Makeup Social Mystery Mascara - Review

At the beginning of February I, along with 450 other members, was sent a mystery mascara to review from the makeupsocial. The idea behind these reviews being that the mascara is trialled with unbiased views before it is revealed on the 2nd of March.

Lets be honest, who can resist trying something for free? Especially something beauty related. So, after seeing many others on makeup social receiving their mascara and hearing all about it I am excited to share with you my thoughts and opinions.

First Impressions;
I had mixed impressions when opening the envelope for the first time; excitement and disappointment. First, I was excited by the sleek black and silver packaging and the look of the wand. The mascara looked good, even without any branding and it looked like a very decently sized sample. Second, I was disappointed that the packaging gave away nothing brand wise - I was hoping that there would be something that would make me say "ah-ha" and know exactly who the creators were; although that would have ruined the idea of the review being unbiased. Regardless of my mixed emotions, like any product junkie, I immediately wiped off my current mascara and started to experiment.

The wand;
Like the majority of my favourite mascaras the wand on the mystery mascara consists of plastic bristles that gradually change in size along the brush head to emphasise curl. The bristles on the top are tiny and stiff, whereas the bristles along the underside are longer, curling your lashes upwards with every stroke. Because of the shape, the wand can be turned at different angles, giving more curl and length where needed most. I find the shape of the underside of the wand to work well for my fine lashes - separating them nicely and adding a good amount of length and curl, and the top side is perfect for defining those tiny bottom lashes.

The mystery mascara wand

The formula;
Like all of my favourite mascaras, the formula of the mystery mascara is very wet, but not too wet that it turns my eyes into a hot mess. I find that I only have to wipe minimal mascara off the end of the wand before application and find that it is difficult to smudge it onto my eyelids, even when I try. Although Tasmania is rarely hot I still find with some mascaras that they will settle under my eyes throughout the day or will smudge into my outer corner. This mascara however stays put all day with no smudging either under my eye or in the corners - perfect!

The application;
Of all the features of the mascara I would have to say the ease of application has stood out the most so far. For me, it is one of those "chuck on and go" mascaras that are perfect for every day wear. It applies clump free, dries quickly and means that I can skip curling my eyelashes in the morning (minimising my chances of tearing precious eyelashes out).

from left to right; before - one coat of mystery mascara - two coats of mystery mascara

Although the mascara is perfect for chucking on in the morning I have also found it to be buildable and so can be dramatised for nights out without going clumpy.

Brand Inkling;

Although the sleek black and sliver packaging gave nothing away brand-wise there were a few features of the mascara that gave me an inkling that the potential brand could be Benefit. Firstly, the brush wand and the formula reminded me a lot of Benefit's "They're real" mascara - one of my favourites ever, and secondly, under the jet black mascara the wand is baby pink - similar to what I have seen on reviews of the new Benefit Roller lash.

Overall I would definitely say this mascara rivals, if not outshines my holy grail mascara - dior iconic overcurl - and I would not hesitate to buy the product once it is released in store which is hopefully before this tube runs out!

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below and let me know if you have tried the mascara, or have an inkling of who it might be from!

El xo