I’ve mentioned this occasionally in my blog posts in the past 6 months or more, that I no longer wear mascara. The last post I wrote about a mascara was back in 2013. What this means is that I’ve not been wearing mascara for at least 6 months, if not 12!
I’ve had a few of you ask me why and I’ll tell you why here. It’s not scientific, nor a beauty rule. Perhaps a rule I’m breaking, but it’s just something I’ve decided to cut out of my routine.
My question for you though is what do YOU think? 😀
Now, why have I stopped wearing mascara?
A simple reason actually. I got pissed off.
I got tired of messing up my eye makeup with botched mascara attempts, because as many of us do, I curl and apply mascara after completing my eye makeup. So often I’ve had my eye makeup screwed up because of a poorly mascara-ed lash. Sure, I could take my own advice and apply mascara BEFORE I apply eye makeup but old habits die hard.
I got tired of curling and crimping my stick-straight, pointy-down lashes. I’d already found an eyelash curler to love that works for me (It’s affordable too but underrated and always out of stock!) so it wasn’t the search for a curler that got me down. I just got tired of the whole thing because my stubborn lashes just will not stay curled! After a few hours, they’ll straighten out again. Or I manage a curl and then a heavy mascara formula weighs down my lashes and all my effort is gone.
If you are the lucky ones who have naturally long and/or curly lashes, you don’t know how lucky you are to be able to just literally lash on mascara and go. I know, you don’t get the fuss either about why someone like me would be so upset about wearing mascara. But if you have short lashes, or stubborn straight lashes then you will know my agony and frustration.
So, one morning I decided that I’d just stop wearing mascara altogether. Yes, I’m aware I call myself a beauty blogger, but hey, I bend the beauty rules around the iron pole that’s me 😉
And in my book, my rule is that any ‘beauty rule’ that doesn’t work for me, I can ignore. So I did.
I’m aware, from my years of experimentation and struggle, that a well curled eyelash and lashings of mascara can make the eyes look brighter, bigger and more awake. I’ve had my good days when that happens, and I’ve had my bad days when all I get is straightened lashes with dark smudges from crappy mascara.
For me then, I’m saying no to using mascara. I’ve stopped and I don’t miss it one bit.
To define my eyes, I rely on eyeliner, and tightlining. My lashes are usually so short that it actually doesn’t make a lot of difference to my look whether I curl them or wear mascara or not.
I am also aware that I could just remedy this by going for lash extensions to lengthen my lashes and/or a lash perm to keep them curled. And then, I could wear mascara again.
But you know, it’s probably a year since I last touched a mascara wand (except for some quick experimentation a couple of months back) and I don’t miss it. Lash extensions and/or perm is an extra, unnecessary expense that I could do without. I enjoy not worrying about whether my mascara is smudging around my eyes, or to spend those extra few minutes getting my curl and masacara on in the mornings.
But as I said, this is me, and I break beauty rules all the time.
What I’d like to know is what do you think? Do you wear mascara all the time or have you thought about stopping too?
As they say, for some of us, the struggle is real when it comes to mascara. There are ways we can get around it, but it does involve expense and effort and for me, since I’m actually not that vain, and because I think eyeliner does a good enough job alongside some skillful (for me) eyeshadow application, I’m happy to go without. How about you? Tell me! Am I alone? 😀
Paris B
I can’t wear mascara because of my glasses. When mascara-ed, my lashes will literally brush the my lenses & leave streaks! So I make do with good eyelash curlers (I’ve an unassuming favourite too!). Like you, it’s been several years now & I too, don’t miss my mascaras 🙂
Haha I feel you Meiling! When I started experimenting with eye makeup, I wore glasses too and yes, I know what you mean about the streaks on the lenses! Glad to know I’m not alone in not wearing mascara 😉 What I did find though, is that when I wore glasses, I could get away with some really dramatic eye makeup which was fun! 🙂
I’m in love with eyeliners on my waterlines only and I am absolutely fine without mascaras on, hehe! My lashes are okay, they dont need eyelash curler prior to mascara and I myself could never practice curling it because I’m afraid that i might crimp my skin (it happened a lot) altogether. So, no mascara is totally fine, we’re in the same team 😀 i only ‘remember’ to wear mascara if i feel like going the extra mile with my makeup, only for special occasions.
