The Ultimate Mascara - Batch 4-ish

It's looking a lot like we may have a winner on our hands (insert slightly hesitant woot). I even pulled out one of the fancy schmancy mascara containers I've been saving for 'the good stuff'.

From Botched to Best

In reality, this is the third tweaked version of batch 4 - therefore - batch 4-ish. If you've been following this case study, you may remember 'the batch 2 catastrophe'. While waiting (the 11 weeks) to see if batch 3 reacted the same, I started reformulating batch 4 from a (practically) clean slate. So, there are a few versions I haven't blogged about (there is only so much one can write about developing mascara without boring people silly).

A/B Testing Batch 4-ish

Right now I am A/B testing the 2 mascara containers and wands with batch 4-ish. Surprisingly, Urtegaardens (terribly unsexy and plain) wand is doing a decent job of both delivering product and creating layers.

The A eye used Urtegaardens wand and B is with the fancy schmancy wand. (I'm not seeing all that much difference here, are you?)

Here's a close-up of the wands: the fancy schmancy (B) wand is on the left. It's a stiff, rubbery-ish contoured brush that is quite easy to use but applies a thinner layer than brush A. The A wand has a classic-type brush with very soft bristles. It's a little messier to use, but with practice, actually works ok.

What's Inside The Container

I used predominately activated charcoal with a few oxide pigments for the color. It works really well, is quite intense, and doesn't smudge at all.

Overall, the ingredients list is a bit longer than I expected it to be, but then, there are a lot of things that have to click in order for a mascara to work - especially if one also wants it to nourish and encourage lash growth. Most of the extras are active ingredients, and since I packed in as many as I could, I figure it's ok to have a longer-than-average ingredients list. I promise to go in detail about the active ingredients in the follow-up post.

First, we test for a few weeks!

Previous Posts on the Development of This Mascara

The Batch 2 Disaster: One Step Forward...
Batch 3: The Ultimate Mascara Take 3
Batch 2: The Ultimate Mascara Quest, batch 2
Batch 1: The Ultimate Mascara Quest, Batch 1 - Epic Fail
The Ultimate Mascara Quest Begins