Mascara Monday-- L'Oreal Voluminous Naturale

Hello!

Hope you all had a nice weekend! I was actually ready for this Monday, which is one of the weirdest feelings, right?! I think I felt like that only because, for me, Monday = lazy. I'm totally down with that!

And because it means Msacara Monday, and you know how much I like LOVE MASCARA!!

Up for today we have L'Oreal's Voluminous Naturale, $7.49 at drugstores.
(Many thanks to my L'Oreal insider who gave this to me-- I love trying new things!)

What it claims: 
The new lightweight volumizing formula glides onto each lash smoothly and evenly to enhance fullness, without any clumps. The patented volumizing definition brush perfectly builds and defines lashes, for a clump-free, defined lash look. 


I decided to compare this one with Voluminous Original~ review here.

Naturale on top, Original on bottom. 

Naturale on top, Original on bottom.

Close-up of Naturale's Brush~  a molded bristle brush. 

Bare lashes

Bare lashes

Naturale on left, Original on right

Naturale on left, Original on right

Hahaha omg I didn't know I had some lingering hairs in between my brows-- oh geez! The things pictures show.. Just more evidence that you should take a picture of yourself BEFORE an event so you can see if anything is showing up odd....

That's a shame...

Anyhow! The review:

To be honest, I didn't find a noticeable difference in the two formulas. The Naturale is maybe a tad thinner? But you have to really pay attention to notice, haha. The main difference is the brush-- the molded brush gives more definition than the original, or course, but that's really the only major difference between the two.

As far as the overall effect-- to me, the Original gives a slightly more volumized look, whereas the Naturale lends toward a lengthening look (on account of it being so well defined).

The Original can clump at times-- almost randomly, haha!-- so it is nice to have the Naturale on hand to get rid of any potential clumps. I think the Naturale is a great "beginner" mascara-- it gives a dramatic enough look to tell that you're wearing mascara without the worries of clumping.


In a flash!~
Not bad, but the Original gives a more volumized look. Great for mascara newbies, though!


What mascara are you using now? Do you ever use two for a combined look? Do you prefer the molded brushes? Leave me some thoughts! =)

**BTW I wanted to put a note in here addressed to my regular readers. It really means a lot to me to get texts/tweets(@BeautyMaven8)/Facebook messages about things you've seen on here! I just want you to know that your kindness is so incredibly appreciated. =) It gives me even more reason to always have my desk in shambles, haha!

The things I do for you... ;)  And yes, that is a "Draw Dinosaurs!" book/kit.

Until Next Time--
~Beauty Maven


**Edit**

I decided I should share a dinosaur drawing with you. Behold, the Dapper 'Raptor!

I've been reading too much hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com, haha!

Mascara Monday- L'Oreal's Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara

Bonjour!!

Hope you had a great weekend! Yesterday I went to Target and had a bit of a beauty haul.. do doo.. and helped a gal pick out hair color, haha! She was in the aisle and turned to me and said, "How do you know which one to choose?" So I started in... and by the end she had her color, AND I gave her a $3 coupon I had clipped that morning. The kicker was that I was in a baggy shirt and baseball cap (pink!) and she still took me seriously, haha!! Seriously though- I LIVE for when that happens! I love talking to people and helping. Mmm warm fuzzies. =)

**Also! Ulta is having their 21 Days of Beauty, which started Sunday. What is it? Each day they feature certain brands and have demonstrations and you can sign-up for applications and such. Also, there's a special discount on 1 product each day. I'll keep you updated at the beginning of each post, as follows:**

Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty, Day 2: Stila, Philosophy. Deal: Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliners, buy one get one free. 


Anywho! Up for today is L'Oreal's Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara in Black Crystal, $10.99 at Walgreens.

What it claims:
A new two-step lengthening mascara professionally developed to illuminate your eyes.
   Step 1: Lengthen and Intensify. Adds volume and length to lashes while intensifying eyes.
   Step 2: The illuminating top coat infused with light-reflecting pearls highlight your eye color with 
   exclusive sphere tip brush.
Clump free, flake and smudge resistant. 


Let's take a look!

Sphere illuminator on left, base mascara on right. 

Mascara brush. (I love this brush!!)

Illuminator brush. More on this later. ;)

Without mascara. 

Without mascara.

Without mascara.

Just the mascara, no illuminator.

Just the mascara, no illuminator.

Just the mascara, no illuminator. (My wonky lashes on the right are me, not the mascara.)

Check out that definition!! 

Mascara with Illuminator on top. 

Bling Bling!

In the whole, I really like this mascara! I've worn it for a few days, and it is very easy to apply (notice the definition and no clumps!) and it stays fairly well. I did experience some flaking, and also I had to reapply before going out one night, but that still was a good 9 hours of wear. 

As far as the "illuminating" which I basically think is "glitter," haha-- I haven't quite made up my mind about this. I think a nice, glossy mascara is probably about as glitzy as mascara should get. It tends to come off more as eyeshadow that fell into your lashes than an intentional sparkle. It is kind of fun to add a little pizazz every so often, though. ;)

The brush for Step 1 is AMAZING. I really have to give L'Oreal credit for this-- all of their Double Extend mascaras are really decent formulas with great brushes. The brush for Step 2 is not so great on it's own, (see the review for Telescopic Explosion here), but as far as a brush to put another product on top of mascara? It works quite well. Something with the bristles and how they don't really match with the "normal" brush just.. works. Interesting! It also adds just a smidge more length~

It did a good job of lengthening, though not as much as I'd hoped from a lengthening mascara. However, the definition and lack of clumps made up for this! So many mascaras just don't do well at that. The volume was lacking, but it's not marketed for that so I can't hate on it. 

What do you think? Do you use mascaras that are catered to your eye color? Or just plain ol' brown or black? 

Until next time--

~Beauty Maven