The general beauty wisdom is that with mascara you can skimp a bit. Save a few pounds, get the same result. And you can indeed get great mascara at Superdrug, on your highstreet, at the drugstore.
But I’m a bit out of the loop as far as affordable mascara goes. My head has been turned, by Dior, YSL, Benefit even.
My old faithful is Clinique High Impact Mascara, £17.50. I go back to it time again, for lovely, long, smudge-free lashes. Particularly as there is always a deal to be had, a gift with purchase, or a set, like the Clinique High On Lashes Set, £17.50.
So I decided, when current Clinique runs dry, I’ll revisit old affordable friends.
Which is how I came to be in possession of the Max Factor Epic False Lash Effect Mascara Black, £11.99 (currently £9.99 here). It was a total panic buy. I used to like Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara, a classic, but got seduced by the newness, the promise of a false lash look, the word EPIC.
I knew. I had the sinking feeling before I’d even left Boots. That wand. What on earth. I know what I like in mascara wands, fat, round, bristles not rubberised.
This Max Factor wand is faintly ridiculous. It has a spiky end ball, like the Benefit They’re Real Mascara, £19.50, on which I’d impaled myself previously. And below the spiky ball, a flat wand. Shudder. With tiny rubber bristles.
And it was £9.99! And that’s with the introductory £2 off. I mean, that’s not even super affordable is it?
I think you know where this is going, but here, your Max Factor Epic False Lash Effect Mascara review..
The Good:
- The colour. You might think this an odd thing to say about a black mascara, but it is such a nice black, dark and glossy.
- If you have the luxury of time, you can get a nice lash result. It requires effort. Wiggling and rotating. Holding it horizontally. And the lower lash line, jeez. You have to use the doom ball, and it might spike your water line. But they look good. Long. And clumpy, but the good kind of clumpy.
- It doesn’t smudge.
The Less Good:
- You saw the wand, right? Who needs that. Not I. Nor do I have 10 minutes to devote to mascara application. Particularly when so many others get it done so well, so fast, with so little risk of injury. It shouldn’t be this hard.
And so, back to Clinique, via the makeup graveyard, tail between my legs. Or I could try and make do until Christmas, then buy the Dior Diorshow Iconic Gift Set, £25.50, when it goes 1/3 off on Boxing Day. Every year without fail friends. Eyes peeled.
Hayley
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