The Great Mascara Hunt: The Truth is Out There

A lot of the stuff published about beauty is totally misleading. The product that is one person's godsend could give another an itchy rash. And many of the people who rave about certain products are getting paid to do so.

At least, this is one of the explanations for the inexplicable popularity of certain products.

Great Lash? More like Great Hoax.

Other bloggers have covered this topic as well, and from what I can tell, no one can understand why this mascara is flying off the shelves. I personally tried it once in college and hated it. Then I tried it again when they came out with the "new" "Blackest Black" until a friend told me they have always had it, Maybelline just changed the packaging. Now it's war.

However, some products deserve the constant press they get. One product I believe deserves this reputation is L'Oreal's Voluminous Mascara. I've heard of numerous friends and anonymous independent sources confirm that this is a great mascara.

And they were on sale at Target last week.

So I tried the Original and Extra Crispy varieties. Actually the Full Definition.

And I liked them. But I liked the Full Definition version better. Don't ask me how I was able to determine this, since they are probably both the same, but I did like that one better. Both gave a good darkening effect and made my lashes more noticeable and more defined.

They were totally out of the waterproof versions, so I sucked it up and bought the regular ones. I was extremely concerned that with my constant rubbing and tears from the contacts that the non-waterproof formula would give me that "walk of shame" look (or, as one of my friends calls it, "whore eyes").

But, no! It stayed put pretty well. Actually, a little too well. One of my problems with the mascara was that it was not easily removed with either soap and water or makeup remover.

I think I still prefer the Volume Flash by Rimmel for now, but L'Oreal Voluminous is deserving of its good reputation (especially since you won't look like you have a bad reputation from wearing it).

Product Rating: Original: 7.0, Full Definition: 7.75

I'm very technical about these things.

image courtesy of Katie from Scentzilla.com