Two black eyes and a loose tooth (Maybelline Volum Express Waterproof Mascara)

Member Name: saucy_molecule

Product:	Maybelline Volum Express Waterproof Mascara
Date:	10/08/03 (330 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: black eyes, easy to apply

Disadvantages: not waterproof, smudges easily by finger, but strangely not with sweat!

I am notoriously stingy with my make up and hair products. I simply cannot afford to buy everything that I want so the majority of my things come from either the market (there?s this amazing stall in Stafford market that sells brand name products for a fraction of the full retail price) or when things I desperately need are on offer in Boots or elsewhere.

So, when my trusty mascara came to a finish (purchased from the market-stall) I decided to be adventurous and buy an expensive mascara. When perusing my magazines at home I was all for spending £9 or whatever it is on a Bourjois mascara, but when faced with the reality in Boots, I couldn?t bring myself to spend the money. So instead, I opted for the Maybelline Volum? Express Mascara because it was on offer for about £2.99. I was a bit gutted actually when I got it home and my sister went, ?oh I bought mine from the market as well, it was only £1.50? Never mind, I thought, at least I got points on my Boots card, which I?ve now lost...

Oh, before I forget, nowhere on my mascara does it say that it is waterproof and if you read on you'll find the proof that I don't think it actually is. Which leads me to the conclusion that I don't have the waterproof version! So, sorry that the title says that this is waterproof, but to be blunt, it's not.

Anyway, the review.....

Having thrown away the original packet it came in, I?m afraid I cannot tell you what was on the back of it, which is what I like to do normally to see how the product compares to the myth that the company has woven. So, you?ll have to use your imagination and pretend that it said something along the lines of ?This will make your lashes amazingly long blah blah blah.? Actually, the mascara itself says, ?ULTRA VOLUME - ULTRA FAST. Up to triple the volume INSTANTLY. No clumps or globs. Opthalmologically tested.? It also repeats this gospel in what I assume is Spanish and some other language very similar to S
panish. Luckily (from the point of view of this op) it also has some info about the company - Maybelline New York - Paris. EMB 45235 (whatever that means) and Made in France. The contents are about 10 ml, and apparently the packaging is recyclable. To be honest I don?t know anybody who would recycle their mascara bottle, but then there?s probably someone out there who does!

The mascara bottle is quite thick and heavy which I like, as it feels a bit more expensive. Its dark navy blue with gold writing on it, which I?m not too sure of as I?m not a big fan of gold. But, still a nice addition to the makeup case nonetheless.

The mascara wand is a straight one, and the product comes out fairly evenly, but still with a slight blob at the end. I?ve yet to find one that doesn?t do this, but to be fair the blob is minimal on this mascara. When applying this, I?ve found that you need to do a few strokes on each part of your eyelashes to make sure that all of them are covered. I also don?t think that it is that thick at all. Nowhere near the tripleness that the blurb would have us believe. It does thicken up slightly once dry, but not a noticeable amount unless you were really looking. The colour of my mascara is black-noir and it is a good strong colour. As I have blonde eyelashes, I do like them to be blacker than black and it certainly works in this department.

As I determined tester I decided to hold some scientific testing on the product. Well this isn?t scientific testing as such, but I am going to perform some tests on it to see how well it holds up under daily wear and tear.

The touch test: Touching the lashes, the subject found them to be soft and not stiff. The mascara did not smudge until profound rubbing of the eyes when subject managed poke herself in the eye. Test passed.

Water test: The subject found that the mascara does not hold up under the water test. A vigorous shower soon left the subject with what can only be
called ?panda eyes.? Ironically, when rubbed with a dry finger (or towel) panda eyes will disappear. Test sort of passed.

Makeup remover test: Mascara is removed easily and appears to be all gone. Smudges easily when the remover is applied. Comedy panda eyes can be created with ease. Test passed.

Night on the razz test: Subjectcan say tha woz brill nigh?. Woz gorge on dance-floor. Mascara brill wazzeneven a smudge. Evenaffer swea? en snog en sick.... tes? pass.

Sleep test: WARNING - this test was performed under scientifically controlled conditions. DO NOT do this all the time or your eyelashes will fall out. This is perhaps the most important test. Subject would like to be able to wake up next to her boyfriend the next morning looking beautiful with black eyelashes. However, although full panda eyes did not appear, there were significant smudges under her eyes and on the pillow which elicited a question of ?What?s all that black crap?? from her partner. Test failed.

So after rigorous testing, I can confirm that its an 'all right' mascara. Its not the best, but it does its job and if you don?t abuse it i.e. wear it in the shower and in bed (which you shouldn?t be doing anyway) then it should be fine. If you?re not a skinflint and fancy something a bit more swish then its probably worth buying something a bit more expensive. I don?t think I?ll be buying this one again, but that?s only because its no longer on offer. If it came on offer again, I would buy it.

*** Finishing touches ***

I bought mine on offer from Boots at £2.99 but this was quite a while ago so I doubt its still on. You can buy this mascara from most chemists and other makeuppy type places, so if you look around you probably should be able to find it at a cheaper price than full retail, which is about £5.99.

As of yet I?ve not found any extras about the Maybelline company, but when I do I?ll add them on.

PS., it didn't
really give me a loose tooth

Summary: