Review: em Michelle Phan Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

03 December, 2013

Review: em Michelle Phan Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara

Bought It

Today's review may be of interest to those of you who have eyelashes you wish to accentuate! I received em Cosmetics' Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara in my last Ipsy bag, and since em is a relatively new brand I thought it might be helpful to do a review.


em Michelle Phan Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara


Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara is available in black and brown and currently retails at $20 for 7 ml/0.236 oz of product.


Ingredients as per the em website:
AQUA / WATER / EAU, PARAFFIN, POTASSIUM CETYL PHOSPHATE, CERA ALBA / BEESWAX / CIRE DABEILLE, COPERNICIA CERIFERA CERA / CARNAUBA WAX / CIRE DE CARNAUBA, ACACIA SENEGAL / ACACIA SENEGAL GUM, CETYL ALCOHOL, GLYCERIN, HYDROXYETHYLCELLULOSE, PHENOXYETHANOL, PEG/PPG-17/18 DIMETHICONE, STEARETH-20, PHENYL ETHYL ALCOHOL, SODIUM POLYMETHACRYLATE, HYDROGENATED JOJOBA OIL, HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, DISODIUM EDTA, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, PANTHENOL
[+/- MAY CONTAIN / PEUT CONTENIR, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / IRON OXIDES, CI 77891 / TITANIUM DIOXIDE, MICA, CI 75470 / CARMINE, CI 77007 / ULTRAMARINES, CI 77288 / CHROMIUM OXIDE GREENS, CI 77289 / CHROMIUM HYDROXIDE GREEN, CI 77742 / MANGANESE VIOLET, CI 77510 / FERRIC FERROCYANIDE]



It's supposed to provide:

  • instant volume, curl and length
  • uniquely designed spoon brush "cups" and quickly builds lashes with rich color and volume


Description on the package:


em Michelle Phan Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara


Personally I find sweet-talking of this type to be a bit of a turn-off, but if the product is good it doesn't matter too much. It might discourage me from impulse buying it at a physical shop though. Anyway, let's take a closer look at that spoon brush:


em Michelle Phan Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara


As you can see, there are lots of little bristles in there. In theory I like the design of the brush, but it comes out of the tube a bit goopier than I would like. It's not awful though.


Left: Bare lashes - Right: With a coat of em Dramatic Volume Mascara


I found the formula of this mascara to be a touch clumpy, but still usable. It did give my lashes a bit of length and volume, so in that sense it performs as advertised.

As for longevity... I've worn this all day a few times, and there is a bit of flaking after a few hours. It's not the worst offender I've ever tried in that department, but I'm not especially impressed either. em also makes a waterproof version of this mascara - I haven't tried it so I wonder if it performs any better.

One other thing to keep in mind: This mascara smells TERRIBLE. Like heating oil. Obviously you don't wear mascara near your nose (well, I don't) and the smell doesn't linger long once it has been applied, but I could see that being a problem for people who are ultra-sensitive to smells.


Bottom line: Overall, I think em Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara is just alright. It isn't the best mascara I've ever used, but it isn't the worst either. Personally I wouldn't purchase this product at full price because there are a number of ~$10 drugstore mascaras that perform as well or better. I would be cautious about trying this product if you're sensitive to strong smells.

Where to buy: You can find the full range of em mascaras here.


Have you tried anything by em Cosmetics? What is your favorite mascara?

12 comments:

  1. This is the second review I have seen on this mascara and I just don't think I'm going to like it. I think I might regift it rather than review it myself ha ha.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I mean it's not HORRIBLE, but if you know somebody who doesn't already have tons of mascara that may not be a bad idea... really, it's a perfectly average mascara other than the smell. The smell = bleeeuuuuugh to me.

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  2. Nothing I've seen from Em Cosmetics has impressed me so far. This seems the same.

    http://mattekat.blogspot.ca/

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    1. I would still sort of like to try their lipsticks, but the reviews I've seen of their eye stuff haven't been overwhelmingly positive.

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  3. I think I already know what smell you're talking about >...> some of my Lancome mascaras smelled weird and they seemed to be clumpy-ish and also left flakes. That's kinda disappointing coming from Michelle Phan but I'm glad I read this review before trying it out. And btw I agree about the packaging haha, it's cheesy!!! :P

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I think that type of copy is meant to appeal to a "youthful" audience, but I think em might be too expensive for a lot of younger women? I don't know.

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  4. I still don't get why Michelle prices her cosmetics the way she does... $20?? Heck no

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    Replies
    1. I agree. When I think of Michelle Phan I think youthful, so I would expect something closer to drugstore prices.

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  5. As predicted. Lol. If they want to success, I think they'll have to make the prices a lot closer to the Black Friday sales prices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe they'll become one of those companies that constantly has 50% sales online, like ELF...

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  6. Interesting review had wondered what her products where like as we don't get them in the uk! looks like I am not missing much.

    mybeautysleuth x

    www.mybeautysleuth.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I couldn't speak about the other items in the em line, but no, I don't think you're missing much by not having access to this mascara. :P

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