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