Review Time: Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

Review Time: Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

You guys know how I am with mascaras.

I have like, 5 tubes open at once, I'm always cross comparing and when I happen upon something I like- I always keep it in rotation.

So this last tube I bought of my beloved Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing mascara I noticed something wasn't the same about it.

Normally when I open them for the first time- they're already at that mouse-like texture (as if you've already had been using it for a week- you gals feel me on this). This time however, it was wet. Wet wet wet wet wet.

Gross wet. Sloppy wet. Cringeworthy.

At this point I was alarmed. Did they change the formula? Holy crap, what if I can't find another mascara I like as much as this?

Flash forward about 3 drugstore mascaras and I was kind of hating life.

So look, I'm the first on the bandwagon to say that there are good drugstore mascaras and you don't have to go to Sephora and shell out good money to get something that should have cost you less.

But let me tell you what most people won't:

In Sephora, your odds are PRETTY DAMN GOOD that you'll find something you'll like. You could pretty much throw a rock in that store and odds are- the product will be good. 

In the drugstore however- you're going to be on the eternal quest for a long awhile. 

So again flash forward, and I'm standing in line with my sister in law at Sephora and in the isles of doom (you know, the isles they make you pass by to get to the registers and it's all this delightfully affordable travel size stuff) and I see a little combo pack of Too Faced's most popular items.

The kit is called "Sex and Chocolate" (hilarious).

You can purchase it at Sephora for $15:

http://www.sephora.com/sex-chocolate-P392927?skuId=1669654

So it comes with the chocolate soliel bronzer which everyone (self included) really likes.

And then it came with the travel size Better Than Sex mascara (which btw is exactly half size of the full size, so it's not some dinky "delux sample" Sephora tries to pawn off as usual)

I'd been wanting to try this for a minute and I figured it's a decently sized promo pack and the packaging is convenient for travel so WHY NOT.

So I used the mascara for about a week- and then went and bought the full size of it.

I. Freaking. Love. This. Mascara.

So here's what I found:

I'm a stickler for packaging- so here's my packaging discussion.

This brush is huge and hour-glass shaped and when I first pulled it from the tube, I was like- wtf is this? What kind of mid-evil torture device have I come upon?

However, I was pleasantly surprised. The hourglass shape doesn't cut in deep enough to make the whole thing useless. The bristles are so bushy it almost reminds me of a boar bristle brush. The tube itself is a rose gold metal with the actual title stamped into it.

And my favorite feature- the handle is weighted.

I know, you're like, what?

Trust me. If you are a man-handed goblin like me, you'll understand how sometimes clutching onto a tiny piece of plastic that has no weight or structure makes life difficult.

Not only is the handle weighted, but it's actually of a pretty good size too. I felt like getting around my eye was a much easier task than normal. (The travel size isn't weighted like that, for reference, but the brush head is how it is in the full size.)

Packing- A+

 So for reference, here are my natural lashes. (Also, ignore my congested skin. My skin HATES me right now despite all the care and love I give.)

So yeah, blonde, short, nothing to write home about.

Here's one coat on one side.

SO YEAH, BIG DIFF ALREADY.

And 2 coats on one side. They're so much thicker, fluffier, darker, etc. I could honestly get away with mascara and no eyeliner if I wanted to. The brush grabbed every lash I had and made it look a million times more attractive.

Hard to tell because of the lighting (my bad) but you can tell one side looks insanely dense at the lash-line and the other looks crazy dumb.

It occurred to me later that I should take a few pics after a few hours of wear- so I apologize for the lighting but this was much later at night.

You can see it smudged a tiny bit under my bottom lashes but that is mostly because I rub my eyes a lot and is to be expected from any non-waterproof mascara.

Honestly, this held up so much better than all my mascaras- including my beloved Jordana mascara. It lasted through blowdryers and a very hot salon- so I was very, very happy with this.

Application wise, the brush ends (where it's thicker) were a bit tricky at first because my first instinct was to stick the brush head in the inner corner of my eye like I always do with all my flatter mascara wands- so I ended up gooping it a little on my eyelid. After a couple days though, you get used to the flow of the brush head and life went on as usual.

The formula itself is pretty wet, but the brush does a nice job of evenly distributing the mascara without clumping up and getting gross. The mascara is definitely super inky dark black, and dries to stay very black but it looked very natural. My lashes still felt soft and flexible.

Honestly, just all in all- this mascara feels expensive. Everything from packaging to application to wear feels like a luxury. Basically it's like having the glamour of false lashes without A) having to apply false lashes or B) having to wear a tubing mascara that flakes off in your eyeballs or something.

I imagine this mascara would be on par with Benefit's They're Real mascara- but I had a horrible skin reaction to They're Real and also- the brush on Too Faced's is so much better. Like a million times better.

The downside to this whole debacle is that the mascara itself, full size is $23, which I think is pretty obnoxious for something you throw away in 3-4 months.

I got lucky when I went to buy mine because I not only had $12 dollars in points at Ulta, but I also had a 20% off coupon I could use on top of it, so I got it for around $7 with tax.

WHICH IS CHEAPER THAN A DRUGSTORE MASCARA.

-which is also the reason I went ahead and bought it. I have plenty in my travel size to last me awhile, and then I won't have to crack open my new one right away.

Honestly though, I think I would just spend the $23 dollars. The rest of my makeup routine is pretty much drugstore, or it's stuff I got during Christmas that'll last me a long time- so to me if that's my only expense- it's not too bad.

The blogger in me says, splurge, but the cheap-skate in me says I understand if you end up saving your money instead,

-SamanthaK