Oh lucky you for having lovely lashes! 😀 But yay for being in the no-mascara team haha It looks like we aren’t alone! 😉
I am one of those that can’t live without my mascaras. I have mid length lashes but once I apply mascara, they elongate and I have gotten comments from friends that my lashes are really long lol…I should count my lucky stars as I didn’t know there are people who struggle with eyelash curlers etc. I recently discovered blue indigo mascara by Loreal and it has transformed my look…yup mascaras and eyeliners are the must-haves before I leave the house on most days!
Ah you’re a mascara company’s dream 😀 To be honest, I get some lengthening with mascara but then the trade off is always so poor that I thought, oh what the heck! I do my eyeliner (eyes really look naked without it right?) but my mascaras have all been consigned to the bin. Or at least to the drawers where they’ll never see the light of day again haha
I think I have the same problem. hashtag asianlashes. Whenever I wear mascaras, I walk out the door looking fab and 2minutes later look like a panda with it ending up smudging all over my lower lids and transferring to who knows where.
But my recent discovery: tubing mascaras. They are seriously amazing! I don’t know who came up with it but they deserve a nobel prize in the makeup category (if it exists lol).
These tubing mascaras, once set, do not budge (even if you have oily eyelids, which I do) and to remove it, you have to flannel it off at the end of the day.
Examples of tubing mascaras: dhc mascara or clinique’s lash power
With some mascara, I don’t get the smudging issue. And I have to admit that Japanese make really awesome mascara. They hold your curl and give you lovely thick, long lashes…. but they’re a bitch to remove! I ended up losing so many of my already sparse lashes, I had to give up. I was using a tubing mascara just before I gave up on using it altogether. I agree, it’s awesome. But removing it, although easy, did also mean I ended up removing my lashes some times and that bugged me 🙁
I only started wearing mascara(and eye brow pencil) a few months ago.
I never knew anyone noticed until a makeup artist pointed it out to me that my makeup looked “incomplete.”
Fyi I don’t know how to tight line as it makes my eyes water.
I’ve not bought any mascaras for the past year.
Most are samples and gifts.
But I have been enjoying using masacaras lately but not all the time though., just when I feel like it.
I too never follow makeup rules.
But your lashes are so long, mascara really does make a huge difference! 😀 I often wish mascara came in sample sizes all the time. After all, how often do we actually finish mascara anyway right? And they can be really expensive, especially the good ones.
I still am devoted to mascara because tightlining or any type of lining makes my eyes look smaller. Plus eyeshadow and liner still smudges on me anyway. Plus since my eyelid folds are not symmetrical, it takes longer for me to blend and apply eyeshadow properly.
I’ve had much less problems with smudging since switching to a film-forming mascara (I like Dejavu’s lengthening one). I do believe in heavy lower lashes to define the eyes more subtly than a liner can. If it does smudge, it can be easily cleaned up with a cotton bud since the residue forms little clumps rather than a smear.
Since I only have time in the mornings for brows and eyes, I still take the time to apply mascara instead of messing around with eyeshadows. 🙂 I also don’t curl my lashes anymore since the formula causes them to curl slightly anyway.
That is one peril of tightlining, I realise. I used to also line my bottom lashline, but that made my eyes look small and beady and mean LOL So I stopped and now I just shade in some colour on the outer lashline if I feel like it. Oh and I can’t even mascara my lower lashes, because I swear they’re non existent! LOL! They’re so sparse, it just looked so weird 🙁
can’t remember when was the last time i wore mascara, probably to the last wedding i attended? but i have given up on mascara too, since it’s almost as good as not wearing after wearing it >< why waste the time and risk the smudge?
