I know, I know. This is my third high end mascara review in a row. I pinky promise that my next one will be drugstore. But today’s review takes us back to Sephora. We are talking about the Makeup By Mario Master Mascara. Which launched all the way back in March of this year. I’ve seen a ton of positive hype around this one. So, let’s get into this review!
MAKEUP BY MARIO MASTER MASCARA – $54.00 – sephora.com.au
Starting with the packaging, the Master Mascara is housed in a thick, matte black cylindrical tube. There is silver detail on the tube. It’s a slight departure for Mario. Much of his range is white with black detail. But it’s sleek and elegant. Two traits that I believe are synonymous with Makeup By Mario. The Master Mascara is vegan, cruelty free, and contains 13.5ml of product.
The wand for the Master Mascara is pretty old school. A long, straight brush that goes to a slight tip at the end. The brush uses fibrous bristles that have some space between them. But the individual bristles do flare out. The idea being that they will grip the lashes as the product is being applied. While I usually enjoy wands like these, this is the kind of wand that can get messy quickly for me. As the space and length of the bristles can ding my eyelid while I’m trying to apply it.
The formula is one I would expect to see in a volume forward mascara. Very thick, slightly wet, and creamy. It is predominately vegan wax based. Using Sunflower, Olive, and Rice Bran waxes to coat the lashes without that crunchy dry down. The polymers included are supposed to help with volume and lift. There is also Castor Oil and ProVitamin B5 to condition the lashes over repeat wears. All in all, pretty standard stuff.
But now we have to talk about applying this mascara. And here’s where things might get ugly. You see, one of the big selling points of the Master Mascara is that it’s a one dip wonder. One dip into the product will get you the perfect amount for instant volume. Well, the above photo is my usual two coats. Volume where? My lashes are certainly black. And they are slightly thicker. But that’s all I can say about them. If I were being charitable, I would call it a natural volume. But in my opinion, it’s not what I thought I was getting.
The weirder thing though was the lack of not only length, but lift. It was bothering me just how flat my lashes looked. When you look closer, you can see the tips are lifted. But the rest of the lashes look very straight. Finally, it didn’t do much for me as far as separation goes. I wouldn’t say clumpy, but they did want to join a little bit at the base of my lashes.
Which brings me to the wear test. And just call me Emily the Mascara Mythbuster. Because for a formula that claims to be smudge and flake free, there sure are some crumbs under my right eye in picture 2. I will admit, on the day that I did this wear test, it wore better than it usually does. I’ve attached a second picture down below to demonstrate how bad the transfer can be. Because this is not a transfer free formula at all. On the positive side, my lashes did stay in place all day. The tiny bit of lift did hold on apparently. But otherwise, this formula does not hold up.
So, yeah, I think you all know what I’m going to say. The Makeup By Mario Master Mascara is a no from me and I don’t recommend it. It just doesn’t work for my lashes at all. And the smudging is the cherry on top of this messy sundae. Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried the Makeup By Mario Master Mascara and if it’s worked out for you.
Cheers and love
Emily xo