The Great Mascara Hunt: A Few Reviews

I don't know about you guys, but I seem to be constantly looking for "the perfect" mascara. My lashes used to be naturally quite long, like I had trouble wearing sunglasses long, so it used to not matter too much what I put on them. Just about anything with the word "volumizing" on the label did the job! However, the length of my lashes is just one of the many things that seems to becoming more challenging as I move into my 4th decade. I imagine I can't be the only one struggling with this problem, so I've decided to document my hunt and share it with you all!
So, first off I'll start with a longtime favorite: L'Oreal Voluminous mascara, the original.



   It does wonderful things for my lashes! (My sister's too, she's a longtime fan as well.)



But it does flake, and my hair brushing against them results in raccoon eyes. Which isn't so attractive!

So from there I went for a very conservative everyday mascara: CoverGirl Lash Blast.



Which is great stuff! Doesn't flake at all unless you rub it, which is entirely acceptable.



But, well, it's not exactly Va-va-voom, is it?

Then one day at Sephora I got a little sample of Lorac Multiplex 3-D lash mascara.



Hello Va-va-voom! I'll tell you I practically RAN out to buy myself a full sized tube of that! Or no, I didn't actually. I cheaped out and tried another brand first, which I cover next.



But then, well, I wore it for a few all-day sessions and discovered that it doesn't just flake, it de-filaments. Which is to say that while it won't give you raccoon eyes, it will leave little black chunks floating around your eyeballs which then give you totally bloodshot eyes... oops! That's headed back to the store! (yay for Sephora's return policy!)

So,ok, I got the Lorac sample and loved it, but was too darn cheap to spend the $22 to buy it. (Which I just now noticed is $18 on Amazon! But there's shipping...) SO... I went out and bought L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes, which I don't remember why but I thought was very similar.



Which it actually is! I mean, ba-BAM lashes! (pay no attention to the bra-straps, I have no idea what I was dressing for just then...)



But it has the same down-fall, which is that the crazy length comes from tiny filaments that adhere to your lashes and then to each other, and just as promptly un-adhere and end up in your eyes. Oh well. $10 down the tube! (After which I went out and got the more expensive one thinking it might be better, but you already know how that ended!)

Which brings me to the mascara that I'm currently defaulting to: L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes mascara. Which is a pretty creepy name, frankly.



But also a pretty good mascara! Great length and very black, though I would like a bit more thickening as this can get a little spidery looking some days.



And no flakes! Which I suppose is thanks to that creepy tubule technology. Which I thought was total jargon, until I went to wash it off and it can off all in one piece- the whole darn lash! I don't mean MY lashes came off, just that all of the mascara really stuck together and came off like a tiny little toupee. Or, as I first though, EW A BUG!!! It is a little gross. But for no flakes and reasonably high impact? I'll put up with a little creepy.
For now, anyway! The hunt will continue!
My sister is currently using Maybelline Collosal Volume Mascara and likes it, but I haven't tried that one... yet!
Anyone out there have a favorite they recommend?