Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Flawless Definition Lengthen & Curl Mascara — A Lash Pick-Me-Up

Though many women covet the Kardashians’ exaggerated, burlesque-ready, mascara-drenched lashes, I’d argue that all the females in the publicity-hungry family (including mama Kris) should lay off the eye makeup. Lengthening, volumizing, and shaping lashes is one thing, but making them so pronounced that they resemble fuzzy tarantula legs, well, that’s something else altogether. One of the reasons I appreciate the new Bare Escentuals bareMiinerals Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthen Mascara ($18 at BareEscentuals.com), then, is how natural lashes look after you brush one or two coats onto your lashes.

The Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthen Mascara’s formula is packed with a blend of nourishing minerals, antioxidants (like panthenol), and plant extracts (among them moringa and yeast extracts) that hydrate, condition, and soften lashes, fortifying the delicate hairs along the eye area and making them more manageable so that you can better manipulate their shape. The mascara wand’s dual-length bristles, meanwhile, allow you to trace lashes’ natural form from root to tip, depositing color evenly throughout their length.

Will the mascara alone transform the shape of flattened or unruly lashes so that they resemble commas, curling up and backward with expert precision? Well, no. If your lashes curl naturally, the mascara will accentuate this effect but, otherwise, you’ll still need to grip the lashes with a handy eyelash curler tool. That being said, you can count on lashes being separated, lengthened, and darkened with rich, long-lasting color.

I personally loved this mascara since, after two light coats, my lashes looked longer and more pronounced and yet the effect was completely natural, so that it barely looked like I was wearing mascara. I also found that clumping wasn’t too much of a problem. Sure, as with any mascara, a heavy hand can lead to stiffened, glob-covered lash clusters but, if you use light and even strokes, you’ll likely be able to avoid clumping.

Most of all, you’ll benefit from a natural look that will make others wonder how you just woke up looking so fabulous. And, after all, isn’t that the effect we all hope to achieve?