Product Review: Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

Sephora always gets me with their little promotional emails, and when I saw there was a chance to try this new mascara before it was released, I jumped right on it. I am a mascara and blush junkie. I did like the They're Real mascara when it was first released (Read my review on that mascara here. I've found others that I've liked more since then, but it's still a nice mascara). I was excited to see how much I would enjoy Roller Lash.

Roller Lash will be officially for sale next Friday, the 27th of February (at 10:00AM Sharp!) and it will retail for $24. Frankly, this is quite expensive for a mascara, but considering the Better Than Sex mascara that Too Faced makes (which is my favorite right now) is $23, the price is consistent with the rest of Benefit's line. Right now, it is showing up on Sephora's website as VIB and VIB Rouge exclusive and I was able to add it to my shopping cart.

So...before I get into this review, you should know that this mascara claims to lift and curl lashes and they claim that the brush was inspired my old-school rollers. I haven't worn a roller in a long time, but I remember them...there's a bunch of rollers under this shower cap type hairdryer...

circa 1985?

So let me also preface this review by saying, I have very naturally curly eyelashes. It's just something you should know. I've never had to use an eyelash curler, except to un-curl my lashes in order to put on false lashes., which I hardly ever wear. So, I can't speak to whether this mascara keeps a curl or makes them curl. That is just something I cannot tell you about. Now that that's out of the way, I can get to the review. 

One thing Benefit does exceptionally well is packaging. Every single product is adorably packaged and this mascara sample is no exception. The full-sized product looks different than the sample. You can see what it looks like here on the Benefit Website. Here is what the sample I got from Sephora looks like: 

Benefit packaging and marketing is pretty top notch

The inner packaging gives you the down low on the price, availability and there's even a hashtag!

The sample size is a third of the full size, so a great little value

The plastic wand is has very fine spikes and is slightly crescent-shaped

My initial thoughts when I opened the product is that the mascara formula is very wet, which I find very appealing. I don't like drier formulas (like Dior mascaras) because I find that the product doesn't transfer to my lashes. That being said...it is slightly messy to apply if you have already curly lashes like I do. There will be a lot of mascara on the wand when you pull it out of the tube. To avoid making too much of a mess, apply your mascara looking down into a mirror instead of looking straight on. Here is what my lashes look like without any mascara at all. They are pretty pathetic. Excuse my undone brows! This was pre-brow dress!

My lashes with no mascara

I applied one coat of the roller lash mascara. I was very pleased and pleasantly surprised with this one coat of product on my lashes! It made them look SO MUCH longer and blacker. It did lift them up as the product claimed and I thought the effect was very pretty with just one coat. I could have stopped there and been very happy. But for the sake of this review, I applied two more coats.

The left eye has one coat of Roller Lash and the right eye has nothing

Applying a second coat of mascara is where some problems started. It dries fairly quickly and by the time I got around to applying a second coat, it started to become a little clumpy. My lashes started to stick together and I didn't want to apply any more coats. That being said, from a normal distance, it still looked really pretty. 

Two coats of Roller Lash on the left eye

Three coats of product was VERY clumpy and was hard to apply. I went through with an eyelash comb to get rid of some of the really terrible clumps. It still doesn't look too spidery in the photo, but it was starting to get that way. I still really like the effect of this mascara. I think it has a nice lifting effect, but I think it helped to actually look my obnoxiously curly lashes act not so curly, which is probably not what Benefit would like to hear, but that's just what happened to me.

Three coats of Roller Lash on the left eye only

Here is the result of three coats on both sets of eyelashes.

The Verdict: This is a really, really nice mascara! A great formula and a great brush. I am very impressed by the lengthening and separating and lifting effect of this mascara. I find the effect to be as if the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara and L'Oreal Telescopic had a baby. Not bad at all. Probably a great mascara for layering and making mascara cocktails.

Removing this was not easy. I had to take a little bit more time with my Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover, but it came off eventually. I believe soap and water alone will not remove this and you probably need an oily makeup remover to dissolve it.

Pros: Cute Packaging, Very black, lengthening, Separating, Lifting effect is amazing
Cons: Gets clumpy when layered, messy - a lot of product will be on the wand, price point is high

The Bottom Line: If you have $24 burning a hole in your pocket, it's a great thing to pick up. It's a beautiful mascara. That being said, there are about 20 mascaras at the drugstore you can buy for less than $14 that will have nearly the same effect. Drugstore mascara is so good that high end mascaras have to REALLY perform to be worth the extra cost. This mascara performs well and I will probably pick up a full size after my sample is gone as a treat for myself, but is it a new Holy Grail? Probably not. But I do really like it and I want to give Benefit a high five.

What do you think? Do you think you will be trying this out? Have you tried any other Benefit mascaras? Let me know in the comments below!