Smashbox Mascara & Primer - Product Review!

Now this is going to take a bit of an effort, but remember when I purchased the bulk beauty find at Costco months ago? Well I horded both the Smashbox Layer Lash Primer and That's a Wrap Mascara until my current mascaras recently became doomed to meet the nearest land fill and finally got the chance to try them. Before this duo I was using L'Oreal Volume Shocking Step 1 Primer with many different mascaras from drugstore to prestige brands; L'Oreal Voluminous Original, Clinique High Impact, MAC Zoom Lash, and Imju Fiberwig. Of them all, I found that the drugstore brand gave the best results with multi-tasking for fuller, longer, and thicker lashes. I don't like the Volume Shocking Step 2 comb at all though and I haven't used that side since I purchased it. In my opinion, L'Oreal should manufacture the primer as a product all by itself, it works great! In order of desirable results the L'Oreal duo was the best, next it was L'Oreal with High Impact, then it was L'Oreal with Fiberwig, and last was L'Oreal with Zoom Lash. I am planning on a solo review of the Imju Fiberwig, so stay tuned for that!

Now, on to the real review...

 

Here is the lash primer. It's looks like the average primer appearance wise being that it is white in color but it's different from L'Oreal's in performance. The consistency is creamier and it feels like you're actually putting a conditioner or lotion onto your lashes so they remained soft and silky. The formula doesn't dry as brittle as L'Oreal's so that's where Layer Lash Primer wins. Also, if you've over-crimped your lashes and have that awkward straight edge, the Layer Lash Primer smoothes it out to a more natural curl.

Here is the wand of the mascara. As you can see it is spiraled into varying lengths. It's something I haven't come across before with mascara wands. Also, the formula is creamier and not as wet as most mascaras I've used. There is also a strong fragrance, nothing weird just regular mascara smell but really magnified. 

These are my naked lashes. I think I am somewhere in between thick and thin. I could do with more, but I am not completely disappointed with what I've got. ;p

This photo is after being curled with a She Uemura curler.

This is immediately after applying the Layer Lash Primer. Top only. As you can see, there is a bit of length and definition added to the very tips of my lashes, revealing that they're a tad longer than they look.

This is immediately after applying That's a Wrap Mascara. Top and bottom. As you can see, it definitely stretched out my lashes for some length and darkened them. I think I did about three coats here and that's when it started to clump. The thing that I don't like about the Smashbox duo is that while it did lengthen my lashes, it didn't keep a natural curl. L'Oreal did both, adding length as well as giving me more lush lashes. 

This last photo is just the mascara alone. As you can see, the mascara needed the primer. My lashes were lengthened but remained thin. Over all, I liked the results of the duo but in my opinion it didn't beat the L'Oreal duo. If you would like photos or additional reviews of any of the mascara/primer combos I mentioned above, please feel free to make requests! I also still have Lola and Too Faced Lash Injection Mascaras to try out, so check back for those reviews as well!