Beauty Product of the Week: LashBlast

What is it? According to their website, Cover Girl's LashBlast mascara is being sold as such: "Get a blast of lush, volumized lashes! LashBlast's patented volume-boosting formula and patent-pending brush are designed to max-out each and every lash, leaving you with the ultimate big lash look." Available at drugstores for about $7, depending on in-store sales.

What did you think? For several reasons, I am not typically a big fan of Cover Girl products. However, I read that this particular product won a pretty prestigious makeup award and thought I'd give it a try.

Because I am not usually enamored with "easy, breezy, beautiful" Cover Girl, part of me wanted to hate this product. Yes, I admit it: I came to this beauty product test with a hint of prejudice. I was thinking of ways to slam this product and was being very picky in my mental critiques. For example, I was not fond of the packaging. Cover Girl is trying to highlight the mascara brush, so they have it packaged separately from the actual tube of mascara. This means Cover Girl is using excess packaging by adding a plastic cap to the tube that is thrown out immediately and replaced with the wand. In my mind, being a compassionate consumer, this was a major complaint.

When I used the mascara for the first time, I noticed a strong chemical smell. Fatal flaw number 2, I thought.

But then I actually applied the mascara. Though it didn't do anything radical to make me rethink what mascara can do for me, it was easy to apply, made my lashes look longer, and made them look thicker. In short: it did everything a mascara is supposed to do...and it cost about $7. Not bad.

Final verdict? I concede. I shouldn't be so quick to prejudge because this product is pretty decent. If you've read me, you know that I'm a Great Lash girl when it comes to cheap mascara. However, Cover Girl's LashBlast is just as good as Great Lash. Apart from the packaging issues and the initial "mascara-y" scent, I can confidently state that LashBlast is a perfectly decent utilitarian mascara that won't break the bank.