Generally speaking, drugstore makeup [2] is pretty great, but if there's one category that affordable beauty brands [3] excel in, it's mascara. I've found some of my favorite mascaras [4] in the aisles of CVS, Target, and Walgreens, and that's the case with the new Maybelline New York Green Edition Mega Mousse Mascara [5] ($9).
Maybelline is my go-to drugstore brand, and so many of its products are in my regular rotation. The mascaras have impressed me time and time again, so when I heard about its newest launch, I had a feeling it would be another match for me. This one is from its Green Edition collection, which is the brand's range of vegan cosmetics made with ingredients of a minimum of 70 percent natural origins. The Mega Mousse Mascara contains 99 percent natural ingredients and features a bio-based fiber brush and tube made from 95 percent recycled plastic. It's available in three shades: Blackest Black, Brownish Black, and Very Black.
Green Edition Mega Mousse Mascara's brush is interestingly shaped. It's fluffy, curved, and slightly cone-shaped with a larger base and a thinner tip, but the bristles are twisted. The formula claims to give you buildable volume without any clumps, which sounded like the perfect summer mascara to me.
To test out the Green Edition Mega Mousse Mascara, I first curled my eyelashes. I then began layering on the formula, coating my lashes from root to tip with the brush. It took me a few swipes to get used to the oddly shaped bristles, but then I found the shape to be useful in grabbing each individual lash. The extra-dark pigment made it easy to see just how much my lashes were being lifted and fanned out, but it still felt like I had nothing on. It took the word "lightweight" to a whole new level.
I ended up doing three coats of the mascara, dipping the brush back into the tube between each application, and saw a slight difference in my lashes with every swipe. Though the results were very natural-looking, it did take my straight, brown lashes and make them look much fuller and fluffier. There were also zero clumps to be found, even after multiple applications.
If you want falsies-level drama and volume with your mascara, you may not be as impressed with the Green Edition Mega Mousse Mascara; however, it's a great option if you want a weightless formula that'll give you a fluttery, your-lashes-but-better look. I'm adding it into my daily no-makeup makeup routine for the rest of the summer. It was pretty much made for the "clean girl" makeup aesthetic [6] that's all over TikTok.
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