Mascaras - Friday Favourites

 I've been on the quest for the perfect mascara since I was about 13 and it's such personal thing that I don't claim to have found it though I have found some that I genuinely love. So here they are

• Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara - black and smokey and giving great volume. Not cruelty-free
• LimeLife Perfect Mascara - I'm not usually a fan of fibre mascaras but this one lengthens and volumises and doesn't make your lashes feel crispy. It's the one I rebuy over and over again 
• Maybelline Great Lash Big - I loathe the original of this but this version with a fatter brush is my go-to high street mascara. Not cruelty-free 
•  LimeLife Making Waves - I hate waterproof mascaras and i've tried lots. They are a must for any makeup artist and usually they are horrible. This one is fantastic. 

LimeLife by Alcone Perfect Mascara Quick Review

So this is the first Quick Review I've done for a LimeLife product and in fact I think it's the quickest Quick Review I've done. Let me know if you'd like more info on any of the LimeLife products. This mascara is great.

You can buy the mascara through me here

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Top 5 Mascaras

Mascara's. It's an ongoing thing, the quest for the perfect mascara isn't it? And I sort of think that maybe that's the point of it. The journey rather than the discovery itself. I mean. I'm not going to stop trying new mascara's am I? It's all gone a bit existential.

I asked Instagram what they wanted and current mascara favourites was the answer. So here they are. All price ranges are covered and all of these I would buy again. Sadly none of these products are cruelty free. 4 out of the 5 are sold in China which means, there at least, by law their products will be tested on animals. Younique is cruelty free sort of, but they currently can't trace all their products back to definitely not being tested on animals though I think they are in the process of changing this.

Urban Decay Troublemaker Mascara

I try to keep negative views to a minimum because what might not work for me may be great for someone else but I hate it when good brands do something mediocre. And the new Troublemaker mascara from Urban Decay is mediocre at best.

Regular readers know I was a reluctant convert to the Urban Decay Perversion mascara (which it turns out I reviewed nearly exactly a year ago). I frankly find the make-up business's desire to name products 'sexily' completely wrong and ridiculous - this is not Urban Decay specific, loads of other brands do it, NARS and Too Faced to name but two. I was quite keen to try the Troublemaker mascara despite it announcing itself 'sex proof' (why Urban Decay? Why?) but god is it a big fat disappointment.

Younique Moodstruck Epic Mascara

One thing I always want to be on this blog is honest and fair so here's a review I would never have dreamed of writing! I've heard (not great) things about Younique and have been approached by some of their reps but haven't actually looked into or tried any of their products. Then lovely Gina who has followed me on Instagram for a while and who I actually didn't know was a rep said she wanted to send me a mascara to try because she thought I'd love it. I messaged her back and said I really thought I wouldn't and she replied that she'd take that risk and send it anyway.

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara BIG - Quick Review

I never got on with Maybelline Great Lash mascara despite it being the most popular mascara among my friends. I'd say it appears in 7 out of 10 make-up bags I go through* but for me it was just totally meh. However, for some reason I can't explain I was compelled to buy the BIG (i.e volumising) version when I saw it in Superdrug. You can see what I think here.

Maybelline Great Lash BIG Mascara is available here

*I go through a lot it's like a strange compulsion

Some links are affiliate links which means I will get a small commission if you click through and buy from them. There is no extra cost to you and if you are not comfortable with that then do feel free to open a separate window and google the product for yourself

Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer

Face and eye primers I can generally get on board with. Lash primers not so much. I understand them. I see a difference with them but they are just not something that would end up in my personal or pro-kit. Some love a lash primer, and to be fair I haven't tried that many and though Subversion by Urban Decay is the best I've tried I'm not in a rush to repurchase.

So Subversion claims to give 'thicker, longer, stronger' lashes but for me what I overwhelmingly found was that it made my mascara clumpy. I'm also usually in a rush and with whatever mascara I'm using it takes a while for me to make sure all the white is covered and the clumps combed out. Maybe I would love a black lash primer. But what I really think is, I don't need one. I'm happy to whack on a load of mascara but I still like a reasonably natural look - not like fat spiders legs - and therefore it's better for me to have an extra layer of mascara rather than a primer.

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara - Quick Review

I wish they'd call this 'lower lash' mascara. But they didn't. Either way it's a good mascara that does the job. Not as grungy as I like my lower lashes to look but excellent at being precise and does not budge. Excellent if you have sparse or short lashes too as the teeny tiny brush means you can get each individual lash.

If you haven't already then please subscribe to my channel and go and check out the blog www.londonmakeupblog.com

You can read my full review here
Clinique Bottom Lash mascara 

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Still, bizarrely, one of the only 'bottom' lash mascara's on the market - there are a few with small brushes which would be suitable but not necessarily specific for this purpose. 

For years I've been using the Eyeko Fat Brush mascara on my lower lashes. It's smudge-proof and would bump just enough at the root of the lash onto the skin to mean that on most days I rarely had to use liner on the bottom lashes. But am I someone who will settle when they find a product that they like? No I'm not. If I was there would be no blog and probably a lot more money in my bank account. As Clinique Bottom Lash mascara is the the famed lower lash mascara it was the obvious one to try*.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara Quick Review

You can read my full review of this in the link below. This is a great mascara, I just can't put my finger on why I don't love it.


