M. writes: Love your blog and the book… I just have a little question regarding mascara… I know you love Lancome Definicils but you occasionally mention Max Factor Lash Perfection. I am always looking to try new mascaras, so what about the Definicils is better than the Lash Perfection to justify the $18 price difference? Thanks love!

Hi M.!  Thanks for your message! You won’t go wrong with Max Factor Lash Perfection—or Cover Girl Lash Blast, which is my new favorite drugstore offering. (One caveat; as much as I love Lash Blast, I’ve noticed it does have the occasional tendency to flake.  Combat this by running the closed tube under hot water.) Lancome Definicils is an all-time favorite because of the brush, which does a spectacular job at lengthening and defining. Lash Perfection, on the other hand, has a comb brush, which grabs all your lashes and thoroughly pulls the mascara formula through. Both are excellent in their own ways (Max Factor is great for lush, fat lashes, whereas Lancome excels at long and spidery) so in the end, it comes down to whether you feel like spending a few extra bucks for a tube that says Lancome on it!  (Yup, it’s all about marketing.)

By the way, two new mascaras I’m really digging—just in case I didn’t already give you enough options—are Too Faced Lash Injection Pin Point (gets every…single…lash!) and Loose Lips Ultimate Volume Mascara (for crazy volume).

I’m having a weird beauty blogger existential dilemma right now.  The Lancome Oscillation mascara, as you might know, is on sale today (for One…Day…Only!) at Sephora.com, Lancome.com and in select boutiques.  (It appears to have already sold out at at Sephora, FYI, but is still currently available on the Lancome website.)  Everybody is freaking out over the fabulosity of said mascara (and by everybody I mean a select group of beauty obsessees, assorted bloggeratti and various editors), and of course I’m also dying to try it, seeing as I’ve championed Lancome’s formulas for years, and have sung their praises all over Beauty Confidential.  But, as I went to the website, filled out my information, and was about to press the “buy” button, I thought, “Wait a second.  What am I really buying this for?”  So that I can feel exclusive?  As though I have the inside track over millions of women who won’t try it until it’s released in December?  I already have six unopened mascaras in the queue, and it’s not as if I’ll be the only beauty blogger writing about it tomorrow.  In that case, is it really worth the $34? 

And if I’m not willing to fork out money for beauty products unless I do actually have the inside track–or am in dire need, feeling impetuous at CVS, or traveling in Europe…does that just make me a cheap bastard? 

Over the years, I’ve written at length about how beauty editors (and now bloggers) receive free products, and I’ll admit that I haven’t paid for any makeup in ages.  Hell, even random items like deodorant and razors often arrive on my doorstep.  We serve as guinea pigs, testing and writing about things so other women can decide for themselves how to spend their cash.  But today, I’m just a beauty consumer like everybody else…and practicality (hey, the economic crisis stretches to Jolie, too!) is winning out over curiosity. 

Teen Vogue Beauty Director Eva Chen has a sneak-peek at Lancome’s new vibrating mascara Oscillation, whose debut you’d better believe the beauty world is watching with a close eye.  (I’m sure it’ll clean up at next year’s CEW awards, and you can probably expect all manner of randomly battery-powered beauty loot in the near future.  Electronic foundation brushes!  Line-dotting khol needles!)  Curious to try it?  Eva reports that Oscillation will be available tomorrow–for one day, only!–at select retailers.  Check out locations here.

Check out Allure.com Daily Beauty Reporter Jessica Matlin’s take on her five current favorite volumizing mascaras.  Her picks include Avon Supershock Mascara, which she compares to DiorShow in terms of brush chubbiness. 

Ahh, DiorShow. 

Can I confess something here?  I might be the only beauty editor and makeup aficionado on the planet who doesn’t have spontaneous orgasms because of DiorShow’s so-called fabulosity.  Now, I like DiorShow.  I name check it