Great value for lovely lashes (Barry M 3 in 1 Mascara)

Member Name: liss_e

Product:	Barry M 3 in 1 Mascara
Date:	19/06/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good price, performs and lasts well

Disadvantages: Horrible tube! I'd prefer more length for evening and dressier looks

Barry M 3in1 Mascara

I was noseying around the Barry M counter in Superdrug, considering getting two of the nail paints for £4.99 that were on offer as so far I've only ever bought the dazzle dusts from this brand of cosmetics. I couldn't decide on a colour though as the red, which is the colour I'm currently in need of, looked rather watery. So I took a look at what else he had on offer, swiped a few on the back of my hands (there's a kind of bronzer that I simply must go back to buy, it still looks fab on my hand now!), looked at the eye pencils before spotting the mascaras. Now I admit I am really happy with the mascara I currently use (Maybelline Lash Stiletto) but I would like a little bit more curling to my lashes so I was intrigued when I spotted this product.



What The Packaging Looks Like:

One big word for the packaging on this. Ugly. I know I shouldn't really say that, but it is, it's greyish-silver and pink and tacky looking which very almost made me put it right back on the shelf and walk away from the stand. The more I look at the tube the more I can't stand the way it looks.




What It Promises:

Taken off the website:
New 3 in 1 Mascara - Volumises, Lengthens and Curls! Available in intense black- It's like 3 mascara's in 1! Essential for knock out lashes!


Mascaras always promise such big, impossible things that I never take much notice but since I've been writing reviews here I try to include all the information I think may be handy, plus I've discovered it's interesting to test out whether they live up to expectation and actually makes me more analytical when trying new things out.

This one, as the name suggest promises three main things for your lashes, lengthening, thickening and curling. Not too big, unlike the fancy sounding blurb the Lash Stiletto came with!



How The Product Applies:

When I pulled the wand out of the tube I instantly noticed that the bristles were much more sparse than on a traditional wand, it looks like there are only about four rows spread out. This means that the wand picks up a hell of a lot of product on it as it sticks between the rows due the huge gaps. So wiping this off is a must, I tend to scrape it gently on the lip of the tube so it goes back in the bottle or I use a bit of tissue, depends where I am and if the tissue is to hand.

I always, always, without a doubt curl my lashes before putting on any mascara, it doesn't matter what the mascara promises you will get a far superior result if you spend a minute using the curlers. My lashes are thick, fairly long but never curl on their own so this is a must to me to show off their length.

Like any mascara you unscrew, remove the cap from the bottle and use the wand to brush your lashes from root to tip with a kind of zigzag motion to separate and enlongate each lash. Don't worry if you make a slight mess on your eyelid as you do this as you can always apply before eyeshadow and simply use a damp Q Tip to rub off any mistakes, if using a waterproof mascara dampen the Q Tip with Eye Make Up Remover instead of water.

I seriously was expecting hugely spider-like lashes, and got a rather pleasant surprise when it kept the lashes fairly separated. It looked alright after one coat, but nothing like the product promises, after a second coat however it looked a whole lot better. It dried fairly fast, and didn't turn grey although it wasn't as shiny and striking as the Lash Stiletto I currently use but it did separate them even better.

Now as every woman who has tried out a whole load of mascara knows, one application can impress but it takes a whole lot more before you know for sure if the mascara is that good as sometimes they dry out very quickly in the tube or it could just have been a good eyelash day (LOL!), so I figured I'd give it a real good go before submitting a review on this.



My Thoughts:

It costs around £5.95 at time of writing this, and for that price it is pretty good. It doesn't smudge or flake, separates lashes well and lasts me from 8am-11pm, but it's probably not as dramatic as I would like (I love the false lash look). It didn't give me knock-out lashes, but it gave me fairly long and thick daytime wear lashes and I do find myself reaching for this 5/10 times. You definitely need a good 2-3 coats, and it doesn't dry as fast as some mascaras so this can make it a bit of a pain to do.

I'd probably buy it again, especially if it is on offer at time (Superdrug tend to do offers on Barry M - Buy 3 for 2, every now and then). It's value for money, and performs better than some more expensive mascaras I've bought in the past have done. I even prefer this to Benefit's Bad Gal Lash Mascara, and it's had some positives reviews on beauty blogs.

It also only comes in one colour which is a negative, but there is a waterproof version called 'Extreme Waterproof Mascara' which promises to do the same kind of thing.

Summary: I'd say give it a go!