Waterproof Mascara Will Differ
Months ago, I was trying to decide on a waterproof mascara for use during my wedding. I don’t like getting weepy in front of people, but weddings (especially your own!) make rational people unpredictable, so waterproof mascara wasn’t just a frivolous thing, lest I risk raccoon-ery. Unfortunately, mascara is such a personal preference matter that it is hard to get much from research other than ones that flat-out don’t seem to behave across the board.
I asked a friend who works at Sephora, I spent hours on Reddit and scouring Google, asking others for recommendations – the struggle was real.
Ulta ran a 21 Days of Beauty promotion, though, and one day had bareMinerals’ Flawless Definition mascara on sale for half off – that is, $9 per tube (shoot, some drugstore stuff costs that much). Being as that it is my favorite mascara ever, hands down, I ordered one – and its waterproof sister.
“Surely,” I thought, “it will be just the same – just not susceptible to tears, yes?”
I did open it a few weeks in advance of my wedding day to test it out. It wore just fine, but it did not apply as nicely, easily. It required going back over with the wand several times to even out the coverage. The formula was stiffer straight out the tube. Sometimes, in my experience, mascara needs a few wears before what comes out of the tube is, “just right,” so I did that. I wore it a few times anticipating this.
And it never happened.
It was just as stubborn about applying on my wedding day, to my chagrin. By then, I was familiar with how it behaved so it wasn’t a shock, but it still was a bit of a disappointment. I didn’t get the same definition and fullness from it as I did with the original formula; a bummer since I did not use false lashes.
So this is me giving you a PSA – if you have a mascara you love, do not assume the waterproof mascara version will behave the same. It likely won’t. If you’re set on the look a specific product gives you, I’d advise looking into a waterproof mascara top-coat – bareMinerals actually makes one now, as does Anastasia Beverly Hills. I have not used either product, but they have good ratings. In retrospect, I really wish I would have gone this route, but hindsight is 20/20.
Disclosure: Hey! Some of the links in this post are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I only recommend products I’ve tried and verified as awesome. Ethical blogging FTW.