Keeping with the makeup theme, the third installment of my “Three of a Kind”-series is all about mascaras! This trio of mascaras would have been complete if only I had the Kosas Big Clean mascara… But in its place, we instead have the Charlotte Tilbury Push Up Lashes, which I got in my SpaceNK advent calendar.
All mascaras tested are travel sized. I’m underlining this fact as one’s experience may be different with full sized packaging. Travel-sized mascaras tend to dry up faster and therefore (for the most part) work much nicer in my opinion. I also personally prefer to buy travel sized as mascaras should be replaced within 3-6 months from opening. Full-size packaging usually lasts me much longer than that.
Definitely go check out part 1 (tinted foundation) and part 2 (cream blushes) if you haven’t!
RMS Beauty | Straight Up Volumizing Peptide Mascara
0,15oz / 4.5ml for €14
I decided to pick up the RMS Beauty straight-up mascara based on the pictures the brand provided of the results. RMS’s mascara seemed to give that natural look I wanted from a mascara. And low-rating reviews saying how it barely made a difference, only made me more interested and assured me that this was exactly what I was looking for!
BENEFITS
- Nourishing vegan formula with shea butter, candelilla and carnauba wax.
- Formulated with oligopeptide which helps strengthen and re-densify the lashes
- Features a tri-locking system that helps prevent smudging, clumping, and flaking giving long-lasting wear for up to 12 hours
The Mascara
The mascara wand is your classic spoolie-brush. sXOI^KAm84vN To get those whispy lashes that they have on their marketing pictures you need to apply this very lightly. The more you apply the thicker and less whispy the lashline will become. Also helps if you’re born with naturally long separated lashes. My lashes are naturally straight and hard to work with. Still, I found I could recreate somewhat the same whispy results. But it got harder and harder to get that as the formula got drier. The brush started getting clumpy, dispensing too much product onto the lashes.
I found the brush to be easy to apply on the upper lashes, however, a bit more difficult to stroke the lower lashes without some smudging. The results and its wand reminds me much of Milk Makeups Kush mascara, but the formula isn’t as heavy keeping my lashes up throughout the rest of the day. I haven’t noticed much flaking until the product itself started going bad. Oh, and it’s very easy to wash off! Just press a cotton pad with water and remove. Not great if you’re a crier though.
I was fully satisfied with my purchase and considered repurchasing until it started smelling spoiled about 3 months in. Out of the blue, it suddenly had this piercing scent of chlorine. (which it does not contain) On the tube, it says it should be good for another 3 months. I think it’s due to the lack of preservatives as other mascaras have not spoiled this quickly, nor do they get such an intense scent. I’ve only experienced this with “natural” mascaras. Still, it could just be an old product overall.
Conclusion
It makes me a bit wary to repurchase as I’ve witnessed in the past people getting really bad eye infections from natural/preservative-free mascaras. I also bought the travel size specifically to avoid something like this from happening. There are still many uses left in the tube but I don’t feel as confident to use it anymore. But perhaps I would’ve used it up in time had it been the only mascara I used.
With that said, before it went sort of foul it was easily one of my favorite mascaras! I did not experience much flaking or smudging – unless I got a bit teary-eyed. And it definitely held my straight lashes curled the whole day. If you’re like, where all you want is to add some color and open up the eye, then this is worth a try!
Ilia | Limitless Lash Mascara
0.10 oz / 3 ml for €15.5
Ilias limitless lash mascara has been very talked about and seems like a favorite among many. I personally could not understand as looking at the results people were getting I was like, “How is this your favorite mascara? Why would you want your lashes to look like that?” I just saw clumps everywhere and creepy spider legs… But of course, when one blogger after the next touts its greatness, I found myself wanting to try it for myself.
