Heather Giustino Blog: Ultimate Mascara Smackdown

What's up, guys?? Today I have a mascara smackdown for you. For the longest time I was a diehard devotee of YSL's Shocking mascara. I got into the habit of buying "designer" mascara when I worked at Nordstrom, and up until recently it's not a habit that I'd broken. THIS is another one that I absolutely adore! High-end mascaras are generally pretty awesome, but also for that price I could get two or three tops at TJ Maxx. hmm...a few new pieces of clothing, or a mascara that will run out after a couple months. I decided it was time to stop splurging, and a while ago I set out to find a great mascara, that wouldn't break the bank.

Did I find one? Or do the high-end mascaras work that much better that it really is worth it?? Read on...

I went through my drawers and decided to test out all of the different mascaras I had floating around. (Yep. I had that many. Eek!! You'll notice I have a lot of Maybelline mascaras, and that's because they were buy one get one half off at Ulta, plus I had a $3.50 off of $10 coupon. It brought them down to about $4 each, when I paid for each set of two mascaras in a separate transaction with the coupon!)

Anyhoo, onto the competition...

*Maybelline's brand new Falsies Push Up Drama mascara *Julep's volumizing mascara (which it looks like they don't make anymore, and that is a GOOD thing. Trust.) *Maybelline's Lash Sensational mascara *Estee Lauder's Sumptuous Extreme mascara *Maybelline's Falsies Volum' Express mascara *YSL's Shocking mascara *Maybelline's The Colossal Cat Eyes Volum' Express mascara *Tarte's Lights, Camera, Flashes mascara and *Maybelline's Pump Up Colossal mascara. First off - dang. Why are those names so long?!

These guys were lame. The falsies push up drama (again, what's with the crazy long name?!) is brand new, and quite hyped about. The brush is a hard, shorter bristled brush that's supposed to cup your lashes, and flair them upward. It worked just fine, but didn't cup my lashes or do anything special. The Julep one I was reeeeeaaaaaalllllly NOT a fan of. The clear, square packaging was really cool, and I wanted to like it, but ugh. Just NOT good. It was goopy and didn't have any real volume or lengthening payoff. I love Julep's nail polishes, and lip products, but mascara is something they should give up on, in my opinion. The Pumped Up Colossal was just ok. Not bad, but nothing special.

All three of these were GREAT! The YSL Shocking (my once much-beloved) gave me great volume and length, and lasts all day. It smells faintly of roses, like most Dior products, and comes in really beautiful packaging. The Falsies Volum' Express was incredible - did all of the same things as the YSL, but better. The Lash Sensational was also great, and offers up big time volume and length. You cannot go wrong with any of these. I am a one-coat of mascara kind of girl, but all three of these have fantastic, buildable formulas that truly don't clump if you want to add more. I may or may not have gone a bit mascara crazy with the Volum' Express when I was going to a blogging event, and it didn't clump a bit!

(The mascaras not specifically mentioned were all good, but not over the top amazing.)

But there can only be one winner, and in my opinion this race had a CLEAR winner.

The Maybelline Falsies Volum' Express mascara takes the cake. It retails for right around $6, and out-performs the YSL shocking, which rings in at $32. The brand, Maybelline is often on sale for buy one get one half off at Ulta, and they always have a $3.50 off of $10 coupon, so it's worth it to get two at a time. I keep one at home, and one in my gym bag. They have it available with a straight brush, or a curved one (as shown above) and I really prefer the curved version. It contours really nicely to your lashes, and makes application easier.