Kat Von D High Frequency Mascara

I am finally onto a new mascara after using Benefit's BadGal Lash for the past few months. Yeah, I know. We all know that I am mascara obsessed but for some reason I decided to go back to a standby of mine instead of heading into Sephora and buying any new mascara to see how it performs. I haven't tried any type of mascara from Kat von D and I was originally attracted to this product because of how pretty the packaging is. I have had a great experience with her eye shadow palettes so I wasn't hesitant to buy this product. Besides, I have been trying to break my makeup rut since the beginning of the year and trying a different brand of mascara certainly won't kill me.

This mascara is made to curl, separate, and volumize lashes, there is no mention of lengthening properties with this mascara formula. I wanted to point one thing out before I begin to review this mascara. Mascara cannot curl your lashes, it can only hold any natural curl that you have or hold the curl after you use an eye lash curler on your lashes. Already, the description of this product is promising something that cannot be done only with the use of the mascara. That being stated, I found that it held the curl well from when I used an eye lash curler before mascara application.

Sephora gives the following description of this product on their website, "Create a sophisticated and intriguing eye look with this exceptional formulation. Polyester film forming makes for stellar flexibility, application, adhesion, and curl retention. The unique, easy-to-use applicator brushes lashes one by one, delivering outstanding results". I prefer the full description of this product in which they state "curl retention" instead of just calling the product a curling mascara. With the words "polyester film forming" in this description, it seems that this mascara falls into the category of "tubing mascara" and fully coats lashes from root to tip.

After first opening the tube, my first thought was that the brush was much smaller than many of the mascaras that I am used to. And it surprised me that I actually had a bit of difficulty working with it the first time since I am so used to the huge mascara brushes (however I got it down pat within one application). This mascara excels at creating separate lashes and retaining the curl from the curler. My lashes look lush and naturally full. It is a good (not great) volumizing mascara, it adds a nice amount of volume but doesn't stand a chance when compared to Diorshow Iconic or Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash. Of course, the brush size of this one is nothing compared to those so I am not thinking that it is made to compete with the super-volumizing mascaras. This is wetter formula and gives my lashes a bit of sheen. So far, I haven't had problems with smudging or flaking that are common with a wetter formula mascara.

Removal of this product requires eye makeup remover. The first time that I tried to get it off, I must not have wiped it throughly enough since after I got out of the shower, I realzied that I had mascara running down my cheeks. I have found that I don't need to tug to get this formula off (unlike Smashbox Bionic) but I must clean the eye area really well.

One coat of this mascara will get you a naturally pretty, separated daytime look. Two coatsd of this mascara will get you a naturally full looking set of lashes. But when compared to the volume that I get from other formulas, this isn't enough for my taste. Two coats are about enough volume for when I am going for a natural look in the daytime, not when I am doing anything else which is somewhat disappointing. I own this mascara in the black shade (named Lucifer), this is one fo the deepest and best black shades that I have worked with so far. It is also available in a bright blue shade (named Techno) that I will not be buying anytime soon.

This is nice mascara for someone who wants volumizized lashes that still look natural and is not trying to go for false eye lashes look. I find nothing wrong with this mascara but it doesn't provide the super volume that I look for in mascara, other than that I like the formula and it has many benefits to it. If the formula/brush were tweaked to make it more along the lines of Buxom Lash, I would be in heaven.

photo courtesy of Sephora