You got lengthening. Plumping. Waterproof. Curling. Colored. Natural. Stains. Etc. But what a lot of people also have is clumping, smudging, running, or flaking mascara. Behold the most recently sensationalized "advancement" to mascaras: tubing formulas.
For me...I have Asian eyes (which means my lashes often touch my lids as well as short and thin lashes), oily skin (which means even waterproof formulas transfer to my lower lash line) and wear contacts. I am pretty much one of hardest to please people when it comes to mascaras...until I discovered tubing formula mascaras.
So what are tubing mascaras you ask? First of all while they are not "waterproof", they are extremely smudge/transfer resistant. One of the biggest misconceptions about "waterproof" mascaras is that they are somehow also smudge or transfer resistant. This is not true (as many "smudge" sufferers probably already know) because smudging and transfer is usually the result of OIL not water. Tubing formulas are both water resistant and resist smudging and transfer due to oil. The other thing that is different about tubing mascaras is that instead of the traditional dissolving removal process, you use warm water and light pressure to essentially "peel" off the mascara. I equate it to using regular nail polish and having to dissolve it off versus the "peel" off nail polishes of the 80s.
One of the first tubing formulas to enter the market was Blinc Kiss Me ($24) mascara. Rated and mentioned in many wedding magazines and wedding make up related articles...it's claim to fame is staying in place even through those happy wedding tears. My personal experience is that if you want relatively natural and well separated lashes...this product is the way to go.
The "best selling mascara in Japan" is Imju Fiberwig ($24). This lengthening formula is recommended by Rachael Ray as well as by yours truly. While the formula is relatively thin, it can also be layered on to a point of looking like false lashes. I have applied a couple layers on my day old mascara-d lashes to find that it builds up quite nicely and doesn't create a "spidery" effect.
My current in use mascara is Clinique's High Impact Curling mascara. Like I mentioned...I have short, straight and sparse lashes. This mascara (at $14 price point) manages to give me the volume that many other tubing mascaras have not, curl without the use of my trusty Shu Uemura eye lash curler as well as ease of removal with warm water and light pressure. Overall I'm pretty pleased with this mascara and need to go out and buy a new one soon. :-)
List of other tubing mascaras that I've tried:
Too Faced Lash Injection Pin Point ($19.50)
- Pros: Small brush gets really close to base of lashes, volumizing formula
- Cons: Somewhat flaking formula, harder to remove with just water and light pressure
- Pros: Similar brush to Dior Show
- Cons: Similar brush to Dior Show, strong "bubbles" scent, all same as above Pin Point
- Pros: Lengthening formula, easy to remove with water and light pressure
- Cons: 2 mascaras to get end effect, not particularly volumizing
