Baby Lips and Mascara Madness: Maybelline Great Lash - Lots of Lashes

Ok.  I caved.  I found a pretty good deal at WalMart one day...I was in getting something for my grandmother and happened across this little gem:

It was around $5 and change and you got both a Great Lash and the Baby Lips.  I've been itching to try Great Lash Lots of Lashes - even though I despise the original Great Lash - and everyone has been talking about Baby Lips so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

First thing I want to say is that I do like the texture of Baby Lips.  I do not like Pink Punch the color.  At least, not on me.  I'd heard a lot about it from Tanya (pixi2woo on youtube) and it looks fabulous on her but I think I'm a little too olive toned for it...it's just too pepto pink on me for my tastes.  I think that I'd love the clear ones though!  So I'll have to check it out the next time I'm in a drugstore to see if I can nab one because it did make my lips super soft, I just can't get past the color.  To my sister it goes!

Then onto Great Lash Lots of Lashes.

My initial gripe with the original GL is that it's too wet and the brush doesn't do anything...now I'm not expecting any miracles with the second one - but I'm also not jaded enough to go into it hating it!  I was actually very excited because the brush reminded me of the new Lancome Doll Lashes brush (or should I say that in reverse since the Maybelline one came out first? haha)

So I tested this both alone and over my love - the Tarte MultiplEYE primer!

Great Lash Lots of Lashes alone

 Great Lash Lots of Lashes over Tarte MultiplEye primer

So here's my take on it.

Much like the original Great Lash, I find the formula is SO WET.  It can get clumpy if you try to build it...and I found the wand to be almost too flexible so that I felt I wasn't actually getting my lashes....however on the plus side, it didn't run on me throughout the day and it didn't flake onto my skin!  Points there Maybelline!

BUT.

It can be saved!  I feel that I mentioned in my love review for my Tarte primer that I said you can put any mascara over the top of it and it's fabulous!  I still hold this to be true.  Just look at my lashes in the photo!  Not clumped, nicely separated, well coated.  It is almost like it's a completely different mascara!

So I would say that if you're looking for an okay mascara from the drugstore, yeah, it's ok.  I'd still take my CoverGirl LashBlast over this one though (which someday I will repurchase and review for you guys - it's my absolute favorite drugstore mascara since the US discontinued my ULTIMATE favorite drugstore one - which is MaxFactor 2000 Calorie if you were wondering!)

Mascara Madness: Lash Primer Love! My Holy Grail!!

I know I give a lot of time to lashes...but 2nd to eyeshadows, mascara is probably my most favorite beauty item.  A mascara can completely change a look just depending on what it claims to do.

I know I said in my last mascara review my thoughts on lengthening and thickening and how every mascara can do both...and I still firmly believe this to be true (unless of course the lengthening has fibers in it which is a completely different story).

Something I haven't mentioned however is how I feel about lash primers.  I'm pretty sure everyone at one point or another has tried the drugstore equivalent with their double ended tubes of white primer on one end and blackest black mascara on the other.  My major issue with those is that no matter what, the primer and mascara combined leave your lashes one of two ways...clumpy or gray.  Neither of which is my personal favorite mascara look, but if it's yours by ALL means please keep going with it :)

I've been jaded about primers.  I've tried the Dior one, I've tried the Lancome one...both of which fell short on my priming expectations.  I was resigned that a primer just wasn't for me.  Which is perfectly fine - I'm not saying that like a face primer a lash primer is something that is completely necessary.

Enter:  Tarte multiplEYE Lash Enhancing Primer.

Head past the jump for my thoughts on what is now my holy grail of lash priming.

Mascara Madness: Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes Mascara

I'm going to wholeheartedly admit that I am one of THOSE PEOPLE when it comes to mascara.  I have the ones I love...and then I have a graveyard area where I toss the rejects to save just in case I need one for theater/I run out of my favorite and I need something until I can get another one.

But when it comes to Givenchy's Phenomen'Eyes mascara...it kind of lives in this weird limbo area between the two.  I simply cannot decide one way or the other about it.

Head past the jump for more of my thoughts and photos of application!