Right? all that energy spent in frustration could be put to better use LOL 😀
I have given up on mascara mostly because I wear glasses all the time and even though applying mascara makes a visible difference to the appearance of my eyes, once the glasses are on the effect is significantly diminished *sigh*.
Otherwise I would use mascara more often! As I am a total fail with eyeliner I find mascara gives me that ‘oomph’ that I would otherwise lack. But then again, glasses ruin all efforts!
I know exactly how you feel Sam Bear! I used to wear glasses too (pre-Lasik) and while I appreciated that I could get away with some crazy eye makeup, the damned glasses do make things look less significant than they really are right? Maybe it’s time to practice with the eyeliner! 😉
At last, I found someone who shared my frustration! I always thought I was the weird one ie: spotted ‘incomplete’ look because I left out mascara. You echoed my sentiment completely. Even though I have long lashes but that fact does not make wearing mascara easier or maybe I am a total hopeless? Ha!
And I’m glad someone out there feels the same way I do! Apparently we aren’t alone, so let’s bask in our solidarity for no-mascara LOL! 😀 I don’t think you’re hopeless. It’s just a matter of getting down to it, but if you already have long lashes, maybe just curling them would be fine if you want to sport an open-eyed look? I don’t know. I wish I had long lashes HAHA! 😀
I don’t miss wearing mascara at all so I’m not in the least bit surprised by your declaration. I found that wearing mascara made my lashes fall out and left me with messy eyes by the end of the day. It was also a pain to remove.
My lashes are naturally dark and I pretty much managed to double their length by applying lash serum for 3 months. That stuff really works!
Oh yes,I hear ya on my lashes falling out! Ok, they weren’t all just falling out in clumps, but everytime I clean mascara from my lashes, one or two would fall out and that worried me! I’d tried a lash serum thingy a few years ago. I agree, they do work (some of them anyway) but after I stopped using them and the lashes were replaced, it was back to status quo 🙁
Oh my gosh! I stopped wearing it too! Not necessarily because I chose but because we moved and everything was all packed up. But now that I haven’t been wearing it, I love not having to deal with it, and it never looked A+ anyways because my eyelashes are uneven! So I don’t miss it one bit!
Haha what a great excuse to not wear mascara anymore 😀 I hear ya on not finding anything in a move. For some reason, items can just disappear right? I haven’t found some of my stuff from my move and I swear I packed them! >.<
I think your eyes are kinda deepset, so mascara is creating problems!
Personally I love mascara, but some times I do skip it if I know I’ll be home too tired to take it off.
Lash extensions are expensive & don’t last long, why would people waste money on that?
There’s nothing wrong in not following rules if following them ends up in a bad situation.
Psst! I don’t ‘get’ lash extensions either due to the temporary nature and have you see how awful they can look if not properly maintained?! But I guess it’s a personal thing for people like tattoos maybe? 😛 But I admire anyone who has beautifully mascaraed lashes. Always makes me feel a little inadequate Haha!
There’s no such thing as makeup rules. Who invented those rules anyway? I like wearing mascara for added definition. But sometimes, I do tightline and avoid mascara altogether. It really depends on what I feel like that day 🙂
I know right? Who’s to say that our look is unfinished – cosmetics companies I guess LOL! The more the sell, the merrier they’ll be! 😀
I cannot live without mascara and believe me, my lashes are straight and don’t curl easily. Add oily skin and you got a hot mess.
BUT I find Japanese drugstore mascaras a God-send. Waterproof, smudgeproof and holds the curl very well and wears like iron in humid Singapore. Currently I’m loving Fasio’s (that I get from Japan). Pain to remove but I’m willing to use mascara remover and micellar water for defined eyes (I’m a tightline girl, too).