BENEFITS
- Contains organic bee and carnauba wax to weightlessly condition lashes
- Fortified with arginine, biotin and nettle extract to help boost and enhance lashes
The Mascara
First of all, I see why everyone likes it. The formula is really good, non-smudging. non-flaking, stays put and has your lashes lifted, but is a breeze to remove! However, when it comes to the wand itself I have an issue that I’ll bring up under “conclusion”… But I believe that the messy results I’ve seen on people do reviews on this product are just too heavy-handed when it comes to applying mascara in general. I’ve managed to create that whispy separated clean look that I find most attractive. I even feel like the results are more eye-opening than what I’d get with the RMS Straight Up mascara!
The wand has a dual-sided brush. One side has shorter bristles to curl and create volume, the other has longer bristles to lift, lengthen and separate. I personally think people go wrong when they try to use the long-bristle side, as that’s when clumps can start to form. Despite the description, it does basically lengthen, but the opposite on separation – the shorter bristles do a way better job at that. If you are going to use the longer bristles, wait a minute for the first layer to dry, and use it as your second layer for a more dramatic lengthening effect.
The shorter bristles are also good for coating the lower lashes without smudging! Ilia limitless lash mascara has become my go-to mascara to fix my lower lashline as it perfectly coats only the strands and doesn’t transfer to my skin.
Conclusion
With all of that said, I really dislike the composition of the brush itself. It’s plastic and sharp. When applying it on my upper lashes it feels like pointing needles going through. Sometimes the bristles have come in contact with the eye or something, giving me a piercing sharp pain. I mean, I’ve never in my life had so many “accidents” with a mascara before. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the sharp brush I would be completely down with the fans and give it 5/5! I think you can get great-looking lashes with practice, away from the clumpy mess I’ve seen on others. I love how easy it applies to my lower lashes and the separation I get. But yeah, feeling like I’m picking myself in the eye every time isn’t ideal, the brush should be in soft silicone.
Still, if I don’t find a better mascara, I’ll probably repurchase. It has given me the best eye-opening results, that suits my small eyes, out of all of these three. Even as it’s gotten older it delivers great results!
Charlotte Tilbury | Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes Mascara
0,13 oz / 4ml for €14.5
Another mascara with an interesting wand… I got this in my SpaceNK advent calendar last year. Having heard of the Pillow Talk lipstick, I had no idea the concept stretched further to include mascara and other makeup items. And while I had wanted to try out the cult lipstick this did not disappoint!
The Mascara
The Pillow Talk Push Up mascara also has a dual-sided brush that I found a bit finicky to use in the beginning. Two sides are flat, which are used to load mascara onto the base and coat the lashes. Then you’re supposed to use the bristle side to comb the product through. But, just like with the Ilia mascara, I preferred to just use the bristles. I found it to work just fine as it avoided too much product getting loaded on the lashes. However, using the flat side first did end up in something that looked a lot like false lashes. It’s just, I don’t like that look on me as I got small eyes.
Despite not using the flat side much, I do like the wand the best out of all these three mascaras. The bristles are silicone soft and do a nice job separating the lashes making it look like you have more of them. If I got clumps from the other mascaras, I would use this wand to comb through and separate them. The Pillow Talk mascara is quite versatile, you can choose to get a dramatic false lash effect or a more modest long and separated lash-look. The bristles aren’t however as good at coating the lower lashes without smudging as with the Ilia Limitless mascara wand.
My only issue is that it dried up pretty fast, hence why I’m not including any swatch pictures. I got it at the same time as the RMS Beauty Straight Up mascara and have been using them equally often. The amount of product differs by only 0.5 ml more in the RMS mascara. Yet, the Push Up Lash mascara acts as if it’s empty already. So that was a bit of a disappointment.
Conclusion
Overall, I really liked this mascara and the separation it gave my lashes! The formula is perhaps not totally up to par with Ilia’s mascara though. I’ve experienced some smudging and flaking as the day has gone by. It’s not the most expensive mascara nor the least amount of product out of these three, but it dried up the fastest. Also, the false lash-look it’s supposed to give isn’t my cup of tea. So for me personally, while I think it’s a great mascara for the look you get, I’m not so sure I’d repurchase it.
