Define-A-Lash Volume Mascara by Maybelline

Author: Park

I have tired eyes.  The kind of tired eyes where people I’ve never met come up to me and ask if I’m okay. (I usually was until they made that concerned face and patted my arm).  I usually try to combat that tiredness by sleeping an extra 15-20 minutes and then running through my morning routine.  If I’ve put on moisturizer, I consider that a victory.  However, I’ve been told that actually taking a few minutes and putting on some mascara can make you look much more awake. Therefore, I’ve decided to wake up earlier every day this week and…okay, I can’t keep up the charade, I put it on in the bathroom at work.

I recently picked up Define-A-Lash Volume Mascara by Maybelline, as I would like my lashes defined.  (I was going to make a joke about what Wikipedia defined my eyelashes as, but then I read the article and learned about a bunch of gross diseases (don’t share mascara kids) and, well, it doesn’t seem that funny anymore.)

Anyway, back to my soon to be gloriously awake eyes. Maybelline claims that this mascara has a “zero-clump formula", and well, I call shenanigans.  Perhaps if you have really long eyelashes you will be clump free.  I, however, found it a little clumpy.  It wasn’t horrible, but I definitely did some mild blotting. 

As for the brush itself, the company claimed it was “shaped to the lash”. Well, actually they claimed it was SHAPED TO THE LASH, as cosmetic companies always seem to be yelling at you for some unknown reason. However, I found it pretty ordinary and it didn’t seem to make that big of a difference in my lashes over any other mascara wand.  To get really dramatic lashes I would definitely have to use an eyelash curler.

The product itself worked well for me.  I went to the gym with it on and managed to escape raccoon eyes.  I also found the particular shade of black really worked on my eyelashes.  Also, the packaging is pretty, and while I’m not proud of this, that means something to me.  If you’ve ever had to fix your mascara in public and had to fish out a product that looked like a dildo, you’ll know why packaging can be important.

I rate Define-A-Lash as 5 out of 8. Or as the cosmetic companies might like me to do, FIVE OUT OF EIGHT.  It's decent, but not mind blowing.  It’s a good “wear to work” mascara, but not necessarily a great “we are on a date and I am so pretty, seriously, SO PRETTY AND GLAMOUROUS AND YOU WANT TO KEEEESS ME” mascara.

Rating: 5/8 tentacles