First Impressions: Essence I Love Extreme Mascara

Hello lovelies!

One of the ladies I follow on Instagram had a post with her top 5 favorite drugstore mascaras. None of them were my usual suspects, so I thought I'd grab one and try it out. Essence is a European drugstore brand which can be found at Ulta, Walgreens, and a few other places. Their XXXL Shine lip glosses are some of my favorite on the market. I'm hoping to expand my love for Essence starting with the I Love Extreme Mascara. Oh, and did I mention Essence does not test on animals? Win!

The packaging is sleek and pretty with edgy baby pink lettering on a shiny black tube. The description says, "For all fans of the extreme this volume mascara will hit just the right spot! It contains ultra black pigments covering each lash color intensive and a large brush for stunning volume. This combination gives the perfect "i love-look"!" We shall see.

What makes this a volumizing mascara more so than the formula is the big fluffy brush for maximum coverage corner to corner. However, this brush is gigantic. It's like, bigger than my actual eye. I'm kind of afraid I'm going to poke myself. Not only is it large, it's also overly saturated with product. I can tell without cleaning this off it's going to turn into a clumpy mess.

I curled my lashes a couple times before putting on a thin coat of this mascara. Just one even swipe and the difference was considerably noticeable. This mascara is very dark black which helps in to create the illusion of volume on the ends my lashes where they are thinner. As I suspected, the mascara wand is difficult to work with. It's excessively large. You have to pay very close attention to where you're maneuvering it at all times or you'll wind up with mascara all over your nose and eyelid. Don't even attempt to use this on your lower lash line. I applied two more coats (as usual) and was very surprised with how much thicker and fuller my lashes looked. 

For a $4.99 mascara, this is good stuff. I don't think it's water proof but it does not smudge or budge without some makeup remover and a bit of elbow grease. It's a decent dupe for the Benefit Bad Gal. The wands and finished look are very similar. Give this a go and let me know what you think!