Posts Tagged ‘mascara’

Mascara wars: ModelCo vs Lancome

January 10th, 2010

We’ve recently collated the results of our mascara reviews into our Winningest Products page. In my latest review I test ModelCo mascara against Lancome Virtuose.

Lancome Virtuose is a really great mascara. We’ve reviewed it against many other mascaras over the years, and it always comes out on top. It’s clump free, has a great curved wand which is perfect for upper AND lower lashes, and lengthens and curls. Brilliant.

But the difficulty with this review is that the challenger – ModelCo – is really good too.

It got a free ModelCo mascara (with a cute little mirror stuck to it) with a magazine. The magazine was crap but the mascara was well worth it. You might be able to see in the photo that it is slightly less black than the Virtuose and probably doesn’t fatten lashes as much. But it is also clump free, separates lashes, lengthens, doesn’t smudge through out the day, and looks very natural.

So I gotta make this battle a tie!

Reader mascara woes

October 21st, 2009

We received this email the other day from Jen:

Have you guys used the new Revlon Doubletwist Mascara, or know others who have used it?  I don’t know what I am doing wrong, but I am finding it horrible.  It clumps product all over the brush, and so I wipe off the excess onto the top (as I have done with previous mascaras) and then when I put it back in the bottle, and take it out again, the product is all thick on the brush!  I have been using mascara for years, and its not like I am new to using it….  I emailed Revlon, but haven’t heard back from them.

I haven’t tried it myself, but Amy had this advice:

The only teeny advice I can offer is that I have a little disposable mascara wand (that I got from the Mary Kay Party) that I never disposed of. I use it to brush the clumps out of my eyelashes following using my current mascara. My current mascara is pooh too (it’s a MAC mascara but really clumpy and smudgey, but I’m determined to get my money’s worth out of it). The disposable mascara wand doubles as a brow brush too.

Have any of you pretties tried this mascara? Does it suck?

Vibrating mascara?

September 3rd, 2009

Previously we’ve written about vibrating razors and oscillating mascara and our curiousity about why everything must vibrate, and now thanks to Gizmodo, we can add a new hybrid into the mix: vibrating mascara.

Seriously, this just looks dangerous. If you want things that vibrate, can I suggest shopping online at Blush Parties (NSFW)? They send you candy and extra presents with your order! Um, or so I’ve heard…

Mascara wars: MAC vs Clinique

July 12th, 2009

mascara

My latest mascara review pits MAC’s Zoom Lash (pictured left) with Clinique’s High Impact (right).

MAC says Zoom Lash is an:

instant volume mascara power-lifts the lashes into length, curls them up…builds them faster than you can wink! Precision control wand glides smoothly down lashes to provide a gorgeously silky upward “sweep”.

Clinique says High Impact:

Kicks up the volume and length of each and every lash for a look that’s lusher, plusher, bolder. Pure, deep colour only adds to the impact.

I reckon High Impact is the superior mascara. At $36au for 8grams, it’s a bit pricier than Zoom Lash ($25au). But the Zoom Lash looks clumpier, smudges more and is more messy to apply. I keep having the clean the wand of goopy mascara which is a waste.

Totalbeauty.com readers look like they agree too, giving the Zoom Lash an average rating of 6.2 out of 10, and High Impact rating of 8.2.

DIY brow brush

July 9th, 2009

browbrush

Brow brushes are great for tidying brows and blending in colour. But why buy one when old mascaras make the perfect brow brushes.

The mini-mascara pictured has been cleaned of mascara with a little eye make-up remover and lots of rinsing out. It does take a little while to rinse out the inky mascara residue from the container end, but the results are ideal.

You could just chuck the container bit and keep the brush. But I like putting the brush back in its container to stop it getting dusty and dirty.

Clarins gift with purchase at Kirk’s

July 1st, 2009

Kirkcaldies & Stains in Wellington have a great Clarins gift at the mo. Choose from 2 different gift packs with 2 purchases.

Clarins Wonder Volume mascara, which is part of this gift, came top in a Consumer Magazine test.

And if you’re wondering what other Clarins products are worth a try, search on totalbeauty.com. Clarins Water Comfort One-step Cleanser is rated 9.5 / 10. which is pretty good.

