This Clean Mascara Actually Made My Thin Lashes Look Fuller, and Didn’t Leave Any Clumps
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My relationship with mascara is similar to my relationship with working out. I always feel better afterward, but I'm not always excited to grab my sneakers (or the tube). After all, no matter how steady my hand is when applying liquid eyeliner, when it comes to mascara, more often than not, I end up with this product on my lashes . . . and my upper lids, too. It's almost enough to make me want to skip it altogether (though I'm not sure what my gym excuse is).
Plus, as an infection-prone contact-lens wearer, I need to be extra careful about what I put nearby. My eyes tend to water if it's even a little windy, leaving cute streaks on my face. That means most of the time when I'm wearing mascara, I opt for a water-resistant formula I know will stay on until I want to take it off.
Since nowadays I can barely fully wash my face twice a day, I rarely want to bother removing stubborn waterproof makeup with another step, too. So, even though I wasn't particularly in the market for a new mascara, the fact that this new Roen Beauty Cake Mascara is a clean option made me more willing to test it near my sensitive eyes in case things got runny.
Ahead, see what's inside this formula — and how my "after" lashes compare to my "before."
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First Impressions of Roen Beauty Cake Mascara
Right off the bat, I loved the look of the Roen Beauty Cake Mascara wand. It's got a fairly dense cluster of fluffy, flexible bristles that taper off at the top, and the smaller tip was perfect for getting at little lower lashes, too . . . even with my shaky hand. Even though the bristles were very close together, it was still easy to wiggle this through and, now that I think about it, the longer, more spread out bristles I've found with other mascaras likely cause more product to pack onto the brush and lead to the clumping I hate so much.
I was also impressed that this product is vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and designated Clean at Sephora, but still managed to lengthen my lashes. It turns out the waxes that help with this hold are sunflower, bayberry, and carnauba waxes (vs. the beeswax in my waterproof alternative). I didn't notice a major difference in the texture of this mascara so I'd say those are a mighty fine substitute.
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Before and After Applying Roen Beauty Cake Mascara
The number one complaint I'd heard about clean mascaras is that they don't have the same bold pigments and volumizing effects as traditional ones, but I have to say this one definitely didn't fall short.
As you can see in the bottom picture, my thin, little lashes are much darker and fuller than the "before" on top. That "after" photo is with two coats of mascara on my top lashes and one on the bottom. I was very impressed that this didn't clump up as I applied a second coat as sometimes options with extra fibers tend to look chunky on my hair there.
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Final Thoughts on Roen Beauty Cake Mascara
Even though this Roen Beauty Cake Mascara ($28) is clean, I was still worried it would end up shifting inside my sensitive eyes, especially if it got windy. However, I've been wearing this mascara for the last few days and did not notice any in my eyes, and only small smudging under them last night (but honestly the surprise rainstorm I got caught in umbrellaless was probably mostly to blame there).
And, best yet, it comes off easily with my regular face wash so I don't need an extra makeup-remover step either. Now I'm not saying this will make me wear mascara every single day while I'm still mostly at home, but it's definitely going to make me reach for this product more often.
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