Maybelline the Colossal Cat Eyes: Review + Comparison to the Original

Last I reviewed the Colossal by Maybelline and it was unfortunately not my holy grail. I've seen it work beautifully on other girls, so I was disappointed that it did not love me back.

This time I'm here to review the Colossal Cat Eyes.

I really love lashes that wing out at the outer edge, but I'm always skeptical of mascaras that say they give one shape or another. I tend to think that's mostly decided by your natural lash shape and how you apply your mascara. Nevertheless, I was curious to see the difference between the Colossal Original and Cat Eyes.

Brush:

The brush is curved and the bristles are shorter and more spaced out than the original Colossal brush. I didn't find this brush to pick up as much product as the original brush.

Formula:

The formula is even more wet than the original.

Application:

Because the brush is so sparse and not a lot of product gets picked up you have to really apply a lot of coats before you see results. Just for clarification, by 'coats' I really mean strokes, because I didn't find this to be the type of mascara you can apply, dry, re-apply. When you let the formula dry first, the second application is always clumpy on my lashes. I really had to load up the mascara within one pre-dry coat.

Comparison & Conclusion:
I think the curved and sleeker shape is conducive to better mascara application near the edges of the eyes, which would allow the user to apply winged out coat of mascara.

For me there are to lashes at the very outer corner of my left eye I always notice when applying mascara because they stick forward less and stick more parallel to the surface of my eyes. The larger the brush the harder it is for me to get to those lashes, so the Cat Eyes brush was more capable of getting to those lashes.

However, I found this mascara to be noticeably less volumizing, so it essentially canceled out whatever benefit the extra access provided.

Again, similar to the Colossal original, this is another high-maintenance mascara; the mascara did not hold curls, did not add volume easily, and stick together past a certain number of applications.

I like this mascara less than the Colossal original, so this is definitely not a holy grail product for me.

What do you guys think? Do you love this mascara? Maybe this would work better on me if I had more lashes, longer lashes?

-Katherine

Next up, the Falsies!

Launching the search for my holy grail mascara: Maybelline the Colossal

While I don't have the perfect skin, I'm comfortable stepping out in nothing but moisturizer on my face. Naked lashes, however, are a whole other story! My lashes are OK for an Asian girl, but I have to admit that I feel uncomfortably plain when I don't have mascara on.

Ironically for someone who loves mascaras I don't have a holy grail one. Truth be told I've never even been that keen on finding one I absolutely love until now. I then told myself to wait on finding my holy grail mascara until I finish a couple of tubes from my current collection, but of course once I had this pact with myself I suddenly found it the most convenient time to enforce the three months rule. I kept two mascaras I like (Almay Triple Effect and Revlon Lash Potion) and threw all the rest out!

Now I'm ready to search for my holy grail mascara. It may turn out to be the Almay or Revlon I currently own, but I'm excited to try out a bunch of hyped up mascaras I keep hearing about in the beauty community.

First collection I got my hands on is the Maybelline Volum' Express line. Kicking off this mascara review series is the Colossal.

Brush:

The brush is rather large with a full head of long bristles. The brush tapers near the tip and has the general shape of a bulky cone. The bristles run a tight, dense spiral to catch every lash. The brush picks up a decent amount of product.

Formula:
This mascara is wet.

Application:
I usually like large brushes for the volume they tend to give, but the combination with the wetness of this formula made this mascara quite messy to use. It was hard to get the mascara to coat from close to the root of my lashes without the formula getting all over my eyelids, but the wet formula made going over my lashes, coat after coat, more possible without clumping. At one point my lashes did clump, but I was easily able to brush them apart using a clean lash brush.

The curl goes away after application because the wet formula weighs down the curl, so I have to use a curler again after the mascara dries to achieve the final look I like. The problem with this is that during the morning rush I can't wait long enough for complete dryness, so the lashes get stuck on the curler. It's not only slightly painful to pull lashes off the curler, but the curler flattens the lashes and/or takes off a smidge of mascara in the middle where my lashes touched the curler--near the base it looks OK, then in the middle it's thinner, and at the tip it looks normal again.

Conclusion:
From a regular distance, this mascara is actually quite nice. It gives rather defined, long lashes. I definitely prefer more volume, but I really like the overall effect this mascara on my face.

All in all despite feeling that this is a decent mascara I did not like the high-maintenance nature of this mascara. For my lashes I can only achieve pretty lashes if I:

1. Apply lots of coats
2. Clean my lids after application
3. De-clump
4. Re-curl

In conclusion this is a solid mascara, but I did expect more based on the amount of love it gets on YouTube. This is not my holy grail.

