4 Drugstore Mascaras in 4 Days | Mini Reviews

Bonjour women of the world! If you’ve been reading us for a while, then you might know that I’m ever so slightly obsessed with mascara. This obsession also means that I’m super fussy, and in recent years I’ve come to the realisation that high-end mascaras just do the job better. I’m currently loving the Clarins ‘Be Long’ mascara (which might not be a huge surprise considering I’ve already mentioned it about 83 times on here) and before that I was fully on the Too Faced ‘Better Than Sex’ hype. Yes, it is true: I have become a mascara snob.

However, my sister recently passed these 4 drugstore mascaras on to me after not getting on with ANY of them, and so I decided to put them all to the test to see if any of them could be a match for their pricier counterparts. I tried a different one each day for 4 days, so here are my 1 day trial mini reviews…

Collection Longer Lash

First up we have Longer Lash Lengthening Mascara from Collection. This is one of the only drugstore mascaras I know of at the moment to include fibres, which are supposed to cling onto your lashes and lengthen and thicken them. I was quite excited to give this a go once I looked at the spiral brush and saw visible fibres on there, but unfortunately I think the formula’s too dry to make the fibres work. On me, this mascara did barely anything – no real lengthening and zero volume added, either. Because it felt quite dry it was also a bit of an effort to work with, and there was no chance of building it up with a couple of coats because it dried so quickly. At best, I would say it created a slight fluttery effect, so maybe this could work if you already have near-perfect lashes and just want to add a little something. Otherwise, I would say avoid.

Collection Volumising Mascara

On the next day I tried another Collection mascara, this time their Volumising Mascara, which promises 10 x the volume of your natural lashes. We all want that, yes?! This is a very different mascara to Longer Lash, having a plastic brush as opposed to a fibre one and a much wetter formula. Both of those factors were good news for me as they’re what I personally look for in a mascara, but what lets this one down is the sheer size of the wand. It is honestly massive, and so you kind of run the risk of poking your own eye out. It’s also almost impossible to get into the inner lashes and so these end up being neglected unless you want to make a total mess. I also found that this one smudged throughout the day and by the end I had some very attractive panda eyes going on. HOWEVER, it did create a much nicer curl than the previous one, and altogether gave a more dramatic effect.

Maybelline Volum Express Turbo Boost

Next up we had Volume Express Turbo Boost from Maybelline. I have to confess that when it comes to mascaras, I am quite fond of brushes that are a bit gimmicky, and this one is so bog standard that it disappointed me a bit. It’s a basic fibre wand that’s pretty much the same thickness all along, with no jazzy spirals or points or anything. As such, it’s also a bit cumbersome to work with as the previous Collection one was, and doesn’t catch smaller lashes particularly well. The formula and the brush are quite thick, so on the plus side you don’t need too many coats. However, for me the effects were just as the overall product – a little bit blah.

Max Factor Excess Volume

I might have just said that I like gimmicky products, but one gimmick I don’t like are double-ended, 2 in 1 fadangos. I just think if you can’t do the job with one product, then it’s clearly not a good enough product. And that remained my issue with Max Factor’s Excess Volume – you’re essentially just using 2 different mascaras. One end is a thick plastic wand, and the other is a slightly conical fibre wand. Formula wise, this is quite nice and thick, and is also very black. Ultimately, I did think the results were okay – but I just don’t think you should have to use 2 mascaras to get the look. At £12.99, this is the pricier end of the drugstore market, and I just don’t think it’s worth it.

Results

1. Collection Longer Lash | 2. Collection Volumising Mascara | 3. Maybelline Volum Express | 4. Max Factor Excess Volume

Overall, I think it’s clear from the photos that the second mascara, Collection’s Volumising Mascara, gave me the best results. I will quite happily keep this in my makeup bag as a backup, and for only about £4 you can’t really complain.

But will any of these drugstore mascaras persuade me to give up my magical Clarins? I’m afraid not. I remain a mascara snob for another day.

Have you tried any of these mascaras? Which drugstore mascaras are your favourites?