As far as mascaras go, finding your perfect fit can be quite the challenge. We all have something we're looking for, whether it's something to add a little va va voom or create lengths the distance of a football field (slight exaggeration). But when it comes to actually trying out and comparing some of the Sephora favorites, it's probably a little too expensive and time-consuming to really figure out what works. To spare you the agony of this lengthy search, I tried each of the 10 mascaras in the Sephora Favorites Lash Stash 2013 to give you a better understanding of what each of the Sephora best-sellers can do for your lashes.
In this second installment, we look at the other three of six volumizing mascaras – Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, Clinique High Impact Mascara, and Sephora Collection Outrageous Volume Dramatic Volume Mascara – in the set to see how each fares on my blonde-tipped, straight lashes.
[Read More: Battle of the Mascaras: Va Va Voluminous, Part 1]
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
Whether or not this is better than sex is a conversation for another day, but wow, I was impressed with Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara ($23, amazon.com). I wasn't expecting it to separate and define my lashes as well as it did; to be honest, when you take the heavily-bristled brush out of the tube, the formula looks thick and clumpy, but it performed rather well. I don't know if the shape of the brush really made an impact, but I was definitely a fan of its thick bristles. I applied two coats in the picture above, so if you're someone who really likes mascara, I'd pull in the reigns a little bit before you get to that spidery look.
Overall Rating: 95%
Ingredients: Water, Synthetic Beeswax, Paraffin, Glyceryl Stearate, Acacia Senegal Gum, Butylene Glycol, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Polybutene, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Cera Carnauba/Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax/Cire de Carnauba, Aminomethyl Propanol, Glycerin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Disodium EDTA, Polyester-11, PVP, Cellulose, Trimethylpentanediol/Adipic Acid/Glycerin Crosspolymer, Propylene Glycol, Acacia Senegal Gum Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Dextran, Acetyl Hexapeptide-1. May Contain: Iron Oxides (CI 77499), Black 2 (CI 77266), Ultramarines (CI 77007).
Clinique High Impact Mascara
Let's talk about the good things about Clinique High Impact Mascara ($16, sephora.com). The formula was really easy to build (I used two coats, pictured above), but that's about it. If you look at some of the other photos, you can tell that this formula really weighed my lashes down; they definitely don't look as long with this mascara. I don't think Clinique High Impact Mascara did much for separating my lashes – my lashes look fewer and thicker, which isn't a good sign. Plus, calling it High Impact might be more of a stretch as I would expect the results to be a lot more dramatic than they are.
Overall Rating: 60%
Sephora Collection Outrageous Volume Dramatic Volume Mascara
I wanted to like Sephora Collection Outrageous Volume Dramatic Volume Mascara ($15, sephora.com), simply because it's a cheaper alternative to many of the others I've tried (who doesn't like saving money?) and I typically like the makeup in the Sephora Collection. Technically, this did make my lashes look more voluminous... and by that, I mean that it looks like I have about 75% less, albeit thicker, lashes. This could be due to the mascara's "unique triple load brush." What they mean by this is that the bristles are thin and have large gaps between them, which allows plenty of product just kind of sit on the brush when you remove it from the tube, only to be unceremoniously dumped upon your naked lashes. Sorry, Sephora, you know I love you, but adding more of a product doesn't necessarily fix the problem, especially if that product is too wet and can't be distributed evenly.
Overall Rating: 40%
Ingredients: Water, Ci 77499 (Iron Oxides), Glyceryl Stearate, Glycol Montanate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Ci 77007 (Ultramarines), Pentylene Glycol, Palmitic Acid, Acrylates Copolymer, Butylene Glycol, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Triethanolamine, C12-16 Alcohols, Glycerin, Lecithin, Ci 77266 (Black 2), Cera Microcristallina (Microcrystalline Wax), Sodium Dehydroacetate, Copernicia Cerifera Cera (Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax), Pvp, Nylon-12, Phenoxyethanol, Dehydroacetic Acid, Tocopherol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Benzyl Alcohol.
And the winner is... Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara!
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara was definitely my favorite of this bunch by far. It provided enough volume and separated my lashes so that they didn't form into unappealing clumps, as seen with both the Clinique High Impact Mascara and Sephora Collection Outrageous Volume Dramatic Volume Mascara.