Hey hey!
First of all thank you for taking the time to stop in and read my opinions haha
Second if you happen to know me then you know I’m a little bit of a brand-ho and I really like luxury beauty products… Like Sephora is the mothership. I dream of using Chanel and embracing my inner French girl. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but the reality is – this stuff costs money and some of us are on budgets. I’m a terrible budgeter btw. I’m also a notorious DIY-er with skincare which translates to messy experiments to appease my inner nature-loving-self.
OK! Onwards to my original point! MASCARA.
My original go-to is BUXOM’s Lash Volumizing Mascara. It’s a really nice formula and the wand applies easily. My lashes always look great! I have no real complaints other than the whoppin’ $22 price tag. I think it was only $18 when I first started wearing this one. The last time I bought a tube was about four to five months ago. The last tube I bought smelled really “off” and I used it anyway for a while before convincing myself that it was not my imagination. I bit the bullet and went back to Sephora for my OTHER go-to : Tarte’s Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara. I discovered this one from a sample I received for a VIB thing. The formula and wand seemed to mimic my BUXOM love well enough. This mascara costs a lovely $23.
I do have a complaint about this formula though. It never seems to dry and I can scrape the stuff off my lashes with my nails. Not a deal breaker. I had an ingrown lash a few months back and my lashes are trying to recover so it looks a little odd in one spot. Unfortunately this one gets clumpy after a few weeks and its been clumping my lashes together so it looks like I don’t have as many as I do. The black is bold and great and it does make my lashes look long though.
Fast Forward to watching a million Jeffree Star Youtube videos and I got the idea to try drugstore makeup again. e.l.f. in particular. I’ve used e.l.f. products off and on since I was a teenager. Mostly for costumes, but it got the job done for a broke girl. SOOO off I went through the woods and over the mountain to the nearest Target! As per usual these days the shelves showed the signs of popularity. I prowled around and made some notes for my future online haul I plan to make. I picked up a set of bold false lashes for $4 just for funsies and snagged a $3 tube of black Lash Extending Mascara. (I also grabbed Pacifica’s Pineapple Flower Oil-Free Matte Mist- YUM!)
Well…I love this little $3 mascara 🙂 It is by no means a heavy or bold formula, but DAMN ALL MY LASHES are on display now. It’s a fairly natural look, but I’m so ok with that especially for day to day and potentially adding falsies to my routine. I took some comparison pics – they aren’t great, but you might be able to get the idea. I am NOT saying you should ditch your luxury mascara! I am just thrilled to find a budget friendly version that works really well and I hope this helps someone. Sometimes we just gotta work with what we have haha slaying on a budget is POSSIBLE!
https://www.sephora.com/product/gifted-amazonian-clay-smart-mascara-P286101
https://www.sephora.com/product/buxom-lash-mascara-P228204?icid2=products%20grid:p228204:product
https://www.elfcosmetics.com/lash-extending-mascara/81436.html?cgid=eyes-mascara#start=10&sz=24
Let me know what your experiences have been! Any tips or comments are welcome!
