As we head into spring (rain) and summer (swimming) a waterproof mascara that doesn't leave you looking like a sad clown is imperative. But which ones live up to their claims? Gill Higgins of Fair Go heads to Dunedin's Moana Pool and, with the help of a trio of synchronised swimmers, puts some affordable mascaras to the test.
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If you're a make-up fan who's prone to tears or loves a good pool party, then waterproof mascara is probably a very good friend. But at what cost? Products range in price from less then $10 to a whopping $100-plus. So we thought we'd pit a few against each other, to see whether you need to spend big to get good looks, great staying power and easy removal.
Rather than a scientific experiment, we went for user experience, asking three synchronised swimmers to dive in and dance their underwater routines with mascara-laden lashes.
We also spoke to a make-up expert, Stacey Fraser. She tests, designs and develops a range of beauty products. Mascara isn't her particular field of expertise, but she feels she understands the ingredients enough to answer our question on whether all waterproof mascaras are equal. "I'm probably going to get into trouble for this, but it's a yes, well, yes and no."
She says it all boils down to the presence of some key ingredients: a 'polymer', which ensures the mascara sticks, a 'wax' to make it waterproof (and this could be anything from beeswax to paraffin wax to candelilla type waxes), and then "there's one other secret ingredient", a stabiliser or surfactant. She says it's this last ingredient that allows you to wash off the mascara at the end of the day.
Given the cost of living, we kept our mascara purchases in the lower range: starting with Kmart's High Altitude for $9, we doubled that to $16 for Maybelline's Great Lash bought from Woolworths, and topped our purchases off by doubling on price again to Milani's The Waterproof One from Farmers for $35.
Off to the pool
Off we went with mascaras in hand to Moana Pool in Dunedin, where we were greeted by the fluttering eyelashes of three up and coming stars of the Aquagold Artistic Swimming Club: coach and swimmer Onevai Pita, and her students Sasha Luke-Tychinskaya and Emma Horan.
Onevai is in the pool six times a week and says waterproof mascara is a go-to for her, so we gave her the role of judging the experience. To avoid any bias, we'd covered the mascara containers with black tape so the girls didn't know which product was which.
Once the mascara was applied, Onevai awarded scores out of ten for looks. Maybelline won out, Kmart came second, Milani was found to look a little clumpy.
What about smudging?
Now for the swim sequence. WIth the music blaring, the girls dived in the pool and performed their routine three times over. This was to make sure the mascara got a good soaking and, have to say, it was fun to watch. In each case, the mascara stayed on well, but after the girls gave their eyes a rub, some differences were clear. Pita judged Kmart as the one with the greatest staying power, Milani was second, while Maybelline tended to smudge.
The final test was how easily the mascaras came off. Onevai used a cotton pad and some eye make up remover and did the honours for herself and for Sasha and Emma, to have a good comparison of how easily the mascara was removed. Maybelline came off most easily, then Kmart while Milani clearly wanted to stay put.
So overall, perhaps surprisingly, Kmart came out on top, only requiring a $9 spend. Maybelline ($16) was a close second, while Milani ($35) came in last. Milani probably gives more of a glamour look, and definitely stays put, but the downsides are it can be clumpy and it's harder to remove.
We did ask the manufacturers of the Milani and Maybelline products for comment, but didn't hear back. Stacey Fraser was keen to have her say though. She laughed when we told her the results "I knew it! Just goes to show price really doesn't matter".
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