Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara – Beauty #TBT

Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara review

When I came up with the idea of doing the Beauty #TBT series and created a list of products I used to love, this was one that was sitting quite close to the top of the list. At the tail end of last year I reviewed the YSL Faux Cils mascara which was my favourite as a pre-Uni student, but when I had bills to pay/expensive train fares to get home/to see Ben YSL was ditched in favour of things I could buy as cheap as possible in Boots – and more often than not the responsibility fell onto the Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara.

I’m sure I remember someone talking about this in the early days of Youtube – back when I used to watch Fleur de Force with less than 500 subscribers and when Lauren Luke was the biggest beauty Youtuber around. But the mascara became a firm favourite and one which I repurchased over and over – there are a few different versions of this mascara, all yellow tubed with different colour lettering, purple is the ‘normal’ one, blue is the waterproof – but in this instance I went for the black which is… ‘100% black’. The difference between the purple and black lettering is virtually unidentifiable and I used to grab which ever was cheapest or on the best discount.

No matter what the exact type of this mascara, all of these versions of it come with the same brush – a slightly dumpy oval shaped brush with bristles rather than a rubber wand. It comes slightly shorter in length than I’ve become accustomed to, but it is still perfectly workable on the eye. Most of you will know I don’t curl my lashes at all – If I reach for my eyelash curler more than 2 or 3 times a year, something has gone wrong. My lashes already have natural length an curl and I find adding curl can sometimes ruin the curl and just make them like little daggers pointing to the sky.

The fat, rounded, slightly-small  shape of this brush helps add some natural lift to the lash as it allows you to move around the lash and perform a wiggling push up motion from the root with ease with adds to the curl. The brush doesn’t seem to manage to get clogged up at all, and mine’s been open for around a month now and the stopper in it always seems to do the perfect job of scraping off excess.

When this is first applied, I quite like it – its a very soft feeling mascara that creates a fluttery look on the lash that doesn’t feels crunchy or crispy. Which has it’s benefits – the lash looks volumised but naturally so. It’s not the most overpoweringly amped up lash, but it looks nice with a bit of added length and separation alongside volume.

However the downside of that fluttery soft feeling effect is the longevity – if I every have to rub by eyes at some point despite doing it carefully it will almost cause the mascara to fall off the lash like it’s a powder. Over a full day (without the need to itch at any point), it lasts a full work day – but there’s definitely a noticeable deterioration towards the end. I’ve become accustomed to mascaras that will last on the lashes until I have to virtually scrub them off at the end of the day – but this one doesn’t make that full day wear.

Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara Application

I know someone is going to ask what’s on my eyes – it’s the Lime Crime Diamond Dew in Aurora (paired with the Violet Voss Holy Grail palette). And I’m not sure what setting I used on my camera to make my skin so orange, but I definitely won’t be using it again!

Overall I think this is a good mascara for it’s pricepoint and I’ve definitely tried out ones which are three times the price which I haven’t liked as much – but for me it’s not as volumising as I’d normally like to go for and the weartime isn’t what I prefer either. When it comes to Maybelline I definitely prefer their Lash Sensational instead, and I’m currently also trying out their new oil infused mascara which I also love and prefer more (still to be reviewed!).

You can find the Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Mascara at Boots here and Superdrug here.

What are your favourite budget mascaras?

Post contains affiliate links.

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27 Comments

  1. April 26, 2018 / 8:33 am

    Lovely review and I love your eye make-up look. I actually love the colossal big shot mascara, it’s really good for the price point.

      • April 26, 2018 / 1:26 pm

        You should, itโ€™s really good!!

          • April 26, 2018 / 5:34 pm

            hahahaha 15 is a lot ๐Ÿ˜›

  2. April 26, 2018 / 10:49 am

    This sounds like a decent mascara, I like that style of brush and the fact it is made up of bristles as opposed to being a rubber wand. I liked Lash Sensational even though it would smudge on my top eyelids sometimes and I’m sure I’ll pick it up again sometime. Can’t wait to read your review on the oil infused mascara still to come x

    • April 26, 2018 / 3:02 pm

      I’m really enjoying the oil infusion one – it’s quite sticky but is quite voluminous! I feel like Lash Sensational is a good reliable mascara, if I was in need of buying one because I’d forgotten to take one somewhere and it was an option I’d definitely go for it! x

      • April 26, 2018 / 8:13 pm

        Thatโ€™s true, it is a reliable mascara! Have you tried the Lash Sensational in the black tube?

  3. April 26, 2018 / 12:43 pm

    Iโ€™m so jealous! I donโ€™t even bother with mascara because my lashes are virtually non-existent, with or without it. I used to buy it simply because it always feels so glamourous to apply, but itโ€™s not worth the scrubbing and the raccoon eyes thereafter. That eye look is STUNNING! Wear mascara for the both of us!

    Dom | http://www.DivaNamedDom.com

  4. jazminheavenblog
    April 26, 2018 / 12:51 pm

    I really like this mascara too! But it seems to smudge all over my eye lid whenever I use it, so I must be unconsciously rubbing my eyes! xx

  5. themissyparker
    April 27, 2018 / 3:46 am

    Great review! I love, love, love the rest of your eye makeup. Beautiful!

  6. April 27, 2018 / 3:39 pm

    Nice post, it’s always interesting to go back to old products after years because it’s likely that you feel a bit different since trying out hundreds of other products. I have yet to get my hands on the Maybelline Lash Sensational and would also like to try The Rocket which I think is by Maybelline too.

    Also, kinda irrelevant (though still to do with beauty) but you skin looks great! So poreless and clean!

  7. May 21, 2018 / 2:54 pm

    Am I the only one who doesn’t know what #TBT means? ๐Ÿ˜œ I haven’t tried the Colossal Volume but I am using and loving the Lash Sensational. ๐Ÿ˜Š Wish my eyelashes were as long as yours!

  8. Prettifyourself
    July 15, 2018 / 7:36 pm

    I love this

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