Clarins-27x5 Gift 1 includes
Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs 50ml
Toning Lotion with Camomile 50ml
Extra Firming Day Cream 15ml
Gentle Eye Make-up Remover 30ml
Mens Active Face Wash 30ml
Miniature Wonder Volume Mascara
Miniature Colour Quench Lip Balm in Lychee
Miniture par Amour Toujours EDT
(As pictured)
Gift 2 includes
Cleansing Milk with Gentian 50ml
Toning Lotion with Iris 50ml
Multi Active Day Cream 15ml
Gentle Eye Make-up Remover 30ml
Hand and Nail Treatment Cream 30ml
Miniature Wonder Volume Mascara
Miniature Gloss appeal in Sorbet
Miniature par Amour Toujours EDT

Mascara tips

June 25th, 2009

p_favorite_mascaras_l I was with a friend while she got a MAC makeover recently, and I was picking the make-up artist’s brains while she worked. She reckoned mascara is easier and better to apply if the brush is  smaller. That idea is reiterated here at totalbeauty.com, along with their best tips on applying mascara.

Another of their tips is to use two different mascaras, one after the other. Kim Kardashian said she does this too. I’ve tried it, and it does build volume, but I’d only feel comfortable with a fat lash look with lots of other make-up too.

Estee Lauder Gift with purchase

April 16th, 2009

I can’t find a picture of the gift anywhere online, but it is available from Kirk’s in Wellington from today to 3rd May.

Here’s what you get if you buy two EL products:

  • two make-up bags
  • mini bottle of Sensuous fragrance
  • Sumptuous mascara
  • lippie
  • quad eyeshadow in browns and pinks
  • Resilience Lift firming creme
  • Some sort of serum

If you’re into gifts with purchases, but don’t wanna get suckered into buying a crappy second product just for the sake of the freeby, then maybe we can help. Here’s a few EL products I’ve reviewed on the site that I recommend:

Cream blush sticks

foundation

concealer

Perfectionist Serum (i think it may come with the gift)

I don’t like their liquid liners though – there are  many better liners out there for much cheaper.  And I don’t like the Sumptuous mascara that comes with the gift.

You could also take a look at totalbeauty.com and see what others think about the rest of EL’s line.

Oscillation vs Virtuose: a guest review

March 4th, 2009

Please welcome this guest review from Miss Deuxmont – and if you’d like to write your own full reviews, we’d love to have them!

oscillatingvsvirtuose

I was so impressed with Lancome’s Virtuose – which makes your lashes appear really think, and they look nicely fanned out. It was running out so I bought the much-hyped Lancome Oscillation mascara (thinking the oscillation would add even more vavoom), for $79 from Kirks in Wellington.

Very underwhelmed on first use. Not just by the mascara itself (spidery, inflexible, hard to remove, compared to the Virtuose), but the oscillating mechanism. On the right mascara wand it would be great – in fact on the Virtuose wand I think it would definitely help to create more drama. But on this mascara wand, it tends to hinder more than help. There is a button that you push, to make the wand oscillate – it’s situated on the end of the wand. You need to hold it the entire time you want it to oscillate – but because it’s on the end, your leverage is severely compromised – I ended up getting bits of mascara on my face because the wand was wobbling. Normally, I hold it closer to the wand (as pictured). Perhaps it’s me that holds my mascara uniquely, shrug.

Lancome could improve this mascara by moving the oscillating mech closer to where you naturally hold the wand – and improving the mascara used!

So my opinion is – don’t bother. Unfortunately I threw out my receipt so I don’t think I will get my money back on this one. Boo!

It’s the vibe of the thing?

March 3rd, 2009

Just quickly, why is it that all beauty products nowadays have to vibrate? I mean, first there were electric toothbrushes, which seem like an okay idea, but now there’s there’s razors (which are “good but gimmicky”), there’s face cleaners, and now there’s oscillating mascara (which underwhelmed Miss Deuxmont - can we get a full review  please?). Why oh why must everything shake, rattle and roll? I mean, I like the fact that I’m pretty sure Neutrogena will be giving some teenage girls their first orgasm (and I mean that in a empowerment way, not a creepy porny way), but don’t most of us have hands? And aren’t most of us perfectly capable of shaving our legs, washing our faces and curling our lashes without needing robots to do it? Don’t blame me if the new lipstick applicators become self-aware and destroy all of our society, okay?

Do you use vibrating beauty products? Please tell us about them for us in the comment section.