The Mascara Wars #2 Maybelline Volum' Express The Colossal Cat's Eyes

Hello and welcome to the second installment of Mascara Wars! This week I have tried Maybelline's The Colossal Cat's Eyes Mascara. I have always heard good things about Maybelline's mascaras, but have not tried one in absolutely YEARS. (Not since Great Lash, in fact.)

So, when I saw Cat's Eyes on offer on at Superdrug I thought, why not?

Nice bright packaging- easily spotted in a busy make up bag!

A curved spoon brush. I saw on the Maybelline stand that this is very similar to the curved brush on the Falsies mascara, just a bit thinner, and not so densely packed with bristles.

So, as in my previous and all subsequent Mascara Wars trials, here are my uncurled lashes.

And, with one coat of Cat's Eyes Mascara

Pretty nice, huh? And, toshow how well this mascara builds up, below is a pic of two coats.

I'd say this definately needs two coats to get the full lengthening qualities of the mascara.

Now, here is the same test, but on curled eyelashes. Here is a pic of my natural, curled eyelashes.

And, with one coat of Cat's Eyes Mascara

And here's two coats

Nicely separated, defined and lengthened lashes.

So what did you think judging by the pictures? I must admit, I really enjoyed using this mascara. The thin brush made it very easy to coat my lashes, and moreover, to comb through them without any clumping or excessive build up on the lashes. I'd say this mascara gave great length and definition to my lashes, but didn't any volume so much. I wonder how this mascara would work if I used it in conjunction with a thickening, volumizing mascara? Mmm. In addition, I'm pretty sure that this mascara did a better job on my uncurled lashes! Looking at the photos, what do you think?

The brush is definately the part I like the most about this mascara, and the bright packaging really stood out in my overflowing make up bag (which can resemble a black hole at times). There is nothing I that particularly disliked about this mascara, although I would say that if it's thickness or a 'false lash' effect that you're after, I'd maybe pass this one by and go for something like the Falsies instead. (Which I'm yet to try, but I hear is awesome. Will have to review it soon!)

Hope you've all had a fab weekend! 

NEW SERIES! The Mascara Wars #1 Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara

Welcome to my new weekly series: The Mascara Wars. It seems to me that new mascaras are popping up like Lemmings just lately! If you're anything like me however, you feel distraught when the new, shiny mascara you bought with all it's promises of lengthning/thickening/falsifying/curling your lashes fails to deliver. Grr. Mascaras don't come cheap these days, and they are the make up item we need to purchase the most frequently, so the chances of coming across a dud is high. But fear not! This is where I come in. I will review a new mascara every week (both high end and high street) and report my findings here. Moreover, I will be putting each and every mascara through the same testing conditions, so the results are a fair representation.

First up, is Soap and Glory's Thick and Fast Mascara.

The packaging on this mascara is simple and functional. No loud crazy neon tube, just a simple discreet black tube. What's really good about the tube is that the hole the brush comes out of is rather tight, so the brush gets wiped of excess product. This is great, as it helps clumping on the brush.

The brush head is rather simple, nice and thick at one end, tapering to a thinner tip. The tip is great for the smaller lashes in the corner of eye. The fatter end is great for building volume into your lashes.

So here's the testing. By nature, I have medium length eyelashes, that are very straight. The first test I conducted was one coat of the mascara on UNCURLED eyelashes.

My natural, uncurled eyelashes

With one coat of Thick and Fast mascara

So, here's the second test on CURLED eyelashes, using my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers

My natural, curled lashes

With one coat of Thick and Fast Mascara

I must say, this mascara really impressed me. Considering it's non flashy packaging, I was expecting a fairly average mascara performance, but this surpassed my expectations. Moreover, I don't think there is much difference in the results between noncurled and curled eyelashes, so this mascara would be great if you're in a hurry. I loved the straightforward brush, with no gimmicks, and the formula was a good consistency, not too thick or too runny. A good performer.

This mascara retails at £10, but you can get this mascara for FREE with the March issue of ELLE magazine. Get on it! 

Come back next week for the second installment of the Mascara Wars!!