Maybelline Great Lash Real Impact! Mascara Review

Maybelline's line of Great Lash mascaras is undoubtedly a drugstore icon. The original has been a staple in women's handbags for over half a century. I, myself, have been an addict of the little green and pink tubes for 5 years. My favourite in the collection(and trust me, I've tried them all!) is the Great Lash BIG, whose over-sized, fluffy natural brush yields full, fluttery, fanned-out lashes with serious volume! So when Maybelline brought out a new version of it called Real Impact!, I was pretty excited. Okay, super excited. Okay, I squealed like a piglet! I am definitely a mascara junkie and collect and go through tube after tube of the stuff, so there's nothing more exciting than finding a cheap, but amazing quality new mascara at the drugstore,,,without them I'd be broke. I have a problem, okay!

Here's the real impact that Real Impact! had on me(hahaha, oh so clever...)

The brush is spoolie-style with natural bristles clumped fairly closely together. It is quite skinny and long and is straight with no tapered end (making it more difficult to get the inner corner lashes). The mascara has a cream-gel formula and is made with beeswax, which Maybelline claims is gentler and less drying on lashes than traditional synthetic waxes. The colour is a shiny, deep black (shade is called Blackest Black) and very intense.

I find that, despite it's claims, the formula is still quite dry. It is very thick and clumps and flakes quite a bit, with little black specks fluttering down on my cheeks like snow by the end of the day, though I have found that this can be reduced a bit by brushing through lashes with a clean spoolie or comb after application. However, it does not smudge, but still washes away easily at the end of the day. It also does build up a lot of volume. The colour is so intense and deep that it definitely draws attention to the eyes, even with just one coat making a dramatic difference. This mascara seems like it would be a good option for people who like a lot of volume, despite having a few clumps. However, if you prefer a really smooth or natural-looking mascara, I'd recommend some of the other Maybelline Great Lash mascaras instead.

Bare lashes with light brown eyeliner

One coat of Real Impact! mascara

Two coats

All in all, it's a good volumizing mascara from the drugstore, but it flakes like snow.

-Maggie May

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Covergirl TRUNAKED Eyeshadow Palettes

One of the best new beauty products of the year so far has to be the Covergirl TRUNAKED eyeshadow palettes. Retailing at around $12.99 CAD, these little beauties are a steal! They are meant to be a drugstore dupe of the high-end, high-profile Urban Decay Naked palettes, with many nearly identical-looking shades. While the quality of a $13 eyeshadow can obviously never perfectly match up with that of a $50 eyeshadow, these rich, velvety shadows come fairly close.

There are three palettes in the range: Nudes, Goldens, and Roses. Each palette has a total of 8 shades with a mix of mattes and shimmers. The case is plastic, but fairly sturdy. If only it came with a mirror! The formula is very consistent between shades, even between the mattes and the shimmers, and the texture is a soft, creamy powder that glides over eyelids. They are ever so slightly on the powdery side, meaning there's a bit of fallout during application. However, for a drugstore eyeshadow, they are gorgeously smooth, blendable and long-wearing. The pigmentation is quite good, even for the lighter shades, and the shadows can easily be built up.

The shades are very neutral and appropriate for daytime, but can be smoked out and built up for night. My least favourite palette is the Goldens collection, as the darker shades are quite khaki-based and green doesn't suit my colouring very well (meaning: I look seriously ill!). But I'm sure it would look lovely on brown eyes! Since Spring is just around the corner, I'm really loving the soft, delicateness of the rose-gold tones in the Roses palette. My favourite thing about these shadows is that, unlike many other drugstore eyeshadow palettes, Covergirl named each individual shadow. So cute!!!

Here's a closer look at the Nudes and Roses Palettes.

The Nudes:

The Nudes Palette

Shades L-R: Buff, Shell, Champagne(sooooooo pretty!), Fawn

Shades L-R: Mink, Cocoa, Coffee, Sable

Swatches (fluorescent indoor lighting)

Swatches (overcast outdoor lighting)

The Roses:

The Roses Palette

L-R: Almond, Champagne, Baby, Rose Gold

Copper Rose(???not really coppery at all...), Dusk, Mauvergine, Mousse

Indoor lighting

Outdoor lighting

Look at that gorgeous Rose Gold(far right)!!!

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