L’Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black Mascara VS. CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Mascara, Review

Let’s talk about my natural lashes:

Most people of Asian decent have naturally long, but straight lashes, which is the same case for me. Here, they are curled. If not curled, I’m not sure you would be able to tell I have lashes at all. I am completely void of makeup with the exception of brows (which are my “lazy girl” brows, more on that here).

As for the mascaras, I recently picked up two new mascaras, the L’Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black Mascara (here for $11, found at my local Target for $8) and the CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Waterproof Mascara (here for $8, found at my local Target for $7). Both have been renowned as “the best mascara out there” by some of my favorite beauty bloggers, so I figure, why not? I’ll try them both out.

Sorry for the water rings on the desk - ick. I decided to try Starbuck’s “Orange Valencia” because a bunch of the girls I work with drink it and tell me it’s amazing and good for you…. Lemme tell ya. Much like most of the things that are good for you, it doesn’t taste very good. Unless you’re keen on sour things, you can skip this one. It was very pretty looking, though! Anyway…..

When it comes to packaging, I definitely prefer the packaging for the Telescopic, because it’s much slimmer, and the wand is easier to hold. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the LashBlast, but it’s definitely chunky, tube-wise, and the wand is more difficult to hold. Nothing that’ll keep me from using it though, it’s just a little weird for storage purposes.

I chose the Telescopic Carbon Black versus the original Telescopic and the Shocking Extensions mascara because I had a lot of luck with the L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara (here for $7, if you want a review, let me know!), and Carli Bybel at the Beauty Bybel raves about it constantly, and her lashes always look AMAZING, with or without falsies. I hadn’t gotten the waterproof version of the Voluminous mascara, and it holds a curl very well, so I figured I didn’t need the waterproof version. The waterproof version wasn’t available at the Target I was at, and I’m lazy.

As for the wand, I am always a fan of the chunky natural bristled hairs, so this was a change for me. The wand is long and thin, with plastic bristles. There are four sets of bristles, each line spread relatively far apart. The wand bends, which I usually hate. I have to say, I do actually like the wand. You can get directly into your lashes without too much fallout on your lid.

As for the actual mascara, I…. can I say I hated it? I hated it. I definitely hated it. The formula for this mascara is a very wet one, and I’m not seeing a lot of length. I can see a bit more volume than what you can see in this picture, which is not surprising because of the “carbon black”. Because of the wet formula, my lashes wilted big time. They were pretty much straight by the time the mascara set, and the ends of my lashes already had clumps, despite the plastic bristles and despite only doing one coat. And it’s not even goopy! Carli must have really naturally curly lashes that look deceivingly straight on camera. The only pro I can think of is that there was no fallout on my lid. I’m a bit of a n00b with application, so I’m shocked there was little to nothing to wipe off. Maybe I’ll try the waterproof original formula and see if it’s any better, or try leaving it out to dry a bit, like I’ve done to my Jordana Best Extreme Volumizing mascara (here for $3 - if you want a review, let me know!). I’m extremely disappointed in this one.

I chose the LashBlast Volume versus the original LashBlast because I am always looking for more volume. I went waterproof on this one because I’ve gotten non-waterproof mascaras or water-resistant mascaras by CoverGirl before, and I’ve been unhappy with them. This wasn’t a direct recommendation, but Karima McKimmie from Shameless Fripperies recommeded the Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara (here for $12, not available in the US) in one of her tutorials. As far as I’ve seen and read about, Max Factor is supposed to be the sister company to CoverGirl, with a plethora of similar products, this being the LashBlast equivalent. The LashBlast looks like they took the False Lash Effect and made the tube orange and changed the print. So. Identical. Anyway, I have bought almost every item Karima has recommended from the drugstore (and one high-end product), and have been happy with ALL of them. She is, by far, my absolute FAVORITE beauty blogger, and I’m obsessed. I take her word for anything beauty related.

The wand is chunky like I like, but seems to have plastic bristles. The only other CoverGirl mascara I’ve liked so far has been their Clump Crusher (herefor $8), which, come to find, is part of the LashBlast line! I bought this on recommendation by Sharon Farrell of Sharon the Makeup Artist (who coincedentally also recommended the False Last Effect). The Clump Crusher is great, but I don’t use it often because the plastic bristles actually hurt my lid on application, which is a little weird, but it does. The bristles on the LashBlast are quite soft, though still separating!

I friggin LOVE this mascara. Lengthening, volumizing, and separating. Like, possibly my new favorite mascara. It even holds my curl! We might owe this to the waterproof-ness. The only con: fallout. It’s not the typical fallout, where the product is flakey and I have to swipe it off my cheek, but I tried my *best* to not touch my lid, and the product still transferred. A lot. Again, I’m such a n00b at applying makeup, so this is not a major drawback. I am perfectly fine using a business card behind the lashes on application, a la Michelle Phan. 

So as a quick comparison:

I hope you enjoyed this post! I’m going to review the Physician’s Formula Eye Booster Instant Lash Extension Kit (here for $15) next! If you’ve got any questions or want to request a review, please message me! I’d love some feedback as well.

Xoxo, Kassy