Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes review

I've had my eye on Lots of Lashes for a while, so I was excited when an opportunity to review it came my way. Ever since I heard about Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara (which can be found here), I've been thinking about how great it would be to have a brush small enough to get to those pesky little lashes that always seem to get missed by my mascara wand. I really liked the looks of the Lots of Lashes from Maybelline, though, because of the tapered wand. I was skeptical of a mini mascara wand doing what I wanted it to with the bigger, fuller lashes, and it seemed silly to purchase a mascara that would only work on the itty-bitties. I figured the tapered wand would do the trick. Plus, it's cute! I've never found a mascara to be "cute" before, but this one is. Maybelline is calling the wand "heart shaped". It's not really heart-shaped, but it's a cute way of describing the tapered wand.

I received the mascara in "Very Black", though it also comes in "Blackest Black" and "Brown Black". I'm assuming that "Blackest Black" is supposed to be darker than "Very Black", but I'm not entirely sure. It's available at mass retailers for $6.40.

I expected the bristles/teeth to be a soft rubber, but in reality they are made of fairly stiff plastic. Not all  sides are created equal on this wand, and I'm not quite sure why. Probably to reach more lashes.

So if you hold it one way, it looks like this:

 Turn it a bit and BAM!

Interesting little brush they have here. But how well does it work?

Well, here are my naked lashes:

And this is with about three passes of Lots of Lashes:

Maybelline claims that this mascara will provide lots of volume, no clumps, and no mess.
I found the lengthening to be far more noticeable than the volumizing, and I did have a hard time keeping my lashes from sticking together. I don't think that it's noticeably clumpy unless you're looking at it extraordinarily closely. I managed to not smear extra mascara anywhere, so it was indeed mess-free. I was underwhelmed when I studied my lashes at extremely close range, but I like the overall effect. When viewed at a normal distance. My main gripe is that the end of the wand has no functional bristles. Let's take a look at it again.

I feel that the end bristles are just too sort to do anything- I feel like I'm just wiping the mascara off the end instead of combing it through my lashes. I'd like to see Maybelline come out with Lots of Lashes 2.0 with better bristles on the last quarter of the wand.

I plan to keep using this mascara, hopefully I'll get a better feel for how to use the tapered wand. Would I repurchase this product once I'm through this tube? Probably. It's a good mascara and I really like the concept behind it. I think that with a bit more careful application, I can avoid some of the sticking together lashes. If Maybelline released one with the improvement I mentioned above, I would absolutely try it out.

Side note: My roommate just tried her own tube of Lots of Lashes and loves it. She told me that she loves that it's bold without clumping.

*The product featured in this post was provided for consideration by PR through the BzzAgent program.  My commitment is to my readers and I will always give my honest opinion*

Stay tuned for my review of Maybelline's Baby Lips Lip Balm!

Secrets of a Swing Dancer- Mascara Review #1

For my first official Secrets of a Swing Dancer review, I picked up the One by One Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara in Very Black from Maybelline. It's available in most drugstores and stores like Target and Walmart. It's $7.99 on the Ulta website.

The packaging promises "Big volume, lash by lash" and "Clump-free, big volume."
The brush, which the packaging refers to as "the lash catcher", looks like this:

Recently, I've been more fond of plastic-y brushes like this, rather than the bristle-y ones. The package says, "Exclusive lash catcher brush catches, coats and de-clumps every single lash for our most refined volume from root to tip."

Now for my lashes.

Natural lashes, no mascara.

With mascara.

Initial thoughts:
I wasn't blown away by the volume at first, but once I stepped back and looked at my lashes from a greater distance (rather than a few inches from my makeup mirror), I liked it more. It also does a nice job of lengthening. My lashes are naturally curly, so I can't comment on how well it holds the curl from a lash curler. Although I like the way this mascara looks, it did make my lashes a bit stiffer than I would have liked. You have to work quickly with this mascara- if you let it dry between coats it will clump. The packaging does say, "For best results, hold brush against lashes and sweep from root to tip. Repeat until desired look is achieved. Do not let dry between coats." The first time I applied the mascara, I didn't work fast enough and I saw a lot of clumpage. The second time, I furiously applied it until I liked how it looked. It was probably about 3-4 coats. I usually only use 1-2 coats of mascara, so I felt like I was applying a ton in order to get the look I wanted.

Testing:
I really tested the limits of this mascara. It was about 95 degrees that day and I danced for nearly 4 hours, only sitting out a few songs. I was swea-tay. Salt crusted in the creases of my eyelids sweaty. Gross, but true (and to give you an idea of how intense the testing was).

Results:
This mascara can hold its own in the world of charleston, swingouts and swivels.
I didn't see any flaking, smudging, or other indications of wear. By the time I got home, it looked the same as when I first applied it. Even when I rinsed my face off with water, the mascara didn't budge. Sweatproof, waterproof, danceproof. That's what I like to see in a mascara for lindy hopping.
This mascara did not disappoint, but it didn't make me want to start a new religion or anything. Probably because of the stiffness of my lashes with it. Otherwise, a very good mascara.

This product gets my Lindy Stamp of Approval!