What mascara was worth the splurge?
I don’t know that I’d repurchase all the time, but I really loved Louboutin’s mascara (enough to repurchase it once).
— Christine
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PML’s is my holy grail makeup product but I only buy it on sale.
The GrandeLash mascara… it is the best mascara I have ever used. It is water resistant, but easy to remove, doesn’t flake on me AT ALL (every single other mascara I’ve ever used flakes on me), is lengthening and volumizing and it is a dream.
You’ve convinced me that I need to try this stuff!
Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Lash and the Wander Beauty Unlashed Volume & Curl Mascara. But the travel sizes make more sense to me because I never finish a full-size mascara before it dries out.
Dior overcurl and Marc Jacobs velvet noir are always in my kit.
Love the MJ velvet noir. Probably the only high end mascara I would shell out for.
I got “talked into” MJ’s Velvet Noir by a former student who was working at Sephora as a part time job. But it would top my list of mascaras that weren’t worth the splurge. I guess I’m just not really a mascara gal generally.
I really like Lancome’s Monsieur Big. I liked it enough to repurchase it a few times. I don’t use it anymore (I since switched to drugstore mascaras), but if I did spend $25+ on a mascara, that would probably be the one.
The waterproof formula is nice too.
Chanel Le Volum or Trish McEvoy High Volume Tubing. I don’t think you need to spend lux prices for a good mascara and after I use up a few mascaras, I probably will stick with drugstore but I love the above mascaras and don’t regret my purchases
Lancome Monsieur Big Waterproof Mascara is my HG. I have very long, pale, and droopy lashes. If I don’t use a waterproof formula then my lashes (with any normal mascara) will droop right into my eyeballs. I use Monsieur Big as both a stand alone and a layering mascara. I just haven’t found anything that does the job as well as this one does while not flaking, clumping, or irritating my super sensitive eyes. I’ve been buying it for years. Even though it is a splurge I only buy it on sale or with a gift card. I tend to get travel sizes because it takes me a long time to go through a big tube and I don’t want it to go bad. I wish I was the kind of person who could use drug store formulas, but I have yet to find one that doesn’t irritate my eyes/contacts 🙁
Also my favorite mascara. In Norway it was on 50% sale so I bought 2🙈
I never tried more than some Sephora free samples from expensive highly coveted mascaras like Monsieur Big, Hypnose, Faux Cills, Diorshow, so I always wondered if maybe the full sized are better. Because the samples were disappointing; not bad, but not worth 1/3 of the price.
But then I remember I’m maybe the only person in the world not liking Maybelline Lash Sensational. 😅 So maybe it’s just me.
Chantecaille. You need to sell a kidney to afford but boy is it fabulous.
Hourglass Unlocked mascara – I only use tubing mascara, any other mascara (besides waterproof ones, which is a pain to remove) smudges on my greasy eyelids 😖
Well, not exactly a true splurge, but L’Oreal Lash Paradise WP does run $4-5 more than my previous HG mascara, Maybelline Full & Soft WP. So, sort of a splurge? 😉
Koh Gen Do Long Lush Treatment Mascara. I find that HE mascara in general is worth spending extra on (I have loved many that I no longer buy because of animal testing) and I have yet to find a drugstore mascara that I liked very much over an extended period.
Lancome monsieur big waterproof 💗 I bought it in a whim and it standed rain, sweat and looks amazing. Very expensive but worth it!
Since I can easily get free travel size mascara either from Sephora (offer or points redemption) or MAC (gift with purchase), actually paying money for a mascara is a splurge for me. 😅
But if I were to purchase a slightly more expensive mascara, it would be Make Up Forever Excessive Lash. I remember really liking it, and usually I have bad experiences with drugstore mascaras.
But most likely, if I couldn’t get mascara for free, I would just “splurge” in my next MAC order with the In Extreme Dimension 3D Black Lash.
I don’t usually splurge on mascara. Tarte, Lights, Camera, Lashes and UD Perversion Mascara are both favorites of mine, but I never pay full price. I usually use drug store mascaras.
