A bad gal, an old story (and not-so-good mascara)

About twenty years ago my high school friend, N, had a makeup staple: blue mascara. That was the one item she wore every day to school and when going out. It was the eighties, most (if not all) drugstore mascaras were quite bad, so pretty much all of us sported clumpy eyelashes. But N's were cobalt blue.

It was our senior year when N started dating G, an old friend she knew for more than two years and whom we saw daily in class. One Friday night he was sitting in her bedroom as she was getting ready to go out. He watched her putting on her makeup and commented: "What do you need that goop for? I like your blue lashes the way they are". Confused, N turned to him: "What do you mean, my blue lashes? I use this stuff to make them blue!". The guy honestly thought that N's lashes were naturally blue. We laughed at this story for many years.

I remembered N, G and the blue mascara last week as I picked up a tube of Benefit's BADgal blue mascara. The violet blue promised to make my eyes look brighter, and I was curious to see how I looked with blue lashes.

How disappointing!
First, there's not enough pigment to actually show up on my lashes. The only way I could tell there was any color there was to only use it on half of the lashes. When looking very closely and comparing side by side, I could tell that my natural lash color is dark brown that appears warmer next to the painted ones that had a hint of bluish black. I'm glad not to have that eighties sapphire blue color, but in order to do any serious brightening you'd need more color.

The mascara itself is far from impressive. Being well-endowed in the lash department, my requirements are minimal: define and volumize just a little, add a tiny bit of length and hold a curl. I don't need any lash miracle and usually stay away from overachieving mascaras, since I don't favor the exaggerated lash look. However, BADgal Blue does even less than the basics. There's a slight lengthening effect, but no defining and volumizing to speak of. It doesn't curl (the brush is so big that it can't do any curling and it's hard to just coat the tips) and will only hold a curl if you use your curler after applying the mascara and letting it dry (at least it's quick to dry, since the formula is very thick).

I've never tried the black BADgal, so I can't compare the two. My guess is you're better off with whatever blue or navy mascara from good lines. There's a Diorshow in royal blue that looks promising, another Dior, Ultimeyes, also comes in a vibrant blue, Lancome's old workhorse, Definicils has a navy one, to name just a few.