What are your thoughts on this mascara?? Please comment; I'd love to know!

-Katherine

Next mascara up for review: Maybelline the Colossal Cat Eyes

Revlon Nail Enamel in 410 Dreamer

Hey y'all,

I know it's fall and all, and I love fall...but I am having such a hard time letting go of my spring and summer colors... Pastel and bright and girly colors are my weakness!

Artificial Lighting

(Bright) Natural Lighting

Indoor, Natural Lighting

Do you drink tea?

I am a recent tea convert.

I used to drink coffee everyday, but one day while making my perfect cup o' joe just felt utterly ridiculous about the amount of sugar and creamer I was using. So I tried tea instead and never looked back. I still add honey and cream to my tea, but not nearly as much as when I make my coffee.

I feel great about the change--I'm not staining my teeth and I'm absorbing all the health benefits.

Read below for a short blurb about what I've tried so far!

Almay Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm

It certainly doesn't look like it right now, but I actually rarely wear lip products. Right now I'm not adventurous enough to wear anything out of the nude to soft/mauvy pink range and I usually feel too self-conscious to apply lip products in public. (Anyone else out there also self-conscious about applying lipstick in public? It's such a "classic sexy Hollywood" scene!) In addition, I'm constantly eating, snacking, and sipping on tea or coffee that lip color gets wiped away pretty quickly...there's almost no point in buying lip makeup. But I let myself get curious and look at the pretty colors...and google swatches... Next thing you know I'm taking these photos for you guys. Where are you, self-control?!

Ah well. Let's just enjoy the pretty pictures, shall we?

L to R: Blooming Balm, Pink Pout, Lilac Love, Cantaloupe Cream, Apricot Pucker

L to R: Blooming Balm, Pink Pout, Lilac Love, Cantaloupe Cream, Apricot Pucker

---Swatches & review below---

Follow me on Bloglovin :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Summer / Fall 2013 Cleanser Collection

Caroline Hirons suggests having a couple of cleansers to use in rotation so I drafted my lineup a few months ago and it includes four products. I tried a good number of cleansers before finalizing my lineup, and I've been extremely happy with all of these products and my collection as a whole.

Cleansing Practices:

I cleanse once in the morning and twice at night. Unless there is something really urgent I need to tend to, I always wash my face to remove makeup as soon as I get home. I literally walk in my front door, put my stuff down, change out of my work clothes, and head to the bathroom to wash my face.

I don't have a system regarding when I use each of these products. I generally just go by how my skin is feeling or how I'm feeling. Generally I use a nickel-sized amount of product and lather using my hands. I focus mainly from my temple to along my jawline and underneath because those are my problem area for blemishes. After I'm done working the lather I use a wet muslin cloth to wipe away the lather while exfoliating my skin. Lastly I splash some more water on my face to get rid of any leftover soapy residues.

Products:

Cetaphil DermaControl Foam Wash / AM / Foam
I use this in the morning because it's really too gentle for anything other than washing off (please excuse this gross detail) whatever residue is built up during sleep. It leaves a barely noticeable thin film that serves to matte-fy my skin, which is great in preparation for the long day ahead.

Clean & Clear Essentials Foaming Facial Cleanser for sensitive skin / AM&PM / Gel
This is an amazingly gentle, light, refreshing cleanser. It leaves face feeling not squeaky and yet very clean and ready to breathe. This is my go-to cleanser once or twice a week in the morning and almost every night as my first cleanse or both cleanses.

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser / PM / Cream
This is what I consider to be my 'big gun' as far as cleansers are concerned. It has ridiculous foaming power, and is an extremely effective cleanser. This is what I use when I've put my skin through a long day, or feel that my skin needs a sort of restart. It leaves my skin more squeaky clean than the Clean and Clear cleanser, but it is gentle enough to use twice in a day or everyday. For me, I tend to use this only once or twice a week because it can feel a bit drying.

Estée Lauder Perfectly Clean Multi-Action Cleansing Gelee / PM / Gel with microbeads
To me this is a mix of the Clean & Clear and La Roche-Posay cleanser because it starts off as a cool gel cleanser and as you work the product the beads pop and the cleanser foams quite a bit. I have started using this almost every Sunday night.

Do you also have a cleanser rotation or do you stick to one? What are your favorite cleansers?

Katherine

Wet n Wild Megalast: Club Havana

I am finally getting around to using the polishes I got from the Wet n Wild Megalast basket I told you guys about a few posts ago!

Color:

This is an opaque true orange polish. The first coat offers great color, but I prefer to use two coats on my nails because I like the vibrancy and almost gel-like look.