Lately I’ve tried some exceptional mascaras. Lancôme Idole-BITE Beauty-Marc Jacobs At Lashd all so good esp with Lancôme lash primer. I can’t even pick a fav but the Idole is more defining than adding volume although much better with primer. Hourglass Caution is a fav too!
Chanel le volume is really nice. I don’t regret buying it, but it’s not SO fabulous that I feel like it’s ruined me for drugstore mascara. It’s a nice indulgence.
I still love Chanel Le Volume De Chanel mascara best even though you can buy some pretty good mascara’s at the drugstore. And new mascara’s always attract me and now I have a lot of new ones waiting. In addition during Nordstrom’s buy2 get 1 mascara’s I always buy 3 of the Chanel mascara’s. I have way too many.
I usually rotate through mascaras , PM , Marc Jacobs, Too Face BTS, so recently I tried a ( new to me) brand called Ineka and their mascara might just beat them all .
I love their Curvy lash mascara it really lifts my lashes giving my eyes a more lifted look they have a bold lash and a long lash formula and it’s a clean brand and good for the lash so I may stick to this one for a while .
I simply cannot remember any time I splurged on mascara, as it is not a beauty product that I spend money on. Wearing glasses means that I cannot have long lashes, but wearing mascara gives a finished appearance to my eye look.
Probably my most expensive mascara was a midnight blue one from Dior (on sale of course!) and a YSL teal green – I love coloured mascaras in those shades.
The Milk mascara was a surprise love for me after receiving it in a holiday sampler. As others have said Lancome Monsieur Big is a cannot fail standby.
Perfect Lash Mascara from Clé de Peau Beauté – absolute perfection! Keeps my long but fine straight lashes curlled, defined, and fanned out without smudgimg or flaking. But it is $55 a tube :O
Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir was my go-to for a long time and I still love it. I was shocked when I saw the price on the new Bite Beauty mascara because their lipsticks have always been cheaper than luxury brands like Chanel and YSL but I bought it and now I never want to go back.
For me, I’ve had a few: IT Cosmetics Superhero Mascara, YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils Mascara (the silver & gold tube) and Pat McGrath’s FetishEyes are the most recent. I find the PMG FetishEyes to smudge on me a but too easy but the application and the look (not too thick, not too thin, not natural but not spidery) more than make up for it! I like a volumizing mascara more than a lengthening one but FetishEyes manages to lengthen very nicely 🥳
When it first came out, Diorshow seemed like a revelation. Haven’t tried it in over a decade though.
Since I’ve been in my 60s with eye wrinkles aplenty, the allure of mascara has waned, since even great lashes can look a bit strange to my eye, against an obviously aged eye area. Better Than Sex I’d say was the most overhyped mascara I’ve bought in the last few years. Very meh, I agree.
Lancôme Grandiose with the black rose in a clear sort of smokey black tube that I want nails made about (but better)! The bent wand and brush also helped my sparse blonde lashes look like healthy visible lashes that weren’t clumped up. I began using it since it came out. Now I believe there are 2 formulas and brushes. I’m not sure which I prefer but either way, I’m purchasing that again, along with 1 or 2 of the other 2,062 mascaras Lancôme makes. I used to be a huge fan of Hypnôs Drama mascara but I think I found better ones. Unfortunately Armani Eyes To Kill changed dramatically long ago. That was my forever mascara. 💔
Not a big fan of Smashbox but their lash primer always helped make anything go on more evenly and more defined. It made my lashes silkier instead of dry like many primers I’ve used. Open to primer suggestions!
One more: It Cosmetics waterproof Tightline. I’m not usually a fan of crunchy waterproof formulas on my sensitive peepers but this helped. My last 2 orders arrived dried out. When I 1st bought this when it came out it didn’t seem to have much time before it dried up. It worked well for a bit and kept my no curl having-sparse-wimpy-blonde lashes UP… With the help of a mini curler from Reveal Beauty.