Review: Maybelline The Colossal - Cat Eyes mascara

I have honestly lost track of all the versions Maybelline has launched of their Colossal Mascara. I wonder if they made such investments in developping that tube that they need to maximize the return at all costs?
(Just kidding, it's actually the brush that requires the biggest research investment in a mascara, did you know that? Even more than the product itself!)


Anyway, I spotted this at my local supermarket on a day where 1/ I was bad-moody (I blame men) and 2/ my Faux-Cils was on its last leg (I blame YSL) and I didn't have time to go pick another one (I blame work).
So I thought I'd try it.


The brush is made of soft bristles, not spikey latex ones - which I hate, as they hurt my eyes. It's curved, in the style of Lancome Virtuose, with about the same width. It's not nearly as big as a Max Factor 2000 calories, for example, and I don't feel like it's twice the size of my eye!
The formula is quite wet, which I like - not that it will smudge everywhere but I don't like formulations that are too dry as I find them harder to apply.
The color is a very nice black, not greyish at all.


Now these brushes are always a bit weird, most people don't know how to use them. The natural reflex would be to apply with the rounded shape up, parallel to your eyelid, but I have actually read somewhere that you're supposed to use them the other way.
What I do, anyway, is alternating between both sides of the brush. I find that one side will catch the lashes at the roots and make them look thicker, while the other side will coat the lashes and give them length.


The overall result: well this is a nice mascara for lengthening, but in terms of volume it doesn't go anywhere near YSL Faux Cils. I can understand the "cat eye" claim as you can build length at the outer corners quite easily, but with "the collossal" products I always expect more volume and I think this one doesn't deliver as much as the original.
It's a nice mascara, nothing super fancy, but efficient.


I don't think it's already sold in the US at the moment, and in EU it retails at about 13.50€ like the other mascaras from the range.