Mascara Week Part 4: My Top and Bottom 5 Mascaras

I am a complete and total mascara junkie, as if you couldn't tell.  I strictly adhere to the 3 Month Rule, but once that 90 day mark comes, I toss my tube and generally don't look back.  I'm always searching for a new tube to try in the hope that it will be my new favorite.  If you saw my makeup collection, you saw my stockpiles of new tubes to give a shot!  (Included in there...Cover Girl Clump Crusher, Hourglass Film Noir, YSL Shocking, Loreal Voluminous Full Definition, a bunch of samples, and more!)

Even though I've tried so many different mascaras, there are some clear winners and some total losers in my book.  Here are my picks and not-picks :)

...and for the record, I only use black mascara, so all my opinions are based on the blackest shade available in each particular type.

My Top 5 Mascaras

1.  Benefit They're Real ($23).  This stuff just cannot be beat.  It is my Holy Grail Mascara.  Tomorrow's Mascara Week post is going to be all about this gem, so stay tuned for my full review!

2.   Mac Extended Play Lash ($16) or Loreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes ($9).  LOVE me some tubing mascaras.  They're just so insanely easy to remove.  Both of these are great.  I've purchased the Loreal mascara multiple times...it was especially great for right after my daughter was born.  It helped me look a little more awake but took seconds to remove.  They should hand that stuff out at the hospital ;)  Anyway...Mac's version definitely gives more length than Loreal's, which I find to be more volumizing than lengthening.  They're both wet formulas, and neither smudges or budges.  Mac's mascara has a smaller, narrower brush than Loreal's, although they're both bristle wands.  I should also add in the caveat that I only use the black mascara side of the Loreal duo, and not the white primer side.  I've found that the white primer just causes clumps and bunches your lashes together.

Image Source: givenchybeauty.com

3.  Givenchy Noir Couture 4 in 1 ($32).  The formula on this is so unique that I had to include it in my Top 5.  It's neither wet nor dry...more like a mousse.  It gives great length and volume with no clumps and good separation.  It does smudge a little on me, but nothing terrible.  The 3-balled bristle wand is also really different, although I cannot say it really made much difference in application.  The formula of this alone is what makes it great.  Plus the packaging is pure luxury, which helps justify the astronomical cost!

4.  Buxom Lash ($19).  Love the plastic brush and the wet formula of this.  It's a decently priced high end mascara that delivers.  Super black, great length and volume with no clumps, good separation, and barely any smudging.  I did find that this was better when the tube was new...as it dried out I didn't love it as much. 

5.  Maybelline The Falsies ($6.99).  Another one that gives great volume and length.  This is totally comparable to Buxom Lash, but it's obviously much cheaper (especially if you can snag it on sale or with a coupon).  I really liked the curved plastic brush, and I found it very easy to pull my lashes outward to create a cat-eye effect with this one.  Another plus, you can load this stuff up with coat after coat, and if you're careful...it won't clump, but you'll just look like you're wearing some awesome false lashes.  Funny how they named it that huh? ;)  It's true though!  My hairstylist swears by this mascara, and I can't tell you how many times I asked her what lashes she had on so I could immediately go buy them because her lashes always look amazing.  She just loads them up with this stuff!

Honorable Mentions: Tarte Lights Camera Lashes ($19) (bristle wand, good volume, decent length...but a little on the dry side for me) and Cover Girl Lashblast Fusion ($10) (I prefer it over the original because I like both volume and length).  (I might also want to add Mally's Volumizing Mascara here, but it's too soon to tell!  See my thoughts on that one here.)

The Bottom 5

1.  Diorshow.  I'm sorry, this stuff is just overpriced crap in my book.  I am not a fan of dry formulas, which this is.  I found that it clumped, smudged under my eyes, and just did not give me the length I wanted from a $25 tube of mascara.  I will say that I have been more pleased with Diorshow Extase than with the original formulation.

2.  Revlon Grow Luscious.  I would go so far as to call this a dupe of Diorshow, which is why I didn't like it.  I got the exact same results...albeit at a fraction of the price.

3.  Maybelline Lash Stiletto.  I actually didn't mind the results I got with this mascara, but OMG the smell!!!!  The smell is awful.  It wasn't just my tube, either...my sister's smelled the same way.  I felt like I could smell it on my lashes all day long and I just couldn't deal with it.

4.  Makeup Forever Smoky Lash.  Another dry formula that I just did not like.  One of the only 2 mascaras that I ever threw away after 3 or 4 uses.  I felt that it really didn't do much of anything to my lashes.

5.  Maybelline Great Lash.  The only other mascara that I threw away after 3 or 4 uses.  This stuff does. not. dry.  It smudged all over my face, let alone my undereyes.  For the lackluster length and barely-there volume I got, I would never purchase it again...even if it is only a few dollars.

Please share your picks and those you definitely recommend skipping.  Clearly I love to try new mascaras, so I'd love some recommendations!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed :)

As always, everything in this post is my honest personal opinion.  No affiliate links were used.  I have not accepted any consideration for sharing these items with you.  Unless indicated otherwise, all products were purchased by me with my own money.