(This post is written for The Glosse Posse.)

Dear Beauty Bloggers and Readers,

I’ve found Mr Right Mascara. Meet L’Oréal’s Voluminous Butterfly waterproof mascara!

L’Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black

Last Thursday, I spent my free time wandering around the beauty section of London Drugs (a Western Canadian retail chain store). There were so many mascaras from each brand that I didn’t know where to begin. The only reason I still check out mascaras (because I already have a drawer full of them) is to see if there’s one that matches everything I’m looking for:

• smudge proof: with oily eyelids, smudge proof is a must. I had previously avoided wearing mascaras so as not to look like a racoon.
• waterproof: it’s rainy in my city and my eyes could tear up. All mascaras should be waterproof!
• lengthening: to make my lashes visible rather than hidden.
• volumising: I want my lashes to pop out, curl and all!
• no clumping: I want the mascara-d lashes to look as natural as possible.
• no flaking: don’t want to have black ‘glitter’ around my lids either!

The most important of all, of course, is smudge proof because I’d rather go mascara-free than end up with racoon eyes.

As always, I started to research the mascaras I was interested in just to see what other reviewers thought of it, especially the ones with similar issues that I have. I was happy to stumble upon imabeautygeek’s blog post, with photos and a review addressing my problems. Hers, in fact, was the only review I could trust enough to decide to buy the product. Since the mascara was not on sale (around C$11 or C$14 with taxes), I wanted to make sure I could earn points for the new mascara, so I was determined to buy it at Shoppers Drug Mart. I only realised how popular this mascara was when I found myself checking three Shoppers before I could find the waterproof VB mascara. Clearly, it must work wonders to sell out so quickly (it made its debut last October 2013).

As usual, I bought my mascara in Blackest Black. I’m not sure what the difference is between Blackest Black or Black, but I always pick the darkest, not that it would make a difference on my already black lashes (or so I believe). I was excited to test out the mascara the night of my purchase. Upon first application, I was impressed to see that even the inner lashes (closest to my nose) would hold a curl (without being curled). I then started to cleanse my face, avoiding my eyes, to see how waterproof the mascara was. When I looked at the mirror again, I was glad to see there wasn’t any flaking or smudging. I then tried to blink as hard as possible to see if the mascara would transfer to my lids. (It’s my 4th day of wearing this mascara, and so far, no smudging throughout the day, even when my lashes are oily.)

How well does the mascara hold the curl? Since my lashes are naturally straight, most of my favourite mascaras can hold somewhat of a curl (for the latter part of the day) only if I first curled  my lashes in the morning. If I don’t, it will fan straight out – thankfully, not downwards.

What I like about this mascara is that it reminds me a bit of Cover Girl’s Clump Crusher mascara but the ‘butterfly wings’ allow me to comb through the lashes more. It is currently my favourite mascara which I carry around with me in my purse. 😉

P.S. As much as I would like to say, ‘Now that I’ve found Mr. Right, I won’t date any other mascaras,’ I know that as soon as someone recommends something better, I’m going to be very tempted to try it out…

So I suppose the search for Mr. Right Mascara has not ended yet… In the meantime, I’m very happy with Mr. Right Now Mascara. 😉

P.P.S. I’m sorry I don’t have any photos to prove what I’m saying. If eyes are windows to people’s souls, I don’t feel comfortable enough to reveal my identity to the world yet. So you’ll have to google other bloggers’ before-after photos.