Maybelline Colossal Big Shot Volum'Express Mascara

Hi! A few weeks ago, I got selected for a product trial of the Maybelline Colossal Big Shot Volum'Express mascara. That was a mouthful, lol. At first I thought it was PINCHme, a site I've been subscribed to for a couple of years, but after reviewing my account, realized it couldn't have been them. I don't recall Influenster sending it either, though. That's not a good look. lol I'm sorry. Let's get to what I do know--my thoughts on this product.  

What is it? Maybelline Colossal Big Shot Volum'Express Mascara

Where is it sold? It was in pre-release at the time I received it, so a price was not available

What are the benefits? The Big Shot mascara is said to provide fully loaded volume to the lashes, from root to tip, with just one coat

Maybelline makes the majority of my favorite mascaras and I was in need of a new one, so when I was selected to try out the product I was all for it. Here's what the product and a close-up of the wand look like:

The wand is rather simple, but I've noticed that the product does tend to clump at the tip (There was no way for me to say that sentence cleanly. I'm sorry I'm so immature lol). The photo below is a before and after shot of my lashes from above and in profile so you can see the difference that the mascara makes. There are no filters at all on any of the photos; I'm wearing concealer in both shots and a light shadow in the second. Anyway, here are some uncomfortably close shots of my eyeball.

The mascara looks like it has much more impact from the profile, as my lashes do look much more volumized. I will say that it looks more intense on camera than it does in person. I had to crop the second after shot but even though I'd just applied the mascara, it was already flaking. You can actually see a bit of it underneath my bottom lashes, and you can see the transferring on my top eyelid. I hadn't had the mascara on for longer than 5 minutes when I took this picture and there was already flaking, so be warned. It wasn't all bad though. Let's talk about what I liked.

What I liked: 

--The darkness and intensity of the color

--Provides the lashes with volume

--Easy to remove

One of my favorite things about Maybelline mascaras is that when they say a mascara is black, they mean it. The black is very dark and intense, and this doesn't diminish as you make your way through the product. It may not be as wet of a formula halfway through as it was when you first opened it, but it's no less dark. 

After applying, does the mascara actually give the lashes any volume? Yes. I have noticed that the impact of the volumizer depends on how you apply your mascara and by that I mean whether you apply the mascara from underneath or over the tops of your lashes. I think you can get the most impact by doing it both ways, because the volumizing/curl benefit can shorten the lashes quite a bit. This would be a good mascara to use if you wear fake lashes; its dark enough and provides enough volume to blend your lashes together with the falsies. 

Because I use so much mascara--and I say this in every mascara review lol--it is important to me that not only should the product last all day, it shouldn't be like removing super glue to get it off at the end of the day. Thankfully, this product is fairly easy to remove if you have good removal wipes or oil. It tends to clump when the product is breaking up on the lashes, so I'd hold the wipe or oil-soaked cotton to the lashes for a few seconds before starting to massage it off. 

What I didn't like: 

--Tends to smudge and flake a lot

--Not a lengthener so it can make naturally curled lashes look shorter

--Prone to clumping  

Holy smudgefest this mascara can be messy. If you have long lashes expect a little transfer on your eyelid or underneath the brow if you open your eye all the way. I noticed a ton of smudging on the lower lashline though, and I can't figure out if its a wand thing or a product thing. It smudges every time I use it and it drives me nuts. The flaking is another issue; sometimes it flakes almost immediately, like in my After shots up above, but usually I notice that after a couple of hours, even if I'm not sweating, my undereye area is usually a gray, flaky mess. I noticed that when I use another mascara on top, it kinda helps lock in the Big Shot but there's still a bit of flaking later. I also noticed that when I applied it only on the top lashes, there was still some product transfer and smudging to my undereye area a couple of hours later. Keep a Q-Tip handy while you're applying it and some concealer in your purse for repair work throughout the day.

Because the primary benefit of this mascara is the volumizing quality, I wasn't expecting it to lengthen the lashes but because mine already have a natural curl, this almost made my lashes look shorter, like they were curling into themselves. For those with straight lashes, though, this would be a good pick. For those with short lashes (and yours are either naturally curled or you curl them later) though, I'd use this in combination with another mascara because the volumizer shrinks the lashes a bit.

 Something I've noticed at all stages with this mascara is that it clumps. It clumps during application so I'd advise trying to get any excess product off of your wand (especially at the tip when you apply to your bottom lashes) before applying it and brushing your lashes evenly. I like spidery lashes and I know this is a total oxymoron but I don't like clumpy spidery lashes. When I layer this mascara with others, I've noticed the clumping isn't quite so bad and it helps me brush out any existing clumps. I notice the product starting to do this throughout the day as well; when the mascara starts to flake it comes from the tops of my lashes, so there'll be clumps at the roots of the lashes, but the tips will be entirely bare. It's the same story when I'm trying to remove it--it'll bunch up at the root of the lash, but the tips of my lashes are nearly bare. 

Overall, I like the Big Shot mascara but I'm not super impressed. The formulation of both the Colossal Cat Eyes and Falsies Flared mascaras, my two favorites from this brand, are both better in my opinion than the Big Shot. Technically speaking, the product does work. The black is dark and intense, it does volumize the lashes, and doesn't tug them out when you remove the product. I've noticed that when I wear a lot of coats, this wears much better, flakes a lot less, and looks more intense.

The problem is, the product begins to remove itself, usually before you're ready for it to do so. Nobody wants to deal with a flaky, smudging mascara all day every time they use it. I still recommend the Big Shot, but I'd also recommend using this in combination with lengthening mascaras or even with the two that I mentioned above. If you're into spidery or intense mascara, this one would be good, if you're willing to work a little to counter the cons. If you prefer light-maintenance makeup that you don't need to repeatedly touch up on, then the Big Shot may not be for you.