Review: CoverGirl LashBlast 24-Hour Mascara

I am a huge fan of CoverGirl and a lot of their products. They offer some really solid makeup at affordable prices. One of my go-to products from the brand is their LashBlast mascara in very black. It’s something I always have in my makeup bag and continue to repurchase.

Recently, I ran out of my LashBlast mascara and made a trip to Target to buy another. Instead of going with my staple, I opted for the LashBlast 24-Hour formula in very black. This mascara is not waterproof, but designed to stay on even longer than the original LashBlast formula. 

I rarely give products horrible reviews because I think there are usually merits to any product, but I hated this mascara. It’s crazy how a mascara from the same line can be so drastically different and inferior to its original counterpart.

The first time I wore the product was at Amanda’s wedding two Saturdays ago. (See my bridesmaid look here!) It looked nice, but I noticed the formula was thick and a little harder to apply than the original. My real problem with the product wasn’t in how it looked, but removing it. At the end of the day, I washed my face and used my eye makeup remover. At the time I didn’t realize that all of the product didn’t come off. The following day I didn’t wear makeup. On Monday morning while getting ready for work, I applied the product again and noticed that it was hard to comb the brush through my lashes. It was then that I realized that some of the product was still on my lashes. My lashes looked clumpy. That night when removing my makeup, I took extra time to try to get the product off. It wouldn’t budge. I stopped using the mascara and it took a few extra days to completely banish the product from my lashes. I can’t imagine what the result would have been had I kept using the mascara every day.

I ended up throwing out the product after only a couple uses. It was a waste of money and I’ve since gone back to Target to purchase the original LashBlast mascara.

Have you tried CoverGirl’s LashBlast 24-Hour Mascara? 

Review: Benefit They’re Real! Mascara

I first tried Benefit They’re Real! Mascara via a trial size sample. The product comes in jet black and claims to curl, volumize, lengthen and separate lashes all with one formula and brush. 

According to usage tests conducted by Benefit, here are the results that testers saw:

• "94% saw dramatic length & volume*
• 90% saw base-to-tip curl*
• 94% saw visible lift*
• 100% saw long-wearing results*

*Results observed in a consumer panel survey" {via}

I’m always a little skeptical of panels like this because of course companies wouldn’t promote disappointing results. I really think the only thing that is going to convince me if a product works or not is for me to try it myself. Once I got my hands on the sample, I knew I would eventually purchase it.

Here’s how the product looks on me. I left the lashes on my left eye untouched so you can compare:

If you compare the way the mascara looks on me to the picture found on the mascara box, you’ll find that they differ quite a bit. It thickened my lashes a bit, but comes nowhere near the lashes featured in that picture. For me, the mascara delivers on several of the claims. It does an excellent job giving my lashes length, volume and lift and is very long-lasting. Unfortunately, I am unable to see the curling effect that’s promised unless I spend time curling my lashes.

One of the best things about the product is the brush. The tip of the brush contains tiny little spikes to help you get your bottom and outermost lashes.

Overall, despite not delivering on all it promises, I’d absolutely recommend picking up a bottle of this mascara. I really do love it. I don't think there's one mascara out there that's going to give you lengthening, curling and thickening all-in-one, but this product comes close. If you’re reluctant to spend the $23, try to get your hands on a sample. My sample came from the points reward program at Sephora.

Have you tried out this mascara? What did you think?