Urban Decay Perversion Mascara
You can read my full review here
 

Urban Decay Peversion Mascara

I've been putting off reviewing this because even though I can't find anything specifically I don't like about this mascara it just doesn't wow me. And yet when I think about all the different things I usually judge a mascara on - brush type and size, blackness and consistency of product - this has a lot of great things about it. Maybe it's the name?

The consistency of this mascara I'd say is about as close to perfect as you can get. It's nicely fluid, not too much, there are no leaks or blobs, but enough that you get a great coating. That being said it takes a few goes to get perfect coverage, but so it is with all mascaras. It is completely non-clumpy, to a noticable extent. Not a clump insight. You will need to give it time to dry and you will need a good remover to get this off - it's not waterproof but it's made to stay on all day. Which it does.

Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara

I have a lot of make-up samples knocking about the house and it's got to the stage after two children and two house moves in two years that I get a bit hazy on where everything came from. My sample tube of Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara found it's way into my every day make-up stash and hasn't left. When it runs out I will rebuy it. Secretly it has become one of my top mascara's without me really noticing.

This is an old fashioned type of brush but with an excellent curve to it (which I've tried to show in the picture, which I should mention shows a sample size of this mascara). This could be completely lash dependent but for me it makes it really easy to get from top to the bottom of all my lashes. You can use the back edge of the brush to come through the lashes.

There isn't really a pointy end so you have to run the risk of a blob if you are doing the inner-corner - which I do and it doesn't bother me. If you are someone with very fine lashes then this is probably not going to be a great brush for you. Which is a shame as it's a great formula for adding length and volume. The curve shapes gives help to the curl of they eye lash for those of us too lazy to curl every day. I know I should. But I don't.

Daniel Sandler Intense Volume Pro Mascara - Quick Review

Long overdue (as is the full blog review which is to come) one of my favourite mascaras and for those who only wear mascara, this is perfect. 


If you are reading this in July 2016 then this is part on my 10th birthday giveaway this month which you can enter here.

CLOSED - LMB Turns 10 - July Giveaway

Hands up who finds the Rafflecopter thing confusing 🙋. So this month we are going to go old school. If you want to enter then just leave me a comment, I will enter all names into a list randomiser and choose the name from the top.

Right, the prizes this months are about eyes. And I'm so excited to be able to include one of my absolute top mascara's not just since I've been blogging but ever the Intense Volume Pro mascara from Daniel Sandler. There will be a full blog review and a quick review to follow this month so you can see it in action so I'm not going to bang on about it here but I simply love this mascara - and so do my lashes, fantastic for contact wearers and those with sensitive eyes, long lasting but easy to remove and though it's not waterproof this is the one I wear for baby swim and I've yet to come out looking like a panda (I should say that I don't go under water but one year olds are very splashy). This is the real deal.

Bobbi Brown Eye Opening Mascara Quick Review - Friday Video

This weeks quick review is the new, love it or hate it mascara from Bobbi Brown...

Bobbi Brown Eye Opening Mascara

This seems to be a love it or hate it mascara, even down to some of the Bobbi Brown make-up artists I spoke to when I bought it. I really love it I have to say. It ticks nearly all boxes for me in terms of what I'm always trying to find from a mascara and the only downside is the clumpiness but more on that in a minute. In fact I'd say it seems to be one of the most controversial products I've researched with five star reviews from some and one or two star reviews from others.

I really like an old fashioned bristley brush and am not that fussed whether it's big or small as long as the mascara itself is properly black, which this is. The brush seems to be too big for some - I find it totally fine, it's not dissimilar to the Benefit Bad Gal one. You need to apply this from root to tip without wiggling the brush, having removed as much product as possible on the scraper. You get a lot of product on the brush and some people seem to have had problems with the mascara squidging out of the tube when you screw the lid back on. I haven't had this but I can imagine it happening - if it did I would take it back to the shop and get them to swap it.

Chantecaille Faux Cils Mascara

Man am I hard to please on the mascara front. I've been trying out one of the most popular high end mascaras, Chantecaille Faux Cils and am I going to sit here and tell you that my 17(ish) year hunt for the perfect mascara is over? No I'm not. Do I really, really like it? Why, yes I do thanks.

I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that maybe you just need to have a few mascaras and use each one depending on your mood/requirements/make-up.

This is certainly the higher end pricewise. I didn't buy it I was given a sample size to test and test it I have. It's probably best to start with the smell as that's one of the first things you will notice about it. Roses. If you love them then this is a great added extra, if you are not that keen like me then it's totally fine, it's not like it lingers. If you find the smell of roses absolutely repellent then give this one a miss. It's not so mind blowing that you need to get over your sense of smell. I would tell you if it was.

Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara Quick Review - Friday Video

I love this mascara but I would hesitate before I ran out and recommended it to everyone...

Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara

I haven't tried a Bobbi Brown mascara before - though I've heard a lot of good things about them there are a lot of mascaras out there to try, Bobbi Brown's always seem quite pricey and this is the most expensive of the lot. The Smokey Eye Mascara is the one I've wanted to try the most and I actually remembered to ask for it for Christmas (get me). It took a little while for me to get used to the formula but out of all the mascara's I'm using at the moment this is definitely my favourite. Possibly my new favourite mascara full stop!

Friday Video - Quick Review of Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Mascara

I love this mascara. One coat is enough for the daytime, it's incredibly easy to apply and doesn't make your lashes brittle. Love the shape and size of the brush. Available on the Yves Rocher website