I normally do a fair amount of research before buying any new beauty product, but I went into this one pretty much blind. Superdrug were doing 3 for 2 on makeup (and still are, I believe!), and having ran out of my beloved Kiko mascara I was in desperate need of a replacement. I generally go for maximum volume mascaras, but this time I wanted something a little more daytime appropriate - a slightly more natural look. I also needed something budget friendly, we're talking under the £5 mark here. Barry M is a brand I've only really ever associated with nail varnish (for which they are ah-mazing), but when I noticed that one reviewer had called this a dupe for Benefit's Roller Lash I decided I had to give it a whirl. Coming in at just £4.99 it passed the price test, but how does it fare in terms of quality?
I actually love the packaging, it feels quite heavy for some reason which I like as it makes it feel sturdy and good quality, whilst the shiny purple tube is easy to find in your makeup bag. I also love the font they've used (nerd alert) and perhaps because the colours are quite dark, it also feels quite sophisticated which may not be the impression everyone gets given the tube is covered in little pictures of roller blades but hey, I like it. The wand is quite thin, and allows for a good level of precision in getting each and every lash coated and separated with no clumping at all. It's also easy to use, especially for those of us (read: totally not me) who tend to get more mascara on our eyelids than on the eyelashes themselves. Barry M claim that this will "capture, lift and roll lashes upwards and outwards for ultimate volume" - I'm not sure about ultimate volume, but it does a pretty good job! I personally find that this gives a nice amount of curl, volume and lift which lasts throughout the day, and is exactly the effect I had in mind for a work friendly, subtle yet still effective mascara. Your lashes, but better. My only criticism is that the wear time is good but not amazing. At the end of a day at work, the mascara is still working its magic but there's a little bit of transfer onto my eyelids, and when I went out after work last week I found that there was a slight panda eye effect going on. Not the end of the world, because it certainly doesn't claim to be super long wearing and rarely do I expect a non-waterproof mascara to last a busy day running around in a café followed by a few hours out and about, but worth a mention.
Overall this is a fab budget mascara, and I'm really happy I picked it up. I haven't tried Benefit's Roller Lash so can't comment on how it measures up as a dupe, but in it's own right it's a great product which I'm really enjoying using.
Labels: Barry M, makeup, mascara, review
