On the Cheap: Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara

Mascaras are one of the few cosmetic items I really, really don't like to spend much money on. Because they need to be tossed every 3 months for sanitation reasons, it seems a huge waste to spend a lot of money on a mascara. As a matter of fact, with the exception of my Dior Iconic mascara (and that purchase hurt...a LOT), I have yet to find a department-store brand of mascara that is good enough to truly justify the expense.

That being said, it's quite a chore to find a really good drugstore mascara. Typically, they just don't perform well, either clumping or not giving enough volume/length/definition. However, I'd heard a lot about Maybelline's The Colossal Volume Express Mascara, so I decided to give it a shot.




The Colossal Volume Express Mascara makes some pretty lofty claims, the biggest of which is that it will give you 9X the volume of your normal, naked lashes. That's a lot of volume! Part of the way it accomplishes this is through it's HUGE brush:

As you can see, it's a gigantic fiber-based brush that is meant to heavily coat each lash with mascara...hence, creating the volume. I personally don't mind large brushes, but if you have a problem with their less-than-stellar maneuverability, you may want to pass on this one. I do like the fiber brushes better than the plastic ones, though, so I was happy with this particular brush. The mascara itself adds volume through its "volume boosting" formula with collagen. I've never seen any difference with collagen-containing products versus the non-collagen counterparts, but apparently it's supposed to work.

So, now for the big reveal showing how well this mega-volumizing mascara worked:

Just in case you can't see that oh-so-amazing volume for yourself, it's on my left eye in the picture. Yeah, it's THAT dramatic, that I feel I actually have to tell you which eye it's on.

Here's a shot of just my eye:

Now, don't get me wrong: there are plenty of things to like about this mascara. It gives a very lush, natural effect and doesn't clump AT ALL. It also didn't smudge or flake on me. The color is glossy, and it doesn't get really hard like some mascaras tend to do.

However, it doesn't give much volume, and the entire reason I bought it was to get a volumizing mascara. As a matter of fact, I like to layer different formulas of mascaras on top of one another to achieve a dramatic look, and I bought Lash Stiletto for length to go with the volume that was supposed to be provided by Colossal. Since I'm not getting any real volume from Colossal, I now have to try another combination.

Bottom Line: If you are looking for lush, NATURAL-looking lashes, this may just be the mascara for you. Don't expect a ton of volume, though--to me, this is more of a darkening and lengthening product. I just didn't get that thick, volumized look. It's easy to remove and stays on well throughout the day, and I felt overall it's a pretty decent mascara...just not what it says it is. For that, I have to give it a big, fat, volumized, "meh."