Monday 11 August 2014

The battle of the Essence mascaras!

As you may know, a while back now I attended an Essence event where I seem to have accumulated a fair few mascaras after a long talk with a product developer, who recommended some of her top picks! I have a whooping eight Essence mascaras to share with you guys, so for the past eight days have been putting a new one to the test everyday. I'll point out that I always curl my eyelashes regardless of the mascara I use as I find it really helps. It's also worth noting that I do have a preference for plastic brushes, and don't really tend to suffer from fall out/smudging.  Now I haven't taken eye images for because A) My eyes seemed to look terrible in every one I tried and b) Mascara looks different on everyone's lashes anyway. Instead I choose to focus on the brush and formula of the mascara itself!
Day one
I love Extreme crazy volume mascara (£2.80/12ml)* - This crazy volume mascara has a big plastic brush complete with short bristles, these actually continue onto the top of the brush meaning you could use this to get into hard to reach areas. I haven't owned another mascara with a brush quite like this one, so was interested to see how this applied on my lashes. I found the formula of the mascara to be quite wet,  and a little messy at times although this was super easy to clean up. I was actually pleasantly surprised with this one, and in my opinion you only need one coat for really black and voluminous lashes. I found on the second coat that things can get a little spidery if your not careful, although with a little attention you can get a lovely 'flash lash affect', I guess it just takes a little practice. The effect lasted all day, although the curl did fall a little. There was no fall out and I found this was easy to remove with a cleansing water. If you love dramatic lashes you'll love this!
Would I buy this again? Yes, the formula may take some work but the results were nice and well suited to a night out (as long as I had some make up remover near by!). I will also add that although the other mascaras give a nice effect, this gives the most dramatic effect of all eight mascaras used, and actually looks like you're wearing falsies!
Day Two
I love Extreme Volume Mascara (£2.80/12ml)*-  I decided to put this to the test straight after the I love Extreme crazy volume mascara as they're from the same line. Unlike its crazy friend, the I love extreme volume mascara comes complete with an over sized fiber brush. This makes the mascara a little tricky to apply and slightly harder to work with, although the formula itself seems less wet and I found there was less to clean up after using this. I found the results were less 'spider leggy' and clumpy than the other mascara in the line. I also found that this gave me longer looking lashes, as well as a little volume. I really liked this one and felt it was a lot more wearble than the other version, you can also apply more than one coat without things getting clumpy. There was no fall out and I found this was easy to remove with a cleansing water.
Would I buy this again? Yes, I really loved the look of this one, Its a wonderful alrounder.
Day Three
Get BIG! Lashes volume curl mascara (£2.30)* - This mascara has a curved fiber brush which to be honest I found a little difficult to work with. Despite this I didn't find this mascara to be quite as messy as the other two. This is just an average mascara, and although I really liked it, It just didn't have the wow factor of the other two products! I found that it lengthened my lashes well but there was little volume given. There was no fall out and I found this was easy to remove with a cleansing water.
Would I buy this again? Possibly, Its not a bad product I just preferred the other two over it!
Day four
Multi action mascara (£2.50/9ml)* - To be honest I didn't expect much from this one. It has a classic shaped fibre brush which is pretty easy to use.While it didn't offer extreme lashes, it didn't claim to do so. I found that this gave my lashes a nice effect in terms of volume and length. It could also be built upon to create a more intense look. It just goes to show you don't need a gimmicky product for good results. There was no fall out and I found this was easy to remove with a cleansing water.
Would I buy this again? If I was looking for a less dramatic everyday mascara maybe.
Day Five
Lash Mania reloaded false lash mascara (£2.80.10ml)* - I'll start by saying this is my favourite mascara so far. Not only does it look a little more expensive than the ones I have reviewed, The plastic brush and formula are both super easy to work with meaning there was no mess at all! Lash Mania gives a really lovely 'false lash effect' to the lashes which lasts all day with zero clumps! There was no fall out and I found this was easy to remove with a cleansing water. This honestly feels like a £10+ mascara so I was so shocked to learn it was juts £2.80!
Would I buy this again? YES! and I'd recommend you do the same!
 Day 6
Maximum definition mascara (£2.80/8ml) - After loving yesterdays mascara so much, I didnt expect to love another Essence mascara! But this one took me completely off guard! Housed in a traffic cone orange tube, this mascaras thin plastic brush makes it so easy to apply. This ticks my three boxes in terms of volume, length and colour. It gives such an amazing effect that I was actually asked if I was wearing eyeliner on the day I tried this out.
Would I buy this again? 100% yes, Again I'm amazed at the price tag as it performs like a much more expensive product and can see myself using this for years to come!
Day 7
The Lash Curler Mascara (£3.30/10ml)* - This one really interested me as it has a manually rotating brush which supposedly curls your lashes. I'll be honest in saying this is my least favourite Essence mascara, I found that I had to curl my lashes before using this, despite the fact that this is the mascaras selling point. Even when I did curl my lashes, I found that this mascara only added length, and the curl dropped after hour. To be honest this didn't last the day as it wasn't for me, and I applied a different mascara before leaving the house.
Would I buy this again? No, although perhaps ideal if you love the natural look.
Day eight
Colour Flash volume mascara (£3.00/9ml)* - Just a glance of this one tells you it isn't your everyday mascara! Before this I had no experience with coloured mascara, and pink was a pretty daring place to start! This can be used in a range of ways, alone on the lashes, layered on the lashes to make an ombre effect and in the hair as highlights. I found that alone this added length, but certainly wasnt my ideal shade, and over a black mascara you could faintly see this. I didnt dare to try it in my hair! Perhaps ideal for fancy dress and festivals but for everyday use I'm steering clear!
Would I buy this again? Not in this shade but I really want to try some of the other shades on offer such as the blue!

