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You’ve Been Fooled By Mascara Companies

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at South Carolina chapter.

Mascara is an integral part of every girl’s make-up routine, seriously it can make or break your look. But how do you know what mascara to use? Is the brush or the formula more important? Are high end mascaras really worth the money? We did some research to solve these beauty questions for good!

1. Formula

As it turns out, “mascara formulas have changed very little in the past 50 years,” reports mascara expert, Cindy Lin. The formula is generally identical from mascara to mascara, which means yes, that five dollar tube from the drug store is filled with the same stuff as the 30 dollar tube from Sephora.

2. Brush

The brush is where all the magic happens. There are so many different options and each one offers a different power like lengthening, thickening, defining, curling, volumizing and so on… so how do you know which brush is for you? We looked to the advice at moreBEAUTY for recommendations.

For short lashes, you should look for a stubby wand with thick bristles.

If you’re looking for some length and definition, a wand that is long with evenly spaced bristles is a good bet.

If you’re eyelashes aren’t very full and you’re looking to thicken them up, your go-to is a larger brush that’s round with a lot of densely packed bristles.

 

If you’re looking for a curl, definitely use a curved brush.

Note: Bottom lashes are a whole different ball game.  You should be buying an entirely different mascara for your bottom lashes as they require a smaller brush, so try out Clinque’s. Being a girl is hard, I know.

So word has it that as long as you have the right brush, you’re good to go. So basically, you can keep your favorite mascara’s wand (like, Too Faced Better Than Sex) and use it in a cheaper drugstore tube and save some money, cha-ching!

Alex is a Public Relations major at the University of South Carolina. She is an avid napper, a lover of guacamole and an Office enthusiast.
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