I have short, stubby, dead-straight eyelashes so finding a mascara that looks natural-ish, adds heaps of volume and length without clumping, and is light enough that it doesn't weigh down my lashes can be a tall order.
I was tempted by the lift version of this mascara, but figured I usually curl my lashes anyway, so the extension seemed more my speed. I tried it once without curling my lashes, and this formula has pretty much no lift, so isn't suitable for straight lashes without a curler.
On curled lashes, it gives a good amount of extra length, great definition, and plenty of volume without clumping. Overall, I don't feel like it gave quite as much of an extension effect as it promises, but still very good.
Strictly in terms of looks, it doesn't outperform my all time favourite mascara, Perversion by Urban Decay, but coming in a solid $10 cheaper means it's pretty good bang for buck if you're looking for a good mid-range mascara and can't quite justify the $46 for Perversion.
Most impressive, though, is its staying power. It lasts through the day very well, and even when I slept in it (oops!) it still looked pretty good the next day and most importantly there was no smearing or product drop on my lower eyelid. I was super impressed by how well it lasted, and for this reason alone would definitely keep using it. The fact that it is also a pretty good mascara overall is fab.
I was fortunate enough to have been given this mascara to trial. I was initially surprised to find that the 1 half of it was black, rather than the white serum that most split mascaras come with. The 1 section appeared to work as volumizing for your lashes, as the 2 part had small particles in it to lengthen them. The end results was great! It really made my eyes pop and gave a nice even coat.
At some point during the day I forgot I was wearing mascara and rubbed my eye, I quickly checked in the mirror and there was a single black flake, which is less that most mascaras. I never noticed any flaking other than this time that I rubbed my eye.
I tested how waterproof it was at the end of the day and it stood-up to the challenge, this was after surviving a 4km hike as well, without any smudging. It was easy to remove with my make-up remover. One of the big things for me, is that it didn't make my eyes flare up. I suffer from blepharitis, which is inflammation of oil producing glands on the eyelids - these are often where the lashes meet the eyelids. As I result I usually try not to wear mascara except for special occasions, however I suffered no issues at all with wearing this multiple times in a week, which really impressed me.
Overall, I was really happy with the product, it was easy to apply, looked amazing, but almost felt light enough for me to forget I was wearing it. I feel I really put it to the test and it passed with flying colours.
Tips: I use an oil based make-up remover to remove I only used 1 for the bottom lashes, to give some colour, but no length