I want a lot of things. I want my children and husband to go to Heaven.  I want to go to Heaven. I want my sisters to live next door to me.  I want World Peace.  And I want lovely long lashes. It has been a small goal of mine since last spring when I spent time admiring my youngest sisters.  They have beautiful long lashes. I know it may sound shallow, it is what it is.   I want lovely lashes. 

I have to admit that I love two things in life that cost money, and that I am a glutton for their advertising.  They are make-up and cleaning supplies. And when it comes to makeup I especially love mascara.  I think it is the one thing every woman needs. While everything eventually sags, mascara makes it all look better.

My love of make up goes back to High School when I was first able to wear it. I’m sure my friend Rosie remembers coming to my house one evening and I literally could not get my eyes open, because I had put SO much mascara on and my lashes were sticking together. So maybe this isn’t a new quest, just a renewed one.

And renewed it is… So, I asked Hannah, one of the owners of “WOWZA” lashes and she told me she loved a brand that was  relatively inexpensive and that starts with the initial “R.”  I bought it, wore it, and it didn’t make my eyes look lovely. In fact they looked mad and red. I think I may have been allergic to it. 

 I mentioned my quest to my close friend Renee. She likes make up too, and knows a thing or two about mascara. She also knows that I don’t have the money to spend on mascara.  She told me about the Maybelline with the pink bottom, green lid : Great Lash Mascara…and so I bought it and actually like the way it looks. My eyes don’t itch.  And I think my lashes look lovely.  Maybe I am born with it, or maybe it really is maybe it is Maybelline. (See I LOVE advertising, it’s my one issue with dvr)

And then Renee did something brilliant she bought me 8 kinds of mascara’s for my birthday.  All so I could find the one that I could love…and they were all inexpensive. In fact she got one at the dollar store, because she is just that thrifty.  So I am trying a new mascara every two days.  I thought I could write a little summary on each of them. Being that I am a tester of sorts, I want to find the mascara that says, “Wow.”

Another reason I am doing this is because I have a really hard time with tragedy. Haiti is suffering enormous devastation with the earthquake from last week.  It is a helpless feeling when all you can do is watch, pray, donate, and pray some more.  I am one of those people who has a hard time separating myself from others heartache.  They are estimating 200,000 people will have perished from this.  That isn’t even heartache, that goes beyond devastation.  So I find myself when I’m not praying trying to focus on something else, shallow as it may be. And I just think writing about mascara may be more enjoyable than mopping my floor. 

My “I’m not a critic but I love mascara” Study Rules

1. They have to be reasonably priced.( I can’t use one and love it and have to remortgage my house to wear it again)

2. I have to try them for two days at least, unless I’m allergic to them.

3. I have to not be afraid of hurting the other mascara’s feelings if I don’t like it. (This is harder than you think) And I will rate them honestly 1-10, 10 being freaking awesome and 1 being, “I’m really sorry, but this won’t work out.”

I’ve decided to blog about this in increments…to be fair to each mascara. So instead of going completely rogue, I tried something closer to the mascara that I really like.  It’s the next step for the Maybelline Mascara.

Experiment 1:  Maybelline Great lash BIG mascara

Packaged just like the other Maybelline I’ve tried, green top, pink bottom, the only initial difference is the word BIG.  The color is Brownish Black or Noir Brun, which is a safe first choice.  I used it for two days and really did notice that it made my lashes look thicker, not longer though.  But it did have a nice fullness about it.  And when I wiped my eyes, it didn’t smear all over my fingers.  The only down side I found, which can be a bit of a pain, is that if I hadn’t washed off the mascara and showered or if I slept in it, it smeared all over my face.  And as we all know the raccoon look is so circa 92.  And it was pretty hard to wash off. I will be the first to admit I’m not really that good at washing my face before bed, so I spent two days waking up looking like I belonged in a parade of zombies.   To be honest it’s not a good look…unless you’re a zombie.

So here’s the score: For Great Lash BIG Mascara.  Solid 7, really liked it, but because of my own slacker ways didn’t like the smear factor.  

So another day, another mascara. About to shower after running today.  Absolutely exhausted from 3.25 miles but so excited for Experiment Dos:  N.Y.C.  Curling Mascara. 

God, bring comfort to the people of Haiti.

God bless you. God bless Mascara.