The Great Mascara Hunt: What Happened to the E?

As a part of the Great Mascara Hunt, I wrenched myself away from the Cover Girl Lash Exact to try Rimmel London's Volum' Eyes Lash Comb Mascara. Oh, yes, there were tears.

Which obviously does not help the mascara testing.

There are a few things I noticed when I tried this mascara. First, the top with the comb pulls straight off the tube. No screw-on. Okay, stop giggling. I kept twisting and twisting but the top wouldn't come off until I yanked it, nearly splattering mascara on my laptop. Okay, seriously! Stop laughing! Second, the mascara has a comb instead of a brush. In unison now, DUH!

I have dealt with the comb before, most notably with the Revlon Colorstay Overtime Mascara, which you are supposed to be to wear for three days straight. Hel-LO Conjunctivitis!! And the comb can be kind of nice. However, the mascara here is so think that it's really hard to see where the tines of the comb actually are. Especially when you put on your makeup in the dark because your boyfriend is still sleeping.

Once the mascara was on, I thought, "Oooh, that's really volum' inous." Then I looked closer into the mirror and realized that my lashes were all stuck together. So I combed them and jetted out the door, feeling pretty good about myself.

At work, I noticed under the fluorescent lights of the restroom that I had a few specks on my upper lash line, no doubt due to the inept application with the comb apparatus. However, the mascara stayed on during the three o'clock eye rub with no smudgies. Pretty sweet, no?

Then! During spin class, there was very little migration, even though the instructor seemed hell-bent to torture us with several sprints set to Modern English. A formidable challenge, and the Volum' stayed on, but washed off with soap in the post spin shower. Actually, it washed off my lashes, but not my eyelids. Not so sweet.

So...my verdict on the Volum' Eyes is that it gives a more noticeable darkening and volume than the Lash Exact, since it made me feel a little dressier but didn't give me that Jessica Cutler-this-is-inappropriate-for-work feel. And it stayed on during a workout. However, it was harder to apply and remove than other mascaras that I have tried and liked.

Product Rating: 6 (From what I can tell, I might be the Eastern European judge of the Great Mascara Hunt)

NEXT UP: Rimmel Volume Flash mascara (there was a special!) Also, check out Blogdorf Goodman's review of the same product here.

graphics from Katie at Scentzilla and Rimmel