Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara Review

Clinique has introduced a Bottom Lash mascara - a tiny tube priced at $12 CDN and available wherever Clinique products are sold. I picked up a tube to try it.

My lower lashes are quite long and generous naturally. They're both a boon and a bother - when I want big doll's eyes or to play up a 60s effect, I use mascara on them but when I don't want them to be so obvious, well, there's not much I can do. I kind of always have Bambi eyes. Using a regular mascara wand on my lower lashes can be difficult. Clumps are difficult to avoid and the brushes are large so you get splotches of mascara on your skin. It's also tough to get to every little lash with a regular sized mascara wand.

Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara comes in two colours - black and brown (I always wear black) and the tube and wand are both TINY. See what I mean?

Top: Benefit Bad Gal Lash
Middle: Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Blackest Black
Bottom: Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara Wand close-up

Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara Wand photographed next to Maybelline's  Great Lash Mascara Wand

The tiny brush gets me a little excited, I must admit. I've found one tiny mascara wand before and I actually kept it after the mascara was finished. I use it every once and awhile. No matter how many bristles regular sized wands have, they're not going to get at every tiny lash without making a pretty major mess. 

Here I am wearing Bad Gal mascara on my top lashes and on my right eye, Clinque Bottom Lash Mascara. On my left eye, I'm wearing no mascara on my lower lashes. See the difference?

Left: With Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara.
Right: Without mascara.

The wand isn't the only thing about Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara that makes it ideal for getting at those tiny lower lashes. The mascara formula is designed to resist smudging (a problem with wearing regular mascara on your lower lashes) - sweat, tears and humidity do not affect it. 

Close-up of eye without mascara on the lower lashes.

Close-up of eye with Clinique Lower Lash Mascara

I like that this mascara adds a bit of definition to my lower lashes and is nicely lengthening. It's quite natural looking. 

I've worn it a number of times and it's very easy to apply and wear. I haven't experienced any smudging whatsoever. The only negative comment I have is that it's difficult to remove. Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara is waterproof in cold water but I'd say it was almost water resistant in warm water with cleanser. I wash my face as usual and there's always a few lashes with mascara clinging to them after I rinse. Apparently, the solution is to take a cotton pad soaked in warm water and hold it against the lashes for a few moments. This will help to loosen it so it'll wash right away.

If you have delicate, wispy lashes on your top lids, I don't see why this wouldn't be a perfectly good mascara for you to use. The formula works well and the brush gets to every little lash - it may take a little longer to apply but I'm guessing this would work well for someone who finds regular mascara too heavy or too messy.

Have you tried Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara? What do you think? Tell us!

C.

Splurge VS Steal: Skincare - Cleansers, Toners and Eye Makeup Removers

Welcome to a new column for Beauty2 - Splurge VS Steal! In this series, we will dish on our favourite products, both upscale and drugstore.  We hope that our suggestions will give you some options when considering your beauty budget. Steals are generally items that can be found in a drugstore (or kitchen!), while splurges are generally the stuff of department store counters or available online.  Whenever possible, we will give you the most accurate price for the item (in Canadian dollars).

To start off we will describe our skin types to give you a background as to the products we use.

Jill: Combination with an oily t-zone.  I rarely break out but the few pimples I get tend to be fairly  deep & painful.  I sometimes suffer from puffy eyes. I live in an extremely dry climate.

Catherine: Combination skin - normal on my cheeks, oily in my t-zone. My skin is rarely without pimples, but they tend to be small. When I don't exfoliate, my skin gets flaky. I live in Toronto, a city with a temperate, moderately humid climate.

This column is all about cleansing and getting that skin of ours (and yours) as smooth and fresh as possible. It's so very important to wash your face every night so it can do it's thing while you sleep and breathe and refresh. Read on for our picks!

Cleanser

J: SPLURGE - Clinique Liquid Facial Soap Mild ($20.00 CA)
    STEAL - Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser ($17.99 for 500 ml)

The Clinique cleanser is a great for those who like foaming cleansers but don't want to overstrip their skin.  I like them both but do find the Cetaphil the tiniest bit more drying.

 C: SPLURGE - Philosophy Purity Made Simple (24 fl.oz., $52/16 fl.oz., $42/8 fl.oz., $26)

Purity Made Simple is a multi-purpose product, acting as a cleanser, make-up remover and toner in one. For removing make-up, which I do nearly everyday, this is a fantastic cleanser. For the few days where I'm not wearing make-up or for first thing in the morning, it can be a little drying.

STEAL - Kibio Fresh Pureness Foam(125 mL, approx $12)
Kibio has a fresh, clean scent and I like that I can get it at Shoppers Drug Mart. It's also very effective at removing make-up and doesn't dry out my skin. It's also gentle enough to use in the morning.

Toner

J: STEAL - I don't use any!

C: STEAL - I don't use any either, although I will occasionally on summer mornings. In my opinion, toner is an unnecessary product. It does give your skin a fresh, clean feeling so if you like that, go ahead and keep using it. It certainly won't hurt your skin.

Eye Makeup Remover

J: SPLURGE - Lancome Bi-Facial ($34.00 CA for 125 ml)
It has a cult following because it works!  Despite the fact it has an oil component in it, it isn't oily at all.  It is the only remover I know to effectively remove the waterproof mascara I wear everyday.

C: STEAL - I simply wash off my eye make-up with my facial cleanser.
I don't use a separate eye make-up remover because I simply wash my whole face with a facial cleanser (Purity Made Simple works especially well for this). I am extremely cautious about my eye area as I have loose skin there naturally and I know genetically, that's where my face will age the swiftest. I find that using water and a sudsy or creamy cleanser reduces dramatically the tugging and wiping on the eye area and my make-up comes off cleanly! Even MAC's Fluidline and false eyelash glue. Of course, if I wore waterproof mascara, it may be a different story.

For Part Two and Part Three of our Skincare Splurges and Steals featuring our picks for masks, day moisturizer, night moisturizer, eye cream, exfoliators and pimple treatments click here and here.

And as always, let us know what you think, if you have any questions and what your splurge and steal picks are. The two of us have very similar skin types so we want to know what you dry-skinned, sensitive-skinned and problem-skinned folk like and love!

C & J