This may sound peculiar, but sometimes after a long day and night of teaching, I like to watch QVC to unwind, especially when beauty products are featured. I am mesmerized by the energy of the hosts, the strategy of the sales rhetoric, the repetitive motion of product application and those ever-captivating before and after images. It is mindless and predictable…no serious plot points to follow, no reality TV raunch with which to contend. I watch without the intention to purchase…I simply soak in the spectacle that is television shopping.
One evening I happened to capture famed makeup artist Mally Roncal on the channel. She was discussing the merits of her volumizing mascara, and while at first I immediately dismissed it as being a product that was not for me, the more I listened to her describe the ingredients and watched the application demonstration, the more I thought I might actually order it. She talked about how she used to take over 20 minutes to apply mascara because she had to use three or four different kinds to achieve the effect she desired. I can relate to this…I often find myself spending more time than I prefer layering a volumizing mascara (like Tarte’s Lights Camera Lashes) over a lengthening mascara (like Giorgio Armani’s Eyes to Kill Stretch), followed by a really dark coat (like Hourglass Film Noir Lash Laquer). Don’t get me wrong, these are marvelous mascaras in and of themselves but sometimes this process is laborious to achieve the look I seek. To be clear, I like my mascara to add volume and length, I don’t mind fiber particles because I think they actually help in these areas, the more black pigment the better and I am not shy when I apply…two or three or four coats, and I am good to go. Basically, like many women, I prefer the false lash effect without applying false lashes!
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| Mally Volumizing Mascara is super pigmented and features a full brush that is large enough to effectively distribute product but small enough to not make a mess! |
Mally’s Volumizing Mascara, retailing for a very reasonable $20, seemed to fit the bill. I did some online review mining and discovered that this mascara is very highly rated…I promptly took advantage of QVC’s two for $28 offer (with the intent to give one to my mom) and waited for their arrival.
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| My eye without mascara. |
How does it work, you may ask? Let the images above and below speak for themselves…I go from basic lashes to full and flirty in two coats. If I had time to add a third coat, the results would be even more pronounced. Three things the images do not reveal are that it is unscented, doesn’t irritate sensitive eyes (I wear contact lenses) and it lasts the whole day without smearing and smudging. This mascara is a fabulous option when I only have time to apply one mascara…I get thick, dark and lush lashes with minimal efforts. Thank you, Mally!
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| My eye with a mere two coats of Mally Volumizing Mascara. |
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