.
Perfect for the girls that love to always wear full glam . This ones for you, 8/10
5. Eccentrico by GEORGIO ARMANI
There is always a luxury brand that is going to do it right and like they have done with their foundations ( All Hail Luminous Silk) Armani have slayed with their Eccentrico Mascara too. Now the results are very very very similar to the Iconic although I feel my lashes magically curl upwards a tad more with this formula. I also think that again has something to do with how well my lashes respond to a plastic spoolie. I love everything about this mascara and I have a few other colours in my pro kit already. But of all the Mascaras the Eccentrico is by far the MOST expensive and to spend money on a mascara to wear daily that has near on similar results to one that is £10 cheaper would be a little Eccentrico dont you think?
I will save this for my wedding day I think.
(8.5/10)
6. Mascara Raven by ILLAMASQUA
I am not going to lie I really struggled with this Mascara and maybe I need to give it a few more attempts but I just couldnt get the depth nor the length in my lashes with the bristle spoolie that I have managed with others. I also found that it maybe wasn't AS black as I was used to. I am always quite cautious with 'fluffier ' brushes but I just couldn't get the perfect fit to create the results I like on MY eyelashes. I have since used this on a shoot to see if my application on another person has better results and its gave my client fuller and bushier lashes that were not clumpy. NICE!. Not at the top of my list for performance 5/10
7. Moonstruck Twisted By YOUNIQUE
It seems unfair that I would review 2 from 1 brand but YOUNIQUE have such a huge selection on the mascara front and there was one more that I couldn't help but let get the better of me on the curiosity front. The Moonstruck Twisted has a more of a 'Unique 'approach with this little belter and it has a really really super slim brush. So slim that I was unsure whether I needed to not be so heavy handed. But it delivered, and was so easy to use. My lashed were longer and fuller with a very separated result although I feel the general consistency could do with being a teeny weeny bit thicker. I tell you what this is an absolute godsend for though.. BOTTOM LASHES!!! Honestly its staying in my kit for that alone. I've yet to see a brush that would give the results on the bottom lashes like this. Pefection!! 7/10
8. The Curling Mascara KEVYN AUCOIN £22.00
Another miserable factor about my lashes is that they are as straight as an arrow but the moment they are curled and coated in a reasonable mascara after my eye looks wider and its the trick to making me look more bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.
The trick is to finding the mascara that ticks those boxes, so you have imagine when a mascara is
THE VERDICT.
From a personal and professional perspective I would have to put The Triple Threat at the top of my list. There isn't a lash that wouldn't benefit from its triple effects. The price point is also half in comparison to its expensive and performance rivals. Which means you can buy 2!! ENJOY
https://www.iconiclondoninc.com/products/triple-threat-mascara
