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Rant & Rave: Colored Mascara

This Week’s Topic: COLORED MASCARA!

Your Mission: Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about colored mascaras.  Do you use them all the time?  What are your favorites (or least favorites)?

72 Comments

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MoLo Avatar

They dry up waaaaaaay too quick. At least the Urban Decay ones do. I’ve taken to just mixing eyeshadow with clear mascara/brow lacquer whenever I want colored lashes.

Sarah May Avatar

I LOVE the idea of colored mascaras, and when they’re done right, I think they wear beautifully. My gripe with them is that most times they aren’t pigmented enough so you end up wearing them, but not really being able to tell much of a difference save some splattered, random color on your eyelashes that is sparse in some places but lovely in others.

Evelyn Avatar

No matter the color, my lashes will look black. On vary rare occasions when I can get some color to show up, I feel my lashes look diseased. lol I’m completely a black mascara girl!

Federica Avatar

I love colored mascaras!!! the best for me are the ones from YSL, I have on in blue and one in purple and trust me they are very very pigmented!!!the colors are amazing!! I’m waiting the wonder woman collection so I can buy the green one!! =)
I usually wear them if I use matching eyeshadows but they are gorgeous with a pale-neutral eyeshadow , so the color of the lashes is the first thing you note about the eyes …

Cecilie Avatar

I use black on everyday, but sometimes blue if i want something different.
And i have blue eyes, so it looks cool, i like a maxfactor one! 🙂

Marcela Avatar

i love electric blue and deep purple colored mascaras. but the wands they usually come with really suck! They’re also not so obvious on black lashes so I have to use a few layers and, even then, the color’s noticeable only from up close.

Luisa Avatar

i don’t necessarily wear mascara in really bold colors ( i had a guerlain one in purple which i loved but it dried up way too quickly to justify the hefty price tag), but i loooooove wearing dark blue mascara. it’s lovely. makes my blue eyes pop and the whites of my eyes appear brighter while still not looking over the top. it’s softer than black, but bolder and with a more eye-defining effect than brown. lancôme hypnose precious cells has the prettiest dark blue. in normal lighting, it looks almost black on my lashes , but when the sunlight hits it, you can tell it’s blue. i get a ton of compliments on it.
i do wish i had a nice purple though…

Macaddict Avatar

Colored mascaras are wonderful! You just have to wear them on top of MAC Prep & Prime lash (a white base). On top of being good for and elongating your lashes, it provides that white base and helps the color come through true to color!
I always have 5 or 6 colored mascaras in my stash. I agree with you MoLo, the UD ones dry out way too fast!… However, I have some MAC ones from years ago that I still use (even today I am wearing the Blue Mythic, a zoom lash, can’t remember what collection it came with…) and they are in fine shape. I am excited for the Wonder Woman colored mascaras, especially the green one as, green is not a color done a lot. Although Givenchy released a khaki one last year or so and I purchased it but that’s not really a green one!

Makeupaddictk Avatar

By dar, Christian Dior’s Azure blue mascara is the best HANDS DOWN! I love how bright it is and it goes on silky smooth… i’ll do a natural look and add this color just to spice it up.. A DEF MUST HAVE!

Emily Avatar

I only have two colored mascaras, the blue Phenomen’Eyes from Givenchy and the BADgal lash in plum from Benefit. I love my blue one for nighttime looks, especially layered on top of black mascara. My lashes are really light so it doesn’t show up well on its own. And the plum mascara is great for a more natural look. It just darkens my lashes slightly so it looks like I’m not wearing mascara at all and my lashes are just naturally that gorgeous 🙂

Elysia Avatar

I LOOOOVE colored mascara! It’s my fav way to amp up a look! The best one I have ever had i got for $3 from wet and wild. It’s a crazy amazing electric blue. Unfortunately it was LE, but i hope they bring it back.

gigi Avatar

I love the IDEA of them, but have yet to wear a colored mascara. I owned one in my teens.
The only time I could see myself wearing it is when creating a EOTD, photoshoots or when I want to look festive..

Tabi Avatar

I really like them for a subtle bit of color in an otherwise-neutral eye. Sam from Pixiwoo has a great tutorial where she uses a blue mascara with an otherwise very bare eye. As an added twist, she uses a glitter liner on the lashes themselves, so they sparkle just a tiny bit when the light hits them the right way. It’s very pretty!

