CoverGirl Flamed Out Mascara

Hello beauties! Today's review is on a CoverGirl mascara. This came out a while ago, so I thought I'd give you my thoughts as I've been using it for a few months.

This is CoverGirl's Flamed Out mascara in Blaze. (It also comes in Very Black, but I don't know the difference.)  It retails around $7.00, but as always, I used a coupon.

The packaging for this mascara is insanely cute, but super bulky. The plastic almost feels a little cheap. Like if I twist the top too hard it would crack. Alas, I'm a sucker for huge voluminous lashes so I bought it. 

As you can see, the wand itself is hourglass shaped with short, dense bristles. Definitely something I had never tried and it took me some time to get used to. The formula is more on the dry side, which is something I like in volume-building mascara, but right off the bat this just seemed a little too dry. 

Application of this mascara is nothing short of a magic act. It takes mad skill to not get this all over your eyelid. All. Over. It's not a pretty sight. I get what they're trying to do with the hourglass shape - build up and flare out the inner and outer corners of your lashes but girl, that just doesn't happen.

Let me show you:

The brush is so damn big it attacks your eyeball. And I don't have small eyes or exceptionally short lashes. Can you see the black all over my eyelid? I did this late at night and have no eyeshadow on so I couldn't mess that part up. I've tried this mascara every way possible. I've curled my lashes, left them straight, tried a coat of something else underneath, and even tried the business card trick.  Don't even bother telling me I'm bad at mascara application: I've been putting on mascara for the past 14 years. The brush is just too big.

But does it work? 

Yes. See for yourself.  Before and after, no makeup, lashes un-curled. 

 

I see volume, length, and a little flare. Gotta admit, it's not awful. But dang is it hard to apply. And the older the mascara is (no, not past 3 months) the drier it gets, making it that much harder to put on.

So would I buy it again?

No. It's not worth fighting with my mascara and using my nail or a Q-Tip to remove the smudges when I can get something comparable that doesn't make me look like I tried putting on mascara in the dark with a toothbrush.