When it comes to mascara's I am a drugstore girl through and through. I go through it so quickly - something like a tube every 6-7 weeks - and refuse to pay more than £10 for one. Plus I think that there are some fantastic ones available for my budget, so have no need to fork out extra. Many of my previous favourites have been from Maybelline, so I was excited to recieve their latest mascara release through the post last week - Pulse Perfection vibrating mascara.
I have read lots of mixed reviews about the mascara, and decided today to finally try it for myself. I was really intrigued by it when I first heard about it a few weeks ago. What does the vibrating action add to your lashes? Will it just make a big ol' mess on your eye? Will you poke your eyeball out with it? Is it a gimmick? And is it worth £14.99? Yep, you read right - a Maybelline mascara costing £14.99. I think that's really expensive for a drugstore mascara, but when you consider it's high end vibrating counterparts from Estée Lauder and Lancôme cost £28, it doesn't seem so bad.
I decided to compare it against two mascaras. This is my bare eye. In all pictures, please note that I am wearing NO make up, so hopefully you'll be a little forgiving of my dark circles. And as ever - please ignore the brows!
Note the short, almost invisible lashes? That's the reason I never leave the house without mascara. EVER.
The first one I'm comparing it with is my HG mascara - Max Factor Masterpiece. I normally use the waterproof version, but for the sake of the experiment, I used the non-waterproof Masterpiece Max version. This and it's waterproof sister is the best mascara on the market, in my humble opinion. It seperates, lengthens and thickens my lashes. It holds my curl and doesn't flake or smudge. What more does a girl want?
The wands are both rubber but are shaped differently. The Max Factor one (top) is thick at the base and tapered towards the end. I love the shape of it. It enables me to reach the shortest lashes in the corners of my eyes with ease. The Maybelline one (bottom) is thicker at the base and the end, and thinner in the middle. It is the same shape wand as the Define-A-Lash wands, which makes sense as the Pulse Perfection is part of the Define-A-Lash family. I've tried the other Define-A-Lash mascara's and I HATE the wand. It's flimsy and all the mascara clumps at the base of the wand. 1-Nil to Max Factor. Okay, will it fare any better during application?
I'm a wiggler. No matter what mascara I use, I wiggle the wand at the base of my lashes, then pull through the lengths, so I didn't know whether the vibration would make any difference. I applied one coat of each on each eye - Max Factor on my left, Maybelline on my right. I held down the button on the Maybelline wand and it was such a subtle vibration that I couldn't even see it move. Phew! That eased my worries a little bit. I held it at the base of my lashes then held the button in again. I could feel it vibrating on my eye, but only ever so slightly. Instead of wiggling, I let the wand do it's job and just pulled through. It wasn't uncomfortable, it wasn't messy, and it didn't poke my eyeball out! And the best bit was it didn't have that god awful rose scent that Maybelline mascara's have had lately. Wanna see the results?
Look at the length on those bad boys! I am super impressed, especially with the outer lashes. The wand wasn't flimsy. It was flexible, but controlled my lashes and the mascara didn't clump at the base. I'd say they thicken the lashes equally as well, but I just love the length that the Maybelline one has given me. Wow.
The next mascara to challenge the Maybelline Pulse Perfection is the Maybelline Define-A-Lash. I wanted to test whether it was the Maybelline formula that was was making my lashes long and fluttery, or if it really was the vibrating wand.
The wands are the same, but you can see that the Define-A-Lash (top) has the mascara clump at the base that I was telling you about. Yuck. I applied the Define-A-Lash in the same way as I applied the Max Factor - wiggle at the base then pull through to the tips. The wand is so flimsy, the lashes were controlling it! You saw how pathetic my natural lashes are - how can the brush bend to accomodate them? Surely the wand should decide where the lashes go, not the other way round. Does that make sense? The wand was just bending and flopping whenever I tried to apply mascara. And here's the proof:
Hmm. No length, no volume, no seperation. Just a clumpy mess. I think it's safe to say that although the mascara's are from the same family, they give totally different results. I put that down to the vibrating wand. Some of you may still think it's a gimmick, but honestly? This is the best Maybelline mascara to date - and quite possibly the best drugstore mascara to date!
Would I buy it again? Yes, but only if it was on offer. I love the mascara. The results are super impressive but the price is so offputting. That shouldn't be a problem though, as Boots, Superdrug and even Tesco regularly have 3 for 2 offers, and it's actually part of a 3 for 2 offer in Boots as we speak :)
RATING : 4/5 - It loses a mark for the price. I'd also prefer a waterproof version, but I know that they'll release one at a later date as they do with their other mascara launches.
Well done if you read all of that! I hope you all found it helpful :) I'll leave you with one more picture, my eye with two coats of Maybelline's Pulse Perfection mascara - my new favourite xx
UPDATE : I've given this mascara a good trial run now, and if you want to see some updated thoughts, click here xx
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