My Mascara Journey

Towards the end of last year and early half of this year I was a dedicated mascara junkie. I didn't want to feel like I needed falsies to have alluring eyes. My lashes are average and can manage with a wide range of mascaras, but they need something that will hold a curl, add volume, and add length. However, more recently I've been more focused on definition and curl-holding. With some luck, I found products that had people asking me if my lashes were real! Arguably the second best compliment ever.

To what do I owe my wide-eyed success? I compiled a list of mascaras I have tried as well as my new ones I'm currently trying out. Have a peek.

I had a chance to try a department store mascara, Shiseido Perfect Mascara Defining Volume. (Product names and underlined text are clickable.) I love that brand for their other products so you can bet I was really excited to try them out.

My more recent mascara is Maybelline's Big Eyes Mascara. I used a defining mascara beforehand to prep my lashes with this one.

I then got into Maybelline mascara for a while, as you can see here. I used to be obsessed with volumizing my lashes, but later on I learned not to only focus on volume, but a combination of defined length with volume. This is how I became my hubby's "wide-eyed baby".

Here are some general mascara rules you should know about:

• Loreal mascara formulas run wet, meaning if you have straight lashes (i.e. most Asians), this is not for you. I almost loved L'Oreal Voluminous in Carbon Black. It made my lashes the darkest and fullest they've ever been, but after several hours my curl started to wilt, and that made me very unhappy.

• Maybelline Mascaras are not as wet, but I still need a defining mascara beforehand. I compared two of them here. The driest mascara Maybelline owns is probably this one.

• Covergirl mascaras are on the dry side which is ideal for those who need their curl to last. A good mascara I tried was Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion in Waterproof. Btw, I always get waterproof. It holds a  curl better. I also tried the "volume" version of this line, which was meh.

• Almay mascaras are similar to maybelline.

• NYX mascaras are not worth your money

• Same goes for Wet n' Wild mascaras 

I've been curious about the Japanese brands like My Heroine or Majolica Majorca, but I heard they're a pain to remove because of the stiff formula (but it holds a curl like nobody's business). I guess I'll stick to American brands in the mean time. As of right now, I am rotating between Maybelline Full n' Soft and Maybelline Define a Lash x Maybelline Rocket Volume. Between the two  Full n' Soft works really well at making my lashes lush full and long all at once. I'll be content for a while.

But mascara doesn't do the job on its own! A decent eyelash curler is half the battle. I don't go through eyelash curlers like I do with mascara, but here are some I've worked with for long periods of time.

My first ever eye lash curler was by Shu Uemura. It gave my eyelash a beautiful swooping curl, unlike others that leave your lashes looking like a 90 degree angle from the profile view. I currently use a Sally Hansen "sexy curls" (lol) curler. I also tried one called Cala (it's a lime green curler, you can't miss it), but it didn't do anything memorable. In the near future, I'm looking to buy a heated eyelash curler and see how that holds up.

But how does mascara hold up against the legendary false lashes? I directly compared them here. But sometimes a hybrid of mascara and falsies can do the job of amplifying those lashes without looking flat-out fake. All in all, mascara is definitely one of my favorite makeup products.

Hope you all found this post helpful!