So there you have it, eight essence mascaras over eight days.  I really enjoyed trying these mascaras. To be honest, I didnt know any of the mascara prices until after I'd finished testing them for the day, so as you can imagine I'm impressed!I normally spend £7+ to get a good mascara, so am so pleased I've finally found a brand that does descent ones for under £3!  Essence are also on 3 for 2 at the moment, so if you have a spare fiver hanging about I'd strongly recommend picking up; I love extreme crazy volume, Lash mania and the maximum definition mascara!

15 comments:

  1. I really need to try some Essence products, ive heard amazing things! Lovely post!
    xprincessjas | ♥

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    1. Thanks lovely, they have such great products, they're well worth a try :) xx

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  2. I've never tried anything from essence but I really like the sound of everything ! Sounds like a well priced brand too :)

    thechinadolldiaries.blogspot.co.uk

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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    1. At the moment they're on three for two making them even cheaper :) x

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  3. I'd love to try this brand but it's not available up here!!! Great post

    thepowderednose.blogspot.com
    Xx

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    1. If you have a Wilkos, I've heard you can order online and get it delivered for free instore :) x

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  4. I love Essence mascaras and I loved your post, It was really helpful because I didn't try all of these! I'm tempted to try the Lash Mania because it's not the first time I hear good things about this mascara! :)

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  5. Well I just added a couple of mascaras to my to-buy list once I've whittled down my stash a little

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  6. Ohh I am mascara obsessed, looks like I might have to pick up some of these.
    great post XX

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  7. Oh wow, that is a lot of mascaras all from one brand! I both love and hate it when I'm spoilt for choice with mascaras as I just end up standing there like 'aaaaah' idk what to do!!!! Such a useful post :)
    Elesaurus | elesaurusrawr.blogspot.com
    YouTube - Eleanor Rose

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    1. I know, It's always so hard to pick as there's such a huge range these days! xx

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  8. Ahh! I just picked up the curling mascara! I'm sad you weren't that impressed with it, I've not tried it yet.

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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