Hi Beauties! Who is ready for spring/summer to get here?! I know I sure am – I absolutely can’t wait for cutesy spring dresses and sandals. One thing about Spring that I do not look forward to is elevated allergies (if you have them of course). I unfortunately suffer from year-round allergies that peak in the spring because I am allergic to all forms of plant life..I know it’s ridiculous. My allergist keeps reminding me I should live in a bubble. *eye roll*
I worked graveyard shifts for 3 years and I would frequently deal with burning eyes which I blamed on being tired as well as working long 12 hour shifts. Once I started working day shift I would still experience burning eyes after a short 8 hour day. This was a mind boggling situation for a long time and I could not figure out what was going on. I love me some full glam make up but I started to tone down my daily routine to a select few products to discover what was causing this. Instead of going full glam-a-mom on myself, I started a 5 product routine which includes foundation, mascara, bronzer, blush and highlight – no eyeliner, eye shadow, lashes, etc. Even with my simplified routine, I still experienced burning eyes so by this time I was beyond frustrated.
The best part of the story is Daniel is the one who figured out what was causing my situation! I KNOW! I guess he knows me better than I know myself. One day as he was listening to me complain and cold compress my swollen eyes, he says, “maybe you’re allergic to your make up”. *Light bulb goes off* Being that my routine was extremely simple at this point, the only eye product I was using was mascara. In order to toy with this idea, I started to research what Hypoallergenic mascaras were out there on the market for me to purchase and try.
I gave myself a limit of trying two different brands to start with since I was still unsure if it would solve my issue. The two most common hypoallergenic mascaras I found were Almay One Coat Multi-Benefit Mascara and No. 7 Dramatic Lift Mascara. So of course I hit up my fav place Tar-jayyy and scooped them up to test out.
What I liked about the Almay mascara is it really lengthened my lashes. I personally don’t think I have extremely long lashes to begin with, so I immediately saw results..I was shocked! I did feel as if it gave too much product on the wand initially but now that I have been using it for a few weeks, it’s not as bad. But when it’s brand new and you pull that wand out of the tube it’s like WHOA too much! The wand is very fluffy which I love and does a great job at separating the lashes – no clumpy spider legs over here haha! As far as my burning eyes go, the mascara was a huge success at preventing my allergies from flaring up. So Almay One Coat Hypoallergenic Mascara was Renee Michelle approved!
Moving on to the No. 7 Dramatic Life Mascara, the first thing I noticed was the wand. Instead of being a fluffy full wand, the wand is short, curved and has short bristles. During application, the short curved bristles help control the amount of product that is applied onto the lashes. Compared to the Almay mascara, I experienced slightly more clumping of the lashes. As far as the hypoallergenic aspect, my eyes were totally fine all day wearing this product which has further passed my allergy test.
Being that I have been testing both these products frequently for the last few weeks, I notice I personally reach for the Almay more often than the No. 7. Although No. 7 controls the amount of product, I just was not a fan of the brush shape or results. As I stated before, the Almay mascara not only gave extreme length to my lashes, it created volume as well. BUT I am not going to strike No. 7 out immediately, I will be trying out the other types and possibly find a different wand type that works better. Overall, I found extreme relief and success with these hypoallergenic mascaras. I wish more brands made hypoallergenic options available because there are not a lot of options out there.
Has anyone else used these specific products? What have been your experiences? I hope you guys enjoyed this review and will be coming back with some more!
xoxo Renee