It has been a hot minute since I last dipped my toe in the luxury mascara realm. Granted, considering the fact that the last luxury mascara I tried was the Prada disaster, you can perhaps understand why I’m less willing to part with my money. But, I am always a sucker for hype. And when I was seeing back to back to back video’s on the YSL Lash Clash Mascara right around the same time as one of the Sephora sales… Well, you know what happened next. I’ve actually spent a little while with this one behind the scenes (which is why this review is on the later side). But I’m ready to talk about it. So, is the YSL worth the dosh? Just keep reading!
YSL BEAUTY LASH CLASH MASCARA – $70.00 – sephora.com
Kicking us off with the packaging, the Lash Clash Mascara is housed in a long, chubby, matte black plastic tube. There is raised gold detail on the tube and some embossing on the top of the tube. I won’t lie, it’s very bland, boring packaging. Definitely not a luxury experience. The plastic, while not cheap feeling, is fairly lightweight. And not nearly as distinct as some of the other mascara packaging I’ve seen this year (Marc Jacobs looms large in my mind). The full size of the Lash Clash Mascara contains 8.87g of product.
The hits continue with the brush because the Lash Clash Mascara has the exact kind of brush head that I personally hate using. It has synthetic fiber bristles (which is fine, I like those). But the brush itself is really thick and wide at the base. And while it does narrow towards the tip, it’s not a fine tip and for my eye shape, I find it difficult to get a precise application. Which means that pretty much every single time I’ve worn this mascara, I have dinged it either on my eyelid (from the tip) or the bridge of my nose (from the base).
Getting onto the formula now, and she’s a thicc one. I can honestly say it’s been a while since I used a formula that was this thick and creamy. Noteworthy is the fact that this is predominately a copolymer based formula and not a wax based formula. The idea being that the copolymer’s in the formula held adhere to the lashes, creating a longer wear time without smudging. I could actually feel the formula stiffen on my hand when I did the above swatch. It was an odd sensation. There are also a few lash loving ingredients in the mix. The big one they are plugging is Iris Florentina extract, which is supposed to help with creating more supple and healthy lashes over time. I also spotted Rosehip oil, which is well known for it’s hydrating and conditioning properties.
Applying the Lash Clash Mascara, as you can imagine, took some maneuvering. As with all of my mascara’s, I only went in with two coats. The volume was what jumped out at me the most. Though, considering the thickness of this formula, I would be surprised it is wasn’t. The volume though, does have it’s drawback. I found that unless I scraped the excess product off, this formula would get clumpy and cause my lashes to want to stick together. This wand is not a good one for definition and separation. I got some ok length out of it. Not nearly as much as I saw some people online were getting. But where this formula really failed for me was getting any kind of lift or curl. I suspect that the weightiness of the formula itself may be a contributing factor here. Overall, I was pretty disappointed by this.
But that brings us to the wear test. And I have to say, for a mascara that is as difficult as this one to remove (and it really is), I was surprised to see how much it did transfer. Under the eyes, obviously. But notably, in the outer corner of my eyes, I had product build up. It actually doesn’t look as bad in the pictures than it does IRL. I didn’t have any flaking during this wear test, but I have had it with previous wears.
As for the lashes themselves, I did note the drooping throughout the day. This is a very dense formula, so I wasn’t that surprised. Ironically, the only reason I didn’t clock any of this at first was because I was wearing a full face of makeup. I had little to no transfer in those circumstances. But as soon as I was wearing it with a bare face/sunscreen only, there it was.
My final gripe is that yes, this is an extremely difficult mascara to remove. I was using an oil cleanser (the SKIN1004 Centella Oil (whichididnotbuybecauseofacertainfakehockeyplayer…)). And I was still working the excess off the next day during my morning cleanse.
All in all, this really had to blow me away to justify the high price tag. And sadly, the Lash Clash Mascara is too messy, too heavy, and too clumpy for me to recommend. So, this one is a pass. I do not recommend it. And now I need you all to sling me your luxury mascara recommendations. to see if there is one out there that is actually good. Have you tried the YSL Beauty Lash Clash Mascara? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers and love
Emily xo