Mascara

If I could only use one makeup item for the rest of my life it would be mascara. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to most types of mascara. I read somewhere that people with sensitive skin shouldn't use anything but black because of some kind of irritants used when it is brown or blue or whatever. In the same article I read that waterproof mascara can produce reactions as well. So all the mascaras I've tried are non-waterproof and plain black/very black/whatever that company decided to call their blackest black.

The biggest problem with makeup is that there is no regulation of the use of the term "hypoallergenic". Makeup companies ARE required to put ingredient lists on their makeup, but designating their product as "hypoallergenic" is completely up to them. So I only pick up products that say "hypoallergenic" on them, but I don't expect anything from it.

As a whole, the brand Almay is wonderful. Their stuff works well, it's decently priced, and it's actually hypoallergenic. I've finally found a mascara I love and will stick with for a while now:

Almay One Coat Dial Up mascara is super super fun to use. The amount of product that the wand takes out depends on what setting you have it on. The 1 setting is subtle and the 3 setting is pretty thick. I disregard the fact that it says "one coat" and I use all 3 settings every morning. I put it on setting 1, apply to top and bottom, change it to setting 2, apply to top and bottom, change to setting 3, and apply only to the top. I think I'm on my 3rd or 4th tube of this stuff and I'm not tired of it yet.



Here are my reviews of the various mascaras I've tried:

I jumped on the bandwagon and tried the iconic Covergirl Lashblast Volume mascara in the big orange tube. It was instantly my absolute favorite...but sadly after a week of continuous use, my eczema came back. This mascara has crazy volume. It can get a little messy since so much product comes out of it at once, but it lengthens, volumizes, and kind of curls, actually.



Covergirl Lashblast Volume doesn't claim to be hypoallergenic, but its counterpart, Covergirl Lashblast Length does. I wasn't allergic to this one, but it didn't do what I like mascara to do. If you want a subtle mascara that gives you defined, long lashes with absolutely no volume whatsoever, this is perfect. But I like volume so it wasn't for me..



Covergirl Lash Exact works fine. It's kind of "meh" to me, though. Not a lot of volume. Not a lot of length. No curl. It's just average mascara. I wasn't allergic to it, though.



Covergirl Volume Exact. I used this one for a while, actually. Once you get the hang of it, it looks fantastic. It doesn't help curl, but it gives you volume and length. However, it's kind of a fight to get it on. For some reason, it's just really easy to get this all over your eyelid while you're putting it on. It's pretty messy stuff.



Maybelline Define a Lash Volume and Maybelline Define a Lash Length. These mascaras work great! I used use both every morning, putting on the length first and the volume second. But of course they freaked my skin out.



P.S. None of these pics are mine, I found them through Google searches