You are absolutely spot on about Japanese mascara! I’ve found that among all the brands available, theirs is the best, from department store to drugstore. My favourite used to be Shiseido Perfect Refining mascara. Gave me definition and dark lashes. But man, was removal a bitch! LOL 😉
Ah! I’m inflicted with the curse of straight lashes too!
I hate using lash curlers because I always crimp my own lids so gave up on those ages ago. I also have a huge problem with smudging (mostly on the lower lid). But I am one of those who stand firm with using mascara because:
1. I FINALLY found one that doesn’t smudge (I truly love you Clinique Lash Power!)
2. I found a way to “curl” my lashes without eyelash curlers. After applying mascara, I wait some seconds for the mascara to dry a bit and then use my fingers to push my lashes upwards. Got the tip from a Dior MUA and found that it worked for me.
3. Tried relying on tight-lining alone but found that it made me look mean. I looked like I was jeling-ing people all the time! Damned my hooded eyelids. Wearing mascara works wonders to soften my I-wanna-kill-people stare.
I suppose it all about what works for the individual at the end of the day.
The pox be on the curse of straight lashes! >.< Glad you found one that works for you! I think I've tried Clinique's Lash Power (I can't for the life of me remember!) but my favourite ones used to be Japanese mascara. Their formula was amazing, and light enough to not weigh down my lashes at all. Oh and I remember the curling lashes trick too! But I tell you, I have lashes as stubborn as I am LOL! Just doesn't work 🙁 Sigh.... Oh well, at least that's one thing less I have to buy and yes, we're all individuals with individual needs 😀
Having double eyelids, I used to constantly check if my mascara is smudging already, but Clarins Double Fix turned out to be a life-saver for me. It’s a transparent top coat that makes any mascara 100% smudge-proof and waterproof. I can wear it 16 hours straight, have a nap, cry, swim, be in a storm and it literally does not budge. It is my go-to mascara solution for long days and going out.
And I’m 2nd on tubing mascara. It does deserve a Nobel prize indeed. It’s brilliant for everyday wear: serious lenght with resistance to most conditions. And it comes off with any face wash. My favourite is Shiseido Perfect Mascara Full Definition..
I’d heard about Double Fix before this and it’s great to know that it works so well for you 🙂 I’ve tried tubing mascara too and I agree. They stay put and don’t budge and make lashes look pretty awesome 😀 I too love Perfect Mascara – it was all I’d wear during my mascara wearing days, but gosh, it was pretty hard to remove wasn’t it?
I like wearing mascara as a simple eye makeup, without eyeliner. I dont coat my lower lash though. I’m currently using rmk’s eyelash curler, but I prefer shu uemura’s. My favourite mascara is from majolica majorca, Lash King.
The thing is, when I don’t wear eye makeup, I don’t wear anything! LOL So, yes, my eyes look small but oh well, that’s how they are 😉 I tried Lash King. That wand was HUGE wasn’t it?!
I’ve never really been a big fan of mascara for all the same reasons! I only started experimenting on it like 5 years ago and that too I was never regular at it. Couldn’t care less if anyone said my makeup was not complete really!
The thing is, I doubt anyone truly notices unless it’s a makeup artist (or at a beauty counter and they’re trying to sell that one more item you don’t need 😛 )
I actually stopped Mascara too! I really am lazy to touch the mascara wand in the morning.
But I found out that mascara wasn’t an essential part in my makeup routine
HAHA!
haha I agree! Nothing too essential about mascara, I’ve found too. Saves me valuable sleeping time too 😉
Well, my left eyelash curl very easily while my right eyelash doesn’t curl no matter what. So I’m always out of the house with one big eye and one small eye haha! Mascara is a must for me. I felt incomplete having heavily done up eye makeup without it 😀
Haha one big eye and one small eye 😀 Good job on being tenacious about it despite the imbalance! But you’re also right. Heavy eye makeup calls for mascara to finish the look. I suppose it just looks odd not to have “lashes” when you have such heavy makeup on LOL