The Great Mascara Hunt: Rimmel's Volume Flash Instant Thickening Mascara

Review by Cavewoman
photo from Rimmel.by
graphic from Katie @ Scentzilla


I am an equal-opportunity mascara tester. It does not matter to me the name of the brand or the price, or where I find it. Drugstores, discount stores, department stores, or Sephora, I will try them all! And so today I am reporting on my experience with a drugstore/discount store brand called Rimmel London. Kate Moss has been the 'face' of Rimmel for some time now, and her eyes always look so exotic and beautiful to me, so of course I'm thinking I can achieve that same look if I buy Rimmel. Isn't that what advertising is supposed to do? I succumb.
My Rimmel choice was Volume Flash Instant Thickening Mascara in Black. "Super-charged lashes, in a flash" said the package and the tube. Sounded good to me, since it takes forever for me to build anything close to super-charged lashes. I wouldn't even mind if it took more than a flash or two of my time!

I curled my lashes and opened the red, chubby, stubby tube. Volume Flash is a very pasty-thick mascara that has a brush with a tapered end, and the bristles are spaced well- enough apart to coat the lashes and yet close enough to keep the lashes from clumping together too much. I applied the mascara to my right eye, switched to the left eye, and repeated the process. This mascara dried quickly without dotting the skin around my eye, and I did not need a comb to separate my lashes. I was pleased. The curl did not hold very well after an hour or so, but it never does, so I was not put off by that result. What I did notice, and was pleased to see, was that this mascara dried down to a very velvety, non-glossy finish. Sort of sooty, I'd call it. There were absolutely no globbies or blobs at the tips of my lashes, and my lashes did not feel stiff or crispy. My lashes felt as if I had no mascara on at all. At the end of the day, I was pleased to see no flaking at all. Rimmel Volume Flash is a very dense product and it took many Almay pads to remove it. But it stayed where it was supposed to stay until I removed it.
For a few bucks at the drugstore, this is a worthy mascara that really does give good, fast fringe. It's one of the blackest blacks I've tried. I don't look much like Kate Moss, but I have lashes. Nice ones!
Product rating, 9.

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman