Review: Maybelline Total Temptation Washable Mascara

Today’s post is a review on the Maybelline Total Temptation Washable mascara. I first heard about this mascara on Nicole of PrettyRuffLife’s blog, who said she really enjoyed using this mascara. A few months ago, I saw this on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart, so I purchased it as a backup for when I ran out of the current tube I was using. I finally broke it out at the beginning of April, and after using it for a month and a half, I feel like I have a good enough idea of this mascara to make a verdict.

THE BASICS

I bought this mascara on sale for $8.99, and it can be found at retailers that sell drugstore brands. It is made in the USA.

For reference, I have sparse lashes that are naturally straight and are somewhat weak. They’re not particularly short, but I wouldn’t consider them long either. My ideal mascara is something that provides both lengthening and volume, holds a curl all day, and doesn’t clump my lashes together or make them look spidery.

THE CLAIMS

According to the brand, the Total Temptation mascara is Maybelline’s most buildable mascara, with a “fluffy brush that glides through lashes” to create full, soft, and fluffy lashes. The mascara is supposed to “build defined eyelash volume to create irresistibly soft, separated, and full lashes coat after one coat”. Most mascaras these days feature special ingredients, usually for moisturizing purposes. For the Total Temptation mascara, this special ingredient is coconut extract, which is supposed to give it a creamy, whipped formula.

THE PACKAGING

The packaging is pretty standard as far as most mascaras go.  The tube is a rubberized peach-and-black design – very on-trend, I think!

The wand is a pretty traditional bristle wand that has no special curves or spikes – I see it as a very ordinary and traditional wand. I’ve discovered in the last year or so that I really do enjoy a traditional wand, but of course this is a personal preference that you may not feel the same about.

THE FORMULA

For the first week after opening this mascara, I felt a little underwhelmed by its performance; it just didn’t seem to do much at all. Like most mascaras, it seemed to dry out a little bit after that, at which point I started to enjoy it. On the scale of wet to dry mascara formulas I’ve tried, I would say this leans towards on the drier side, but it’s nowhere near as dry as some formulas like the Too Faced Better Than Sex or the L’Oreal Lash Paradise. I feel like this might be a happy medium between people who prefer wet mascaras and those who like dry.

The Total Temptation mascara gives my lashes decent length, but I think where it excels is the volume and the hold it provides.

I usually don’t layer my mascara, because the weight of more than one coat of mascara tends to make my lashes wilt. However, I like the way the Total Temptation looks on me the most when applied with two coat. One coat gives my lashes a very natural look; two makes my lashes look separated and defined, while still managing to stay curled all day. I wonder if this has anything to do with the coconut extract giving this mascara a whipped texture – the formula doesn’t really apply or feel different from other mascaras, but maybe the whipped texture makes it lighter? This is all just a guess! Either way, I really like this with two coats, but three coats looks crazy clumpy, and at this point all the layers are too heavy for my poor, weak lashes. From left to right, this is what the mascara looks like with one coat, two coats, and three coats.

I do think the “washable” claim is very suitable – it removes very easily with an oil-based makeup remover. Even when I applied three coats of mascara, I didn’t feel like I had to tug at my eye area to get the mascara off. Although it is easy to remove, I didn’t have any issues with smudging or flaking off during the day at all.

THE SUMMARY

Pros:
-Affordable price
-Does not smudge or flake
-Not clumpy
-Easy to remove

Cons:
-Difficult to layer more than two coats

Overall, I have really enjoyed using this mascara and I would definitely repurchase it eventually.