I find using lash primers helps the color show up quite a bit.

Alyssa Avatar

For some reason, I associate colored mascara with being in high school or younger and playing with makeup. I haven’t used any since that time in my life. I don’t really have any desire to either.

feder Avatar

My very first mascara was a blue one – paired with blue and pink eyeshadow… uh, I was young (13) and that is 20 years ago ^^

But since that time I don’t like coloured mascara any more. It is nice to see when used in a special MakeUp (like you did with the eyeshadow palettes and mascaras from the MAC Wonderwoman LE), but I wouldn’t use them any more 🙂

Rachael Avatar

I love wearing black on my top lashes and a color mascara on the bottom lashes. Blue and purple mascara are my favorite. When I wear it like that the colored mascara really makes my eye color POP! I have blueish/green eyes. Everyone should try this!!!

JuithB Avatar

I will never understand colored mascara. I have yet to meet some one who finds it sexy. Its like the blue lipstick that was hot for like minute. Did anyone other than lady gaga ever buy into that? Its cool for halloween not much else.

Hend Avatar

I hate colored mascara ,
I do not understand the point of making my lashes look blue , violet or green !
I dunno , when it comes to mascaras I go for the blackest black ones ,
My favs are Diorshow Blackout and YSL faux cils volume effect in Noir Radical

Katie Avatar

I ordered the purple mascara from the Wonder Woman collection. I hope it looks as nice as it did in the look Christine did with it :).

There is also a recent video by MakeupbyTiffanyD where she uses a turquoise-ish mascara from Benefit and it looked really good.

Jessica Avatar

I think I’m the only person that loves them! I love to experiment with colourful eyeshadow and having colourful mascara is a bonus! UD just recently discontinued their line and they were my favs!! I think everyone has this ‘They are only for little kids’ stigma when it comes to using them but actually I think deep blue tones look gorgeous for a night out and don’t look tacky!

Love J.

annie Avatar

This is a great topic as I’m hesitating to get colored mascara.I think it can make yr eyes look wider w blue or warmer w brown or plum or funky w very outrageous colours 🙂

Luiza Avatar

I loooove coloured mascara! I prefer using them as a final touch. After applying black or bown maskara, I go for a coloured one only at the final lenght os the lashes. It gives a sparkle of the colour I chose, it is so much fun!

Gina Avatar

They look silly on me with my dark lashes. It just looks like I put on mascara and got eyeshadow fallout all over my lashes. I prefer to wear my color on my lids.

Carrie Ann Avatar

I like colored mascaras because I get bored easily and I like to change things up and try different makeup colors. I also think they can be very pretty and flattering. I’m eager to try the MAC Wonder Woman ones. I have Benefit Bad Gal mascaras in blue and plum, and they’re just okay. A good green mascara is hard to find.

Amy M Avatar

I was a teenager in New Jersey in the 80s and I can’t even look at colored mascara without remembering my giant permed hair and turquoise and magenta eyeshadow with turquoise mascara! I thought I was SOOOO cool… But now it gives me makeup PTSD.

Juliana Avatar

I have a UD Blue Indigo, I bought for $2.00 from Hautelook and when I received it was really, really dry…since it was only $2 and I tried to put 2 drops of lenses solution into the mascara and it worked really well! Now I can use and I really love!

AnGeLwInGz Avatar

Colored mascaras don’t look all that great on me unfortunately but my mom is downright OBSESSED with them. It’s the only makeup item she wears. Flirt used to have a pretty neat color selection but they were discontinued.

Melissa Avatar

I love colored mascaras. Myfavorite blue right now is Kat Von D’s in Techno. It’s a bright blue and I love it! Sometimes I will do it all blue and others I will do black on top and the blue on the bottom. I would love a bright purple instead of the darker ones usually available. Any suggestions? I’m interested in seeing the green Wonder Woman as well.

Marian Avatar

I don’t like colored mascaras for the same reason I don’t like pink and purple hair. They don’t lookm natural. I prefer hair and lashes that look like they could be your natural color or are at least a color that real hair can be.

Jenny Avatar

Colored mascara was my high school trademark back in the 90’s. Blue, purple, silver, green, I had a different color for every day of the week. I have blond eyelashes, so they really show up. I bought a cheap pink one last year, but it’s just not me anymore. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t eyeing the Wonder Woman ones, though.

