Mascara Quicknotes VI: outrageous volume

For this installment of Mascara Quicknotes, I wanted to feature three department store brand mascaras in a similar price range. These three mascaras turn to their volumizing properties for lash-building while maintaining that lashes will remain separated, free of clumps and flake-free. All three samples I tested come in the shade Black. None are waterproof.

Bobbi Brown Extreme Party Mascara $25 - said to give outrageous volume while allowing lashes to remain flexible so you can add coat upon coat and build to your heart's content. Also claims to resist clumping and flaking.

Bobbi Brown Extreme Party Mascara
The brush reminds me of Diorshow. It's not a favorite but it isn't horrible either. Of the three tested here, this one had the blackest look about it even with just a couple of swipes. I didn't experience clumping or flaking and it performed well as a whole. I prefer a smoother formula, however. This one had a thickness about it that I wasn't sure I liked immensely. In the end, I had to swipe it many times over anyway because of how big the brush is. I have a harder time coating the inner and outer corners. But that experience is one of those things that will depend on the shape and size of your eyes, and the length and thickness of your lashes.

Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara $24 - promises dramatic volume and also lengthens and curls while leaving lashes soft and shiny. I admit this is the one I liked best of the three featured here when I initially tried it. I don't think the volume that I achieve from it is dramatic but I found it easy enough to use and it wasn't prone to clumping either. There is a little bit of length and curl but neither is noticeable enough for me to dump my lash curler on a special night.

Laura Mercier Full Blown Volume Mascara
For some reason, as I continued to use up the tube, this one seemed to become hardest to apply evenly. It was simply not coating the lashes the way it first did. I don't know if the tube was simply running out (which means it ran out more quickly than the other samples) or if it becomes like that when it starts to dry up but it left me somewhat disappointed.


Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara $24 - the formula is said to contain fibers that thicken lashes while the brush lifts, defines and curls.

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara
The brush reminds me of Lancome Definicils and Maybelline's Lash Stiletto. This one might be a little wider at the base than those two but it's a similar narrow Christmas Tree shape that tapers a little towards the tip. I generally have no difficulty with this type of brush so I can't complain. Overall, I found this to be very easy to use and I like it as a basic, daily use mascara. It doesn't darken and volumize as dramatically as the Bobbi Brown Extreme Party mascara but I like the brush of this one the best. My only complaint, if I had one, was that I expected more from it. I was looking for outrageous volume. I mean, it is called Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara for a reason, right? I would rename this, Really Nice Everyday Mascara. And for a non-waterproof formula, this also seemed like it had the most longevity of the three. If I had to pick just one of the three I have here, even if this isn't the most volumizing, I think this one performs best overall.