MUA Pro 'Extreme Volume' Mascara - dupe for Elizabeth Arden's Natural Volume Mascara?

Posted by on Friday, November 25, 2011

You know when a product gets so many things right, yet so many things wrong?

This is one of those products.

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Before I launch into my review, firstly I am very sorry about not blogging recently - between school and work and everything, I really haven't had enough time :( I want GCSEs back!

Right, so from a totally objective point of view, the design of this mascara makes it look more expensive than it is. The huge, chunky black tube brings back memories of Elizabeth Arden's Natural Volume Mascara, though it's less weighty than its high end counterpart. Again, the brush is similar - chunky, unwieldy, hard to use and really messy (for me at least). The formula is wet. Very wet. Those that are fans of multiple coats may like that - I, pioneer of the 'wave it in the general direction of your eyes and go' technique, am not. It ruins my eyeshadow and gets all underneath my bottom eyelashes, ironically, just like the far more expensive but equally annoying Natural Volume mascara.

Does it supply volume to my lashes? I find this hard to judge, as the mascara is so hard to use anywhere near the base of my lashes that it's impossible to judge simply from application to the middle and the tips. It doesn't have much of a lengthening effect, but does make them blacker and thicker. Not by an incredible amount, but you can tell the difference.

This would have ended up being a 'so so' review if not for a serious incident on Saturday. If you've been reading long enough to remember this, my chief complaint with the Elizabeth Arden mascara:

The final, unforgiveable act of this mascara is that it left me weeping and broken on the floor of my bedroom. No lies. I was applying it and somehow managed to get it in my eye (who knows how? I don't) and within seconds I was a sobbing, mascara covered mess. Oh God, the burn. THE BURN. It hurts so much. It was like napalm in the eye. NAPALM, I TELL THEE.
How history repeats itself.
On Saturday, I was happily lifeguarding, wearing a couple of coats of the MUA Pro 'Extreme Volume' mascara for the first time. Up on the flume towers, happily watching ten year olds scream like they were at Thorpe Park while riding the tamest water slide to ever exist...when suddenly, disaster struck. Some combination of the moist, chlorine tinged air and the heat must have led to some of the mascara entering my eye, and I felt the most hideous, burning pain one could imagine in beauty terms. Worse than having your favourite lipstick being ground into the carpet by an unruly three year old niece or nephew. Worse than your pressed powder breaking inside your bag and spreading all over your homework due in for next period. WORSE THAN NAPALM IN THE EYE

Weeping, sobbing and getting looks from concerned customers, I bravely tried to fight it out for all of three minutes before breaking down and waving blindly at a collegue to cover me for five minutes so I could hose the offending substance out of my eye. After that experience, no. Just no.

2 Comments

  1. Hi, was just looking on google for reviews for this, hence bringing me here. Lol this tickled me, I don't think i'l be buying it xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad it was helpful, Samantha Jayne :P It's one of those things where it had all the right ingredients...they just didn't work together. Oh well!

    ReplyDelete

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