Bonnie Avatar

I like them when they show up, but all too often they aren’t pigmented or thick enough to show up.
When I was in high school, I used to wear bright orange-red mascara from a brand called Sweet Georgia Brown. I used to love that stuff so much.

ak Avatar

I like it when it’s purple mascara or even better burgundy mascara! This is why I’m so sorry I missed out on the recent burgundy Zoom Lash from MAC Stylishly Yours collection. I’ve heard that the Benefit Bad Gal Plum mascara isn’t really a good formula at all in general, but I did try on the YSL burgundy mascara once and it did look good on me. I guess I gotta really fork over the cash for the YSL one then eventually! Hmmm….

Kristina Avatar

Not a huge fan, but I do own Smashbox Bionic Mascara in Indigo Ink that I got in a Smashbox set that is actually quite nice. Not overly noticeable but does add a nice touch when doing a dark blue look, or even a very natural look to make the white of your eyes look a bit whiter. Wouldn’t purchase on my own, but nice to have.

Sharlynn Avatar

Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about colored mascaras. Do you use them all the time? What are your favorites (or least favorites)?

I’ve always loved color, especially with eyeliner and mascara although I haven’t tried many colors for mascara.

I’ve only used black, brown and blue mascara and I definitely enjoyed the brightness of the blue. The only downside I find is color coordinating colored mascara with other make up, unless you’re going for a colorful/rainbow look. Otherwise I’d just have colored mascara alone.

It’d be nice if you reviewed some colored mascaras, I’ve seen turqoise and purple and would love to try em.

Fey Avatar

I love colored mascaras. My first experience was with Sephora’s outdated Pink/Sephora Girl collection. They had colors like yellow, kelly green, blue, etc. in little tubes. The pigmentation was great. Bloody Mary (a special effects brand) has the best white mascara I have tried. Hard Candy’s Lash Call is probably the best overall brand for it. I have it in the hot pink (Punk) and also the teal color (Mermaid?). They’re AMAZING. The fiberized mascaras from Hard Candy aren’t as great, as far as color goes. (Buxom’s blue is pretty great, but it bleeds.)
The BEST primer I’ve found for colored mascara is actually lotion. I wet my lashes down and shape them into little spikes with a bit of body lotion, then brush the color over them. A lot of colored mascaras don’t apply well to bare lashes, and apply all clumpy and just to the tips. The lotion solves this for me.

MissMercurial Avatar

AWESOME! Thanks for so many suggestions 😀
Have you tried any of Anna Sui’s colored mascaras? I looovvee the packaging and they seem to be excellent, but I’m not about to drop so much cash for mascara that doesn’t show up on my dark lashes :/

ann Avatar

i honestly think colored mascara looks kinda tacky- kiddish more for young teens. black mascara looks the best. but if you like it that’s all that matters!

Natalie Avatar

I love colored mascaras! I own two tubes of bright blue & the new purple Victorious from MAC. I touch them to the tips of my lashes so I don’t have screamingly colored lashes, but just a hint of “something” there that always makes people stop and look longer. It really does wonders for my green eyes!

Tracie in NC Avatar

Omg… remember the colored mascara wands for your HAIR? Haha, wow. Flashback!

Anyway, I’m not into colored mascara. I’m actually pretty conservative when it comes to makeup… I mean I’ll wear a darker look that’s somewhat bold (for me, at least) but it usually consists of neutral shades. I think if I were more skilled at applying makeup, I would be more adventurous. I’ve noticed the better I’ve gotten, the more comfortable I am trying new colors. Still.. they’re limited to eye shadow only! And liner, kinda. I keep the crazy colors for my nails.

gaye Avatar

I am a big fan of colored mascaras especially dior number 258 and of course ysl mascaras the best choice for colored lashes.I think the worst shiseido

MissMercurial Avatar

Would LOVE to find one that showed up – I’m a sucker for color, and I’d like to try matching my dyed hair, haha.
So far only one from LA Splash has done any good for me. I used to use Bourjouis Oui au Volume when it came in purple, which was ridiculously colored AND volumnizing, but alas it has gone the way of the dinosaurs :(.

suze Avatar

i wear a royal blue mascara all the time and have for years. i always get people commenting and complimenting me on it. Most of the time i wear the dior non waterproof as thats the best i can find but years ago you could even get a maybelline in a royal blue but they discontinued it probably 10 years ago. 🙁

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