Tuesday 8 March 2011

Review - Maybelline the Falsies Volum' Express in Black Drama

I have very short, thin, and straight lashes. Without mascara they look like curtains in front of my eyes, sigh... I have been on the quest to find the perfect mascara, a mascara that lengthens, curls and volumises...and all this without clumping. I have not yet found my HG mascara, but I have stumbled across some very good ones.


Around a month ago, I purchased this mascara. I have always been interested in mascaras that claim to give you that false lash effect. Is it really possible? I had to find out. I purchased the Black Drama version of this mascara, because it has a concentrated black fibre formula, and it's in the colour blackest black! I never knew this until recently, but mascaras lengthen because the fibres within them act as extensions on your real lashes. The extended lashes then get coated with mascara, blending the real and the synthetic together, achieving a lengthening effect! I bet this is common knowledge haha...

Onto the review...



The wand 




I was worried about the size of the wand when I first saw it, I could just imagine the messy application! Because of my eye shape, it is very hard not to get any mascara on my lids, regardless of how small the wand is. Being used to this, I just messily apply and clean up afterwards using a cotton bud :P. The wand did not leave as much mess as I had predicted! I think this is because of the spoon brush design, as the bristles are bent away from the eye area. On the back of the mascara, it instructs you to use the brush in a certain orientation.


I thought, surely the product on the other side of the wand will just dry and make the rest of the mascara horrible? It seems like such a waste...

Application
I did follow their instructions though, and the results are far from pleasing. It seemed to glue my lashes together, and I was left with perhaps 5 fat clumps of eyelashes on each eye. Not attractive. I stopped using this mascara completely for a while, because I was just so disappointed in it.

I went back to it a week later, wanting to give it one last go. I realised that the mascara clumped because by using the wand in the way they suggested, your lashes were only coming into contact with very short bristles, which basically have no separating power. So I turned the wand, and used it in reverse for the base coat of mascara. This coated and separated each lash! You do have to be careful though, as the brush does have a tendency to generously deposit product, which again will make horrible clumps. Then I used the brush the 'right' way round to add curl and volume. I do this twice for each eye, so that's three coats in total. And here's what it looks like:


[Okay, so I very badly PSed the area around my eye (I'm learning haha)...there were just too many blemishes! The eyelashes were left alone though (like I'd know how to edit them anyway). This may not look very impressive, but it is a dramatic difference for me!]

It does curl a little and add volume, but you need to spend so much time on the application process! It's almost as if you're working for it, rather than it working for you. My eyelashes don't always come out like this though, one wrong move and it will clump like crazy! Using the reverse of the wand just deposits more product, which makes the situation so much worse. In these cases, I just grab an old, clean mascara wand to separate the lashes whilst the product is still wet.

Oo and curling your lashes before application makes a lot of difference!

Formula
I am fairly happy with the formula. The fibres are visible on the brush so the brush might look like someone has used it before. But don't worry, that's the lengthening goodness! I do sometimes see the fibres working, and it's pretty cool. The formula is quite wet, but that's not an issue for me. If you prefer drier formulas, you can just leave this for a few weeks and come back to it. The mascara dries quickly on the lashes, (provided the coating is not too thick!) so it does transfer onto my clothes when I get dressed in a hurry. (Mornings are such stressful times...).

Packaging
The packaging added many points as I was browsing in Boots, love the lace! However there are problems inside. The neck of the tube does not remove any excess product, so it is always heavily loaded, the tip especially. Wiping this off can create a mess, and I found putting the wand back in at an angle deposits a lot of product around the rim, making it messy and unhygienic. I kept the evidence so I can photograph it, I will clean it soon, promise.



After a day's wear...
It smudges. I have oily lids, and by lunch time I will be sporting the panda eye look. This would not be a problem if the skin around your eye is primed though. Nor would it be an issue if you do not have oily lids! 

Final Thoughts
This mascara does what it says on the packaging, but it is not effortless. It can get (very) frustrating when my eyelashes don't coat right. It might suit those with thicker lashes better, as it did not seem to get along with mine.

Rating: 6.5/10
Repurchase: I'm afraid not!

Hope this was a helpful review!

Chuui
X

21 comments:

Essie said...

My eyelashes are so hard to work with.
I feel your pain in the hunt to find that perfect mascara.
I wish us both luck!

www.essiebutton.blogspot.com

Boxed Up Beauty said...

thanks for sharing! Now I know more about it to see if I should get it or not.

Mary
http://boxedupbeauty.blogspot.com/

Aya said...

Wow it gave a really nice volume to your lashes :D But I think this one is a bit too complicated for me in terms of application. Haha I'd probably end up with clumps all the time.

dblchin (double chin) said...

thats ok! I'm sure u will learn more skills along the way! Have fun playing around with PS!

dl.blogspot said...

TNX for your review!

April said...

thanks for a great review:)

Chuui said...

@ Aya
Thanks! And I probably made the process sound a lot more complicated than it actually is, never been good at instructions! Haha...

@ dblchin (dounble chin)
Haha hopefully! Never realised how hard it was...I'll keep at it though :)

Gaby Fauchon said...

This is one of my favorite mascara (I haven't tried the Black Drama version though)!

Xin said...

thanks for the review! I'm tempted to buy this one but hate if mascaras do smudge >4< *fighting against panda eyes* so it was super usefull to me^^ thanks!!

Chuui said...

@ xin
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it useful :)

Panda ♥ said...

i tried this mascara too! it is so hard to remove ><

Chuui said...

@ ♥ 熊貓girl ♥
It is isn't it! Although, if you soak two cotton pads with eye makeup remover and gently massage your eyes with them the mascara actaully comes of quite easily..oo and it hates water! Haha..

joana said...

thanks for this post!

Jo Woods said...

Great review :) I have recently picked up this version after loving the normal Maybelline The Falsies, I haven't tried this one yet but I'm hoping to love it more than the orginal. I think your eyelashes look great. The only problem I've really had with it, is it dries and flakes in my eyes quite a bit.

xxx

Chuui said...

@ Jo Woods
Thank you :) That is true, the mascara does for some strange reason end up on my eyeball sometimes. Instead of flakes I get little gloops of it...not nice. It does happen as often now though, just when I first started using it.

LillianZahra said...

Great review, I've been tempted to buy this for a while but don't think that I'd get on with the big brush. x

Anonymous said...

That's kind of weird; I have oily lids but this doesn't smear at all on me! I guess it works differently for different people.

Andrea Antoniou said...

i use the yellow one of these... its soo great and when i cry it dont smudge or anything... maybe try that one out? its like volum xxl or somethinggg like that :)
this is a great review by the way
x

http://haveapeekinsidemywardrobe.blogspot.com/

x

Unknown said...

I have this, but I'm not really a fan of it - I feel like it only lengthens for me and does not add volume at all. I actually prefer the Colossal Volum' Express (neon yellow tube) because it really volumizes and makes my lashes look fuller :D

Andrea Antoniou said...

reply to ur comment on my blog:
yesss it was the colossal max one :)
hmmmm you should test out (if u hadnt all ready) rimmel london glam eyes... its in a pink and black tube & also rimmel london sexy curves, its in a purple tubeeee :) but yehh they have been really good for me soo u can test them out and give a review as well? if u want :) x

Admin1 said...

Oh my hon! I just posted a review on this too! Holy hell, I thought I was the only one who had the same problem with this! Omg it was terrible. My lashes are usually huge and long but this mascara made them look like a nasty mess.

I love your posts! They're all so interesting and entertaining. I'll read more soon!

Hope you have a sparkly day,
Kendra
http://www.kendrasuniquestyle.blogspot.com

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