Yves Saint Laurent MASCARA VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS from Influenster

Courtesy of Influenster, I was able to be a part of a truly ICONIC vox box with the, you guessed it, #ICONICVoxBox with YSL Beauty! Inside the box was a shiny new tube of the revamped Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils, a longtime bestseller for YSL Beauty, and a mascara I've been dying to try. Thanks to Influenster, I was able to get my hands on this one for free, however the opinions on the product are entirely my own. 

First and foremost, this is a mascara that FEELS expensive, and you know you've got something special as soon as you hold the tube in your hands. It's shiny, it's gold, it's heavy, and it's impressive; this is a head turning mascara even before you crack open the seal. 

Once you put the mascara on, however, the goods just keep on giving. The mascara is scented lightly with a nice fresh natural scent, rather than the harsh paint-y smell of your typical mascara, and the formula itself is the epitome of smooth. When you put it on, it goes on soft and fluid, so you can actually keep piling and piling it on until you get your desired drama. No clumps, no heaviness, no stickiness, and no weight; applying the mascara was a brilliant experience. 

When you wear it, your lashes pop, and while I don't have much of a problem with color or volume with my lashes, I could tell immediately that it added quite a bit of drama to my eyes. While on, the mascara remains feeling soft, and you don't get that brittle feeling you so often get with your average mascara product. 

While I LOVED the mascara, I did notice a couple of downsides as well. First, after a couple of weeks, the mascara seemed to thicken up a bit, although it did remain easy to use. When it does thicken up a bit, using a bit of a lighter hand can allow you to still layer on the product quite efficiently while avoiding clumps. Second, it does seem to smudge quite easily. Of course, during allergy season, my eyes are just having a great time watering and itching as much as possible...but I've come to train myself not to touch my eyes at all while wearing this mascara. Unfortunately, the lightest touch will cause the mascara to smudge a bit, and a full-on rub will result in a "raccoon-chic" sort of look. 

All in all, I was quite impressed with this mascara, and the B5 vitamins, light scent, and layer-able formula I did find quite impressive. This mascara retails for around $32 at YSL Beauty US, and it's absolutely worth it if you're looking for a solid layering mascara to give you that oomph you really want! 

Thanks again to #Influenster and #InfluensterVox for allowing me to try this #YSLMascara for free!