So here are our rules

1. We bought all mascara ourselves (which means nobody is paying us).
2. We wear each mascara for at least 1 week.
3. All mascaras purchased were black… and the darkest black they had available.
4. Every mascara used was put on the exact same way, with only 2 coats.
5. This is just our 2 cents. This opinion is ours…take it or leave it. Believe it or not.

What do we want in a mascara?

In a mascara, we typically discuss the following points: Lengthen, Volumize, Separation, Curl and Thicken.

The lowdown

The Bad

Everything was initially fantastic. Long lashes for dayzzz. However after a month, I noticed that the product clumped on my lashes. And, at the end of the day, flakes fell into my eyes. I typically use several thin coats plus another mascara. For this tube, I only can do 2-3 thin coats. This product falls short on volumizing and thickening. So, I tried to pair it with another volumizing mascara. And again, I got clumped.

That brush

The brush picks up a lot of product. You must ensure that swipe off as much of the product as can before application. (That is, make sure you can see lots of the pink brush showing through.) Fair warning: this brush is a poke hazard.

The Good

The bristly brush and product lengthen & separate. As such, Rimmel Wonder’fully Real Mascara is a good lengthener and separator. It also keeps the curl. (One must use a lash curler!)

An interesting thing

I felt like sporting the au naturel look a lot with this mascara. At first I thought it was due to the emergence of the PNW summer sun. (The summer makes me feel more like a let’s-skip-work-and-soak-up-some-sun bronzed goddess than a dramatic eye queen.) Or, maybe I was too lazy to add liner? But, I finally figured out why… I noticed that the brush/product inadvertently builds colour at upper water line. Which is fantastic for an au naturel look. And fantastic that Nals was inspired to keepnit low-key.

The Ugly

The ugly truth is that it’s really hard to get a mascara with all of these features. Which is why I typically use 2 mascaras on every application. But I got clumped when I tried to pair this mascara with a volumizer.

Additionally this mascara is hard to remove. After washing, you’ll need to get in there with a cotton-tipped wand.

Recommendation

I probably wouldn’t buy Rimmel’s Wonder’fully Real again unless I was in desperate need of a mascara… and it was on sale.

The brush would be challenging for novices.

The product itself is a bit annoying after 1 month.

Kells started us off with a bang with several Mascara Monday reviews. (Feel free to search our tag cloud for her Mascara Reviews.)

Today, I will be reviewing

⇒ ⇒ EyEnvy ⇐ ⇐

No spoiler alerts here (hee hee) but the love story began with a co-worker of mine. As if she had stepped out of game of beach volleyball, in to my life walks Miss T. She sports an au naturel look with lashes that go on for dayzzz. I asked her the secret. She told me EyEnvy serum. Then off I trotted like a truffle piglet, snout to the ground… and did I find the serum? Hells to the nope. Firstly, only select places sell it. Of those places I visited 3 with no luck. And I fruitlessly called a myriad of others. SOLD OUT! Scant weeks before Christmas & can you imagine the nerve of people to gypp me out of a precious bottle!

So I begrugingly settled for the EyEnvy mascara. Pfft. Peanuts.

Sooo … I have sensitive skin, a sensitive schnoz and sensitive freaking eyes. Initially, I thought I was the s-word to EyEnvy. This is because the next morning, my eye were sore puffballs. This happened several morning before I figured out the culprit.

Turns out, this stuff coats your lashes like a second skin. So when removing makeup, add a 2nd step: Get out your cleanser-covered Q-tip and get to cleaning up in there for an extra minute or so. (Like one of those skin-eating pedicure fishies… but… not weird or as creepy.)

Once I did that, all was shanti.

So, to remind y’all about The Rules of Engagement:

1. We paid for everything ourselves and were not comp’d.
2. 2 coats were used for the photos with same make up.
3. This is just our opinion. Take it or leave it.

The brush: conventional.

The formula: is thick and sets kind of quickly. Make sure you do your coats quick but thin. So after swirling your brush in the bottle (not pumping like it’s a bicycle-tire pump), do a few good zig zaggle squiggles near the roots to build volume then move up to ends. Don’t just do your coat roots to tip. You must squiggle.

Positives:

• My lashes got thicker after using daily for just a few weeks. And for you skeptics, the thicker lashes still look thicker with other mascaras, too.
• It has staying power.
• It’s got tons of coating power. (But I needed >2 coats to get the desired effect.)
• Colour=Very black!
• Compact product line.

Other Considerations:

• Not for the novice as one needs to build coats quickly and thinly like a pro.
• Clumps quickly (avoid this by applying thin coats).
• Not waterproof.
• On the expensive side – especially if you’re just trying it out.
• Poked my eye a few times with that hard as nails brush.
• Semi-challenging to source – can’t just pick up at your local drug store.
• Need to pay extra attention to removing product – I thought I was sensitive to it until I started the Q-tip step.
• Only available in black (at least in the stores I looked at).

Conclusion:

Once I figured out how to apply & remove it properly, I fell in love. I have long lashes but they don’t stay curled. With EyEnvy, my lashes are thicker and longer and… remained curled.
→For the seasoned mascara-ista: thumbs up, must try!
→For the newbies – stick with drug store specials till you hone your technique.

Have we enticed you to try EnEnvy?

What are your thoughts?