Mascara, along with blush, is so often misused and abused. Lip gloss and powder can be put on by a carload of circus clowns and you can get away with it. But bless your heart, honey, you can. not. be walking around town with chocolate cake crumbs on your lashes.
Ok, there was no good reason to use that old picture, but it makes me giggle.
Anyhoo, I have used every mascara you can buy from Target. But I have been thinking seriously about treating myself to some fancy schmancy brand.
I did what any twitter obsessed social media maven does we all do, I asked my expert panel.
My tweeps never let me down. Here is the lowdown:
My panel of lovely experts always comes through. {Waves and gives thumbs up to friends to were on the panel} Thanks ladies!
I am thinking worrying obsessing considering actually spending 27 dollars on purchasing Dior Iconic.
I’ll let y’all know soon if this mascara is worth $27 or if you should stick with the classic pink and green tube of Great Lash.
Now it is your turn, Fabulous Friends of Fussypants. What mascara do you love? Which one is awful?
And just for fun- Fake lashes. Love em or leave em? Every tried them? Do you glue them to your lashes or the eyelid? I notice every woman on camera wears them. Share your fake lash knowledge with us! 
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
When I went to get my makeup done for my post-tax season treat, the woman used this awesome stuff on me that forms TUBES around your lashes. BEST. STUFF. EVAH. When you wash it off, it comes OFF in tubes (which is freaky, makes you think your whole lash is coming off – BUT it’s not!).
I use Clinique something-something-Definitions, or something like that.
I cannot believe I missed this twitter convo!!! So sad. I must chime in. Mary Kay Ultimate mascara is the BEST. It costs $15, and is worth every penny and then some!! Plus if you buy it you are helping a woman in business, which I love. Give it a whirl, you won’t be sorry! xoxo
maybelline great lash…the pink tube with green top. doesn’t clump. perfect lashes…every time. also, i just discovered stila has a wonderful mascara. it does clump a little on the wand, but i wipe it off. it makes beautiful lashes, too!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my fake eyelashes!
I don’t wear them often though. Just for really special events or when I want to feel extra glamourous. I also purchased them because I could never get my eyelashes to curl and mascara never helped length or make them look fuller or like anything the commercials promised [I have tried tons!]. Then I finally properly learned to apply mascara and now my eyelashes look amazing with Lash Blast and my eyes pop with the Cover Girl Color Match.
If you are interested in fake eyelashes I recommend going to M.A.C. They are super helpful there but the big tip is getting some one who has been working there for awhile. Ask for help and tell them you want to find good eyelashes for you. They have lots of options.
When you find the right set for you, THIS IS IMPORTANT, have them fit them too you. They make them extra long so that they will fit any eye shape. Have them apply it to you and cut it for the perfect length for you eye. Makes a world of difference!
Ok…so there is my essay on fake eyelashes with a few mascara notes tossed in.
Hope it helps
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Oh awesomeness! Thanks y’all.
I’ve been a lancome mascara snob since HIGH SCHOOL until I discovered Cover Girl Lash Blast in the big orange tube and now I swear by that.
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You’re hilarious! Your whole “panel of experts” recommended drugstore masceras, and you’re going to spend $27 on Dior.
I use the Cover Girl one in the purple tube – is that Great Lash?
I think I did your same poll a year or so back through a different online Mom’s group. Like you, I feel as if I’ve tried EVERY mascara out there — from the el cheapos to the fancy schmancy. Bottom line, my eyes are sensitive, so even some of the expensive ones didn’t work. Hands down, my favorite mascara is the one I’m using now — and have used for the last year and a half is Cover Girl Lash Exact — it’s the purple tube. At any rate, it’s been great for me. And Target sells it in a double pack, for a really good price. I think it’s totally worth checking out. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
I use Cover Girl Lash Blast in the orange tube, too. Yes, I’m a sucker for marketing.
I forgot that I also adore any mascara that has that white primer that you put on first. I HATE any kind of clumping and won’t even put much on my lower lashes because I don’t want to look too much like I have feathers on my face, so those primers help with being able to just glide on one thin coat of the black or brown or whatever.
I say buy a fancy mascara but keep loads of Great Lash stashed around. Perfect for touch-ups and for fixing your face when you need to look pulled together in a dash. The great thing is that WalMart usually has 2-for-1 sales on Great Lash, too.
OK, starting to think I have been using great lash wrong all this time!
Dior Show. My sister put me on to it. It’s fabulous. It is worth the $27 or whatever you are paying for it, and you will never go back to the wonky stuff you get at the drugstore.
The problem is that I can’t wear mascara (ANY mascara) because my nickel allergy has gotten worse over the last 6 months. So now I actually do wear fake lashes on special occasions (on a daily basis I wear eyeliner and nothing on my lashes). I second the recommendation for MAC lashes. They have a wide selection. I like number 31 best because it still looks natural. You can use them several times before they start getting a little crooked. They also sell surgical glue to hold them on, a little tube will last ages. You put a drop of glue on a little brush/toothpick/cotton swab and then apply an even coating to the band, wait about 30 seconds so it gets a little tacky (if you don’t wait long enough it won’t be sticky and will just fall off right away) and then apply it to your eyelid as close to your lash line as possible without actually sticking it to your lashes (which you’ll risk pulling out if the glue dries to them). You can find instruction videos on YouTube. Wearing a dark eyeliner will conceal it if you haven’t put the lashes on totally straight.
Oh, and definitely get the ones that are in a strip, not the loose clusters. The little clusters of 3-4 lashes may look more “natural” but only if you are a professional, otherwise you will look like someone with a natural eyelash disease.
Have you tried body shop’s mascara? It comes in a silver tube. I too have a nickel allergy and it’s the ONLY one I can use. I used to be able to use Clarins, but they changed something in it so now it’s only Body Shop.
I need new mascara as well. This is a great post. I don’t know where to start purchasing. I think I may start low and eventually work my way up. I need two types of mascara. I like the neutrogena one I had. It was a lash tint. I used that for my day look. Then I need one for my evening look.
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Bare Minerals has new mascara that is FABULOUS. The wand is the trick.
I’ve tried fake lashes and love them. They are a pain to put on but make a huge difference in pictures!
Sephora has a great offer for a sample kit of Mascara…
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P239212&categoryId=C21157&shouldPaginate=true
You can try them all. I personally love L’Oreal Voluminous and Bare Escentuals (several kinds there). But I also go back and get the old standby Great Lash occasionally. I am always looking for the next best thing. Think I will be visiting Sephora for the sample kit!
I have tried them all! I love Cover Girl LashExact in the purple tube. It goes on smooth and doesn’t clump or flake. I recently met a girl at a shower who had fabulous lashes and I asked what mascara she used. She raved about this one from Clinique that she uses so I bought it. It looks horrible on me for some reason. Clumps and makes my lashes look like spiders. There must be some secret to it that I haven’t figured out because that girl had fabulous lashes.
As for the falsies, I haven’t tried them because I’m afraid I’ll glue my eyes shut. I’d love to though so maybe I’ll try Militay Mama’s tips!
OK, here’s what you need to do and it should be a happy-making compromise between the expensive and cheap stuff: Get yourself some inexpensive lash primer and put on a few coats and let it dry. THEN you only have to apply one coat of Dior Show so it lasts way longer. Adjust clumping with a brow brush instead of trying to fix it with a wand laden with product because that will only make clumping worse.
Of course, if you’re really serious about your lashes, you could always supplement all of the above with prescription-only, FDA-approved Lastisse. I used it for a month (before the remaining $75 worth of it leaked out of my carry-on bag) (so much swearing) and it made my lashes substantially thicker and longer. Results only last as long as the lashes’ natural life cycle but if you keep up the treatments, they’ll stay lush indefinitely.
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Definitely let us know! Right now I’m using one by Avon- I think it’s Patrick Dempsey’s wife’s line and I like it! But I also like Urban Decay’s Big Fatty Mascara maybe just cuz I like the name. MAC mascara used to be my very favorite but I just got lazy and haven’t purchased it in a while.
Steph
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This is great. Almost as good as “fussy watches Oprah so you don’t have to” — now Fussy works Twitter so I don’t have to!
Thanks!
ps
I think, given the price and the high marks, I”m goin with the Covergirl
I used to swear by all the “laundry-folding” $$$$ mascaras — lancome, lancome and lancome — and Loreal. But then I heard about COAL TAR and how bad it is for you and, worse, I boycotted Loreal because of all their animal testing. SOOO, the BEST natural, animal-friendly mascara is the one I currently use: TADA — Zuzu. I use Zuzu mascara, and it’s great.
The key, though, is a GOOD EYELASH CURLER. Take the 10 seconds to curl those lashes, THEN apply the Zuzu, and you’re good to go….!
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not sure how I missed this on Twitter either – but you should see my post I did on Chic Critique just last week! http://www.chic-critique.com/2009/06/the-mascara-that-really-is-that-amazing.html
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I have been using Maybelline Great Lash since high school and have had people actually pull on my eyelashes thinking they were fake – more than once – really. People are kind of strange, aren’t they? Anyhoo, I’m on a quest to be a grown-up and would love to buy actual skin care instead of using hand soap, switch to a make-up line that I can’t buy at the grocery store, and maybe even use anti-wrinkle something – ACK! So I’m all for a whole series of posts on the best of everything! Send the free samples to Amy Lupold Bair, 182…… just kidding.
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L’oreal Voluminous. I stand behind it.
That Great Lash stuff always flakes and looks fake on me.
Even if I only use one swipe.
*sigh*
$27 for mascara?!? It better do my laundry and compliment me on my gorgeous eyes.
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I am totally a Waterproof Great Lash girl. Nuthin better IMHO. Although, I’ve never been willing to spend $27 on mascara…or clothes…or anything, really.