Decent drugstore mascara
Conventional wisdom varies on how often one should replace a tube of mascara. Some generous sources say a year, but others recommend every six months, or even every four. Such frequent replacement can mean that mascara is an expensive part of a beauty regimen.
My previous favorite mascara was Bobbi Brown’s Thickening Formula, which was discontinued and replaced with a combined lengthening/thickening formula called Everything Mascara. I bought a tube last spring. I didn’t like it as much as its Thickening predecessor, but it had a good brush and a not very wet formula that didn’t clump much. It had two strikes against it, though. It was hard to remove, even with the normally very efficient MAC eye makeup remover, and it wasn’t cheap. At $19 a tube, I didn’t love it enough to replace it even twice a year, much less three times. And so I embarked on a search for a decent, reasonably priced drugstore formula.
Most magazines and makeup artists tout Maybelline’s Great Lash regular formula as the best (and one of the cheapest) drugstore mascaras. I tried it a few years ago and didn’t like the brush and got a lot of clumps. I didn’t see the need to test it again.
I did some online research and found some good reviews of products by Maybelline, L’Oreal and Almay. Picking out just one was daunting, though. Each formula comes in multiple colors and waterproof or not. Each brand had about a half dozen different formulas, so there were at least fifty different tubes among which I had to choose. After about ten minutes of deliberation, I chose Maybelline’s Lash Discovery in blackish brown, non-waterproof. It’s both a thickening and a lengthening formula and has a tiny brush. The brush is easy to maneuver, requiring fewer strokes, using less product and lessening clumps. It’s a very good basic mascara and I’ll buy it again. It cost about $6.50, so I could replace it every four months and pay just a bit more than I did for one tube of the Bobbi Brown.
January 19th, 2005 at 10:56 am
Lash Discovery! That’s the one I’ve been using for quite a while. I like the little brush, though I usually bend the tip just a little when I get a new one. It makes it easier to do my lower lashes. Someone once told me you should replace your mascara every month, but I don’t follow that rule.
January 19th, 2005 at 4:50 pm
Every month? Who has that kind of time/money/memory?
Isn’t it funny the “someone once told me” or “I read”… and we adopt those bits of wisdom like they’re scientific fact. Because someone once told me not to use mascara on my lower lashes, so I never do. Something, perhaps, about opening up the eye, looking not so old, not so tired, or some such.
January 19th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
I use the pink & green Maybelline myself for the same reason. You actually can choose from either a straight or curved brush. Will try your suggestion, though. However, this font you’re using annoyingly makes “clumps” read as “dumps” to my eyes.
January 20th, 2005 at 9:48 am
so? what’s the final call? do you like it? should i rush out to Duane Reade to buy it?
January 20th, 2005 at 2:49 pm
No need to rush, but it is pretty good. I don’t like formulas that take their lengthening/thickening jobs too seriously. This works well as a non-clumpy lash darkener that gives a little extra length and thickness.
January 20th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
I still own the same tube of mascara that I used when I got married 12 years ago.
It still works on the occassions that I need it…do I really need to toss it.>
January 22nd, 2005 at 4:22 pm
ELLE! Yes, I’m afraid so. The reason that you’ve supposed to change mascara so frequently is that it collects bacteria more quickly than other cosmetics, and bacteria around the eyes is a bad thing. Have you ever had itching at the base of your lashes? That’s one of the indications to me that I need to get a new tube of mascara. Just get the Maybelline–either the GReat Lash or Lash Discovery–it’s cheap and it does the job and it won’t be crawling with bacteria.