Back in the day when I had every single Canmake Eyeshadow Trio ever made in my collection, I used to hear raves of this item called the Lash Essence which was a base, primer, lash conditioner… what have you… from Canmake. But I’d never really heard of anyone raving over their mascara. Bit strange, I thought. Surely the mascara would be as good?
Recently, I had the chance to give the Canmake Gokubuto mascara a go. I do not know what Gokubuto means, but from the description and the images, I take it that this is a volume mascara, designed to give lashes volume and curl. Fascinating. Few Japanese mascara have disappointed me so it was interesting how this one would fare.
The Gokubuto mascara comes in a solid fat pink tube and only comes in one colour – Super Black. Nice. Despite the variety of colours available out there, I never stray from a black mascara.
Another reason I twigged that this might be a volumizing and curling mascara is the wand. These wavy wands usually make their appearance in a tube of volumizing and curling mascara. Tells you too how in tune I am to these things 😛
The formula is as promised. Does not smudge, is waterproof, easy to remove and applies quite easily. That wave bit has shorter bristles and coats lashes quite well.
I however did not like the formula. It make my lashes look fatter, yes. But for some reason, my poor weak lashes found this formula too heavy. So once I apply this on my nicely curled lashes, they immediately lose their curl and droop. I kid you not. The effect is immediate. It also does not look terribly special.
Canmake Gokubuto Mascara Left: Without Right: With
I do like how it defines each one of my lashes, and if I am super careful, and just very gently swipe on the mascara on my lashes, I get a nice effect and they do not droop as much. But if I get excited and just bam this on the lashes in any old manner, there goes all my effort to curl them. I even tried waving it about before applying to no avail.
Its lovely how it does not smudge and even if you get it on your skin, it removes very easily without smearing all over. Just a bit of a pity that my lashes can’t handle this formula.
In a nutshell
A nice dark black mascara formula that does make lashes look fuller and thicker. It washes out easily and does not smudge throughout the day. Unfortunately it weighs down my lashes and causes it to lose its curl
Pros: Nice dark black, Lashes look fuller with it on, Washes out easily, Does not smudge
Cons: Weighs down my lashes, Pricey for its category
One niggly problem. This mascara retails at 600 Yen in Japan. Or thereabouts. It retails at RM53.90 here. I can forgive most the problems I face with this if it was half the price. At this price however, I’m afraid I will have to tell you to look elsewhere.
I’m not sure if any of you have tried this one, but if you have, do share how you like it or if you have a tip to make it work for you?
Paris B
Canmake Gokubuto Volume and Curl mascara retails at RM53.90 at Sasa outlets
Hmmm, thanks for the post! I’m on a hunt for mascara as it is. Will be sure to skip this one. ^.^
Haha hope you find one 🙂
My favourite natural-looking, curl-holding and lenghtening mascara is Majolica Majorca Lash Gorgeous Wing (Neo). Their Lash Expander just clumps on me or looks too much like “mascara!111!”, but not this one. <3
Haha! wait till you hear my rant on that Majolica one 😛
I know most people find it boring, but rant about it? O.o
hehe yeah – a good ol’ rant! 😀 Wait for it
strangely I like this!! I find it hold the curl well but does not volumise much… I will layer Dior blackout over it if I want a more dramatic look. like that it rinses off easy unlike majolica! for reference my fav mascara is Dior iconic and blackout. saw a new Dior one coming out, can’t wait!
Yay! Glad someone out there likes this – do you already have naturally curly lashes? Does this one weigh your lashes down? I’m wondering if I got a dud or if I should give it a chance. 🙂 I don’t seem to have much of a mascara loyalty LOL!
I have relatively long lashes… but not too curly nor straight. ha I find this mascara creates natural wing lashes without clumps 🙂
Gosh maybe I’m doing something wrong 😛 Or maybe i just have weak lashes 😛
wanna try the new benefit one too!! 😀
oh me too! 😀 I want to try that – reviews sound awesome.
Oh Dear! An Asian Lash Fail!
Very unexpected right? 🙂
i never stray from Heroine Make or Majolica’s mascara, but this one… maybe try using a heated lash curler? might help, but if the formula sucks, nothing can help haha
I don’t think its the formula. Maybe its my lashes? Because when I apply a light coat, it sort of stays up. But not if I’m not careful and start to layer. I’m not sure if I’m alone in this though. And I can’t use Majolica anything >.<
I’m on a mission to find a mascara I love. I went from Revlon to Maybelline, L’oreal, Dior, Estee Lauder, you name it!! In the end, I find most of them are similar. Sigh… oh, until I found Flippy which helped make the mascara look profesionally applied.
Flippy’s my nickname for Sephora’s Lash Amplifier 😉
I’ve already found the ones I love 🙂 I just wish they weren’t so bloody expensive 😛
Anything that doesn’t hold the curl is no can do.
Have you tried to use a mascara base with it though? I like to use MM’s base. The previous one. Not the black fiber one.
Now that I can’t find non fiber ones, I am quite worried about life w/o a mascara base. ToT
Know what? I’ve never worn a mascara base. Ever. I always figure that if a mascara can’t hold it on its own, its not worth wearing LOL! Perhaps its because I’ve found some very good mascaras that hold up well without needing propping up 🙂 I can’t wear most things by Majolica Majorca near my eyes. I get an allergic reaction that makes my eyes tired.
using this mascara by itself weighs down my lashes too. i always use my maybelline mascara prior using this. somehow my lashes stay curled all day till i take it off and yes it does add volume.
Oh I’m glad I”m not alone! I will try putting another mascara as base first and see how it holds up 😀 Thanks for the tip!
Oh man, this mascara would do nothing for my short stubby Asian lashes 🙁
Haha well some other readers have commented that they get a good result so it would appear to be just me 😀
I have this one sitting BNIB in my drawers because I’m trying the Gokunobi mascara first. I don’t think I’ll like end up loving either of these mascaras but the brush wands are neat.
I’m going to give Gokunobi a run next but after what you said, perhaps I won’t be too excited :p
I have this exact same one too. However I think its only water resistant but not waterproof? I’m not too sure.
I really love the fact that it can be easily removed by a oil-free liquid makeup remover other than cleansing oil (my skin don’t like cleansing oil!). It does volumize pretty well, not too clumpy and doesn’t have the spider-legs look.
However, it doesn’t hold curl on my lashes too! Its so hard to find a mascara that hold curls and can be easily removed! 🙁
Janice, you could try the new Maybelline Falsies – it holds a curl for me and is relatively easy to remove 🙂
Paris, I need to tell you a secret about this mascara (which I just found out a few days ago!) After years of repurchasing and using this, I just found out that the inner (white) portion of the packaging is actually a lash guard!(The side of the box has Japanese instructions on this) You just rip it out and it is a white plastic shaped perfectly to cover your eyelid while using this mascara. My curl too never held up, until yesterday I tried using the lash guard, brushing the mascara as upwards and as close to my lid as possible (now with the lash guard protecting from smudges) AND my curl after that stayed on the whole day! Like OMG I always threw out the packaging! I’ve used this for nearly 5 years and just found out. It’s insane…