I bought a sample size of this mascara in a Smashbox "try it" kit which has been great for letting me try out Smashbox products before committing to the full size products.
The packaging is fairly standard for a mascara. Nothing about it stands out in any particular way as it's just a black tube with the logo and name printed on it.
The wand (or at least the brush part) was unexpectedly fat and dense. This does make it a little harder to see what you're doing when applying as it completely covers the lash area but it does grip the lashes pretty well.
The formula is nice. I haven't noticed much increase in volume but it does make my lashes nice and dark with a bit of extra length.
The biggest downside to this mascara is that over the course of a day it flakes quite a bit, causing a somewhat panda-eyed effect. It can be dealt with easily if you keep some cotton buds in your makeup bag to wipe the flakes and smudges away but I prefer makeup that I can apply and then forget about for the most part.
I won't be repurchasing. It's not an awful mascara, but I have so many better ones that I prefer to use instead.
I had been saving up my money waiting for a good quality eye shadow palette. I splurged and got myself the Double Exposure palette. In it was a deluxe sample size of this mascara. I enjoy deluxe products because you can try it out before committing to a full size. We all know that most of the full sized high end products cost a lot of money so its always great to test it first.
Smashbox deluxe sized mascara comes in as a miniature version of the full sized mascara. This bottle is black and sleek. It has the Smashbox labelling on it with a red cross going through it. Simple but striking. This brush has small bristles carefully compacted together in a cone shape . This mascara is jet black in colour. No scent at all.
When I dip this wand in it comes out clean. No clumpy bits all over it or little black bits like I have had with other sample sized mascaras. These bristles on this wand cling to my lashes perfectly. My lashes are elongated and emphasised nicely. I managed to get four solid hours wear time out of this . Did fade out but it didn't seep down to my lower under eyes. This is what normally happens with every other mascara I use.
Overall it is priced highly. If I had a never ending cash flow I would definitely buy this again. But I don't . I've had it for a few weeks now and there's still no clumps happening in this formula. I'm highly impressed with Smashbox and I can't wait to try more products from this brand, but I may need to save up for it as it is pricey.