Beauty Product of the Week: Glam'Eyes Mascara

What is it? Rimmel London's Glam'Eyes Mascara promises, "Seductive Volume. Turn heads. New VolumFlex Brush styles lashes for sensational volume and instant separation. Ultra supple elasto-bristles groom each lash, lacquering them from root to tip for a spectacular 7 x more lash intensity. Big Lash Seduction. High Definition. Maximum lash impact. Impeccable definition. Smoothing formula glides through lashes, wrapping each one for ultimate volume yet perfect separation. Lashes look dramatically amplified yet sleekly defined - even up close and personal." Available in drugstores for less than $7.50

What did you think? Full disclosure: I am not a Rimmel fan. I'm not sure what it is about the brand, but I am rarely excited by their products. Scratch that: I know exactly what turns me off about Rimmel--Kate Moss, their spokesmodel. More to the point: the way they style Kate Moss. I never think her makeup looks good in Rimmel ads. Her skin always looks bad--and badly covered--and her whole presentation is just off-putting. I feel the same way about Almay products...their spokesmodel has the squintest eyes and it looks like she's sucking on a lemon. And have you seen Drew Barrymore for Cover Girl? If they put more makeup on her, she'll look like a clown. Ok, so apparently I have a lot of issues with advertising. Let me get over all of that and move on to my review of the product at hand.

I love mascara. I love how, when done right, it creates a subtle difference to the eyes. It changes the shape of the eye and adds drama in a very understated way...again, when it's done RIGHT. Because of my love of mascara, I have tried a zillion different brands. This one, from Rimmel, is just average.

Here's what I like: the packaging. Rimmel's going for this whole boudoir-inspired theme and they have what is supposed to be faux fishnetting on the application side of the tube. This looks cute, but it also makes the applicator easy to hold thanks to the slight grooves.

Here's what I'm "meh" about: the brush. When you pull it out of the tube, it doesn't come out easily. That's fine--that means the chances of having too much product on the brush are going to be slim to none. But this brush is not full like some mascara brush heads. This one has different sized teeth that, at best, separate lashes and, at worst, make my lashes look too tarry.

Final verdict? There are better products on the market, and better products that don't cost quite as much. While the packaging is good, I find it difficult to get subtle, flawless application from this product. Despite the fact that the wand helps separate lashes, I still found myself having to use my lash comb...a lot...with this mascara. I also got a lot of those annoying mascara glob dots on my eyelids. I hate those things! Maybe I am not skilled enough at using a brush with different sized teeth? Somehow I think that's not the case. I tried it, it was average bordering on bad, and I'll happily go back to a different mascara when this tube is up.