The Volume Mascara from Kevyn Aucoin has been picking up speed recently in the tubing mascara category. The brand, founded by a makeup artist (always a point of interest), includes three mascara formulas, two of which are tubing. The Volume Mascara claims to be both volumizing and lengthening, containing jojoba oil to ensure lashes stay defined yet soft for all day wear. Now that Sephora has stopped carrying my favorite Dior tubing mascara (Iconic Overcurl in the non-waterproof formula), I’ve been on the hunt for a replacement. Let’s see if The Volume Mascara can fill those designer shoes.
Price: $28
Find it HERE
Tested May 2020
If you’ve never tried a tubing mascara, what are you waiting for? They are the ultimate lazy girl eye makeup hack. As opposed to traditional mascaras which paint pigment onto the lashes, tubing mascaras envelope each lash in water-resistant polymers. These tubes swell when water is added, sliding right off with zero rubbing or tugging, which means you can ease these off in the shower or when you wash your face with no remover whatsoever. I’ve never had a tubing mascara flake off during the day, leave a greasy smear, or run when my sensitive eyes inevitably tear. So why doesn’t everyone use tubing mascara? They aren’t great for piling on the volume and these formulas are usually better for definition and length.
On to The Volume Mascara specifically. From the second I unboxed this I was impressed. The metal tube has a luxurious weight to it; to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever used mascara from a metal tube. Does this preserve it better? I may need to update you on that in a month. The black to burgundy gradient is sleek and the tube itself is narrow and nondescript. Unfortunately, because it is so slim, the tube doesn’t contain a ton of product- just 0.18 oz. After checking on a couple other tubing mascaras, however, The Volume’s seems to be in good company. Blinc, for example (arguably the original tubing mascara), clocks in at just 0.17 oz and is priced within a dollar of Kevyn Aucoin. Perhaps we just need less of a tubing mascara? Also something I’ll have to check back with you on.
I ordered this in Black, the only shade it comes in. All three of the Kevyn Aucoin mascara formulas only come in Black. Go big or go home I guess? I’m thinking of Liz and her gorgeous blonde locks…this limited shade range could be an issue for her. Despite being highly pigmented and very black, the slender wand makes this easy to apply sparingly. I didn’t know I needed this tiny wand until I tried it. Suddenly, lashes I never knew I had joined the party simply because I was able to get the inner and outer corners with ease. I also didn’t smear it even once, which in my haste, is usually a given. The smaller wand is definitely easy to wield.
I tried to really build up my lashes and the end result was sort of a my lashes but better look- lots of length and definition, but no chunks/lumps. Honestly this is usually my goal so I wasn’t disappointed. I have found when I really want big, bold lashes the best method is to apply a traditional mascara first followed by a tubing mascara. This approach serves to seal in the pigment of the first mascara resulting in fewer smears.
It’s worth mentioning that I forgot to curl my lashes before application and The Volume Mascara seemed to lift them all on its own. Remember when I said tubing mascara was a lazy girl hack? Not only does it come off like a dream, but if you accidentally smear it, the offensive marks can be flicked off fairly easily with a clean cotton swab or spoolie. And now apparently lash curling can also be skipped. I’m sold.
I wore this several days in a row during several different activities and it held up exactly as expected, then came off completely with very little effort. A personal pet peeve of mine is waterproof mascara that has not completely come off; I don’t want to layer a fresh coat today on yesterday’s mess. Similarly, if I didn’t buy a waterproof formula intending to put the work in to remove it, I don’t want to be surprised with a formula that takes elbow grease to wrestle off. Fortunately there was none of that with this mascara.
While I wouldn’t recommend this to someone with very fine lashes looking to significantly volumize them, I found that for me, The Volume Mascara checks all boxes. It lifts, lengthens, separates, and lasts without feeling heavy or stiff then rinses away as if it were never there. Wear this to sleep over at your new boyfriend’s house and you won’t wake up looking like a panda bear.
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