I read about Maybelline's newest mascara and was intrigued. Maybelline Great Lash is such a legendary staple - it's the first mascara I recommend to someone looking for a new one, since it's so inexpensive and good quality. It's a great place to start when you're trying to find one that suits you. Make-up artists keep it in their kits since it's inexpensive and a good basic mascara.
With that being said, Maybelline has decided to jump on the jumbo brush bandwagon that is a theme in drugstores these days (see CoverGirl LashBlast, Rimmel, etc). They've come out with Great Lash BIG which appears to be the regular Great Lash formula, just with a new brush. This intrigued me because while I do like Great Lash as a mascara, I am not a fan of the brush AT ALL (more on this later).
Great Lash BIG claims that it's washable, has a bigger brush, and promises bigger lashes and buildable volume. I gotta say, I wouldn't buy a mascara that wasn't washable, create bigger lashes or provide buildable volume. Isn't that the point of mascara? The brush, however, is certainly bigger.
Photos of the regular Maybelline Great Lash brush and Great Lash BIG below:
Maybelline Great Lash brush
Maybelline Great Lash BIG brush
Not only is the Great Lash BIG brush bigger, it's bushier. Where the regular brush is the typical spiral bristle shape, the BIG brush is more like a hair brush with less wand visible.
One thing I do not like about the Great Lash BIG is that the brush is too big for the wand. A longer wand would be MUCH easier to use and the BIG brush also appears to be a touch longer than the regular brush. They basically plugged a bigger brush on the regular Great Lash wand and put it together with the same mascara (from what I can tell).
I almost always get blotches of mascara on my eyelids when I apply it. I tend to dislike big brushes for this reason as the more I work it onto my lashes, the more I get on my lids. I got quite a bit of mascara on my lids with Great Lash BIG. If it made my lashes spectacular, I wouldn't mind so much, but well....
As for the claims for bigger lashes, I wasn't bowled over at all. My lashes are certainly "bigger" than they are using the regular Great Lash but I like the biggest lashes I can get without applying fake ones! This is barely enough oomph for my regular day look. And I had to WORK to get them looking like this. They're basically a little longer and darker than my bare lashes (a photo of me without mascara can be found here.)
There are instructions for using this mascara on the back of the package. It tells you not to apply in coats, as most mascara application tips would suggest. It tells you in fact to not let it dry in between coats. I found this a little odd. What happens if you let the mascara dry and add more?
I have always disagreed with other best mascara picks and have come to the opinion that everyone had their own individual needs and wants. Everyone's lashes are different, so why would you opt to use something that works for someone else? Having said that, whenever I'm asked about mascara, I suggest Maybelline Great Lash as it's inexpensive and a decent mascara. If it works for you, great! If not, you have a better sense of what you don't like in a mascara, you're not too out-of-pocket and can try something higher-end/more expensive.
I was underwhelmed by Great Lash BIG, but my expectations for a mascara are high, perhaps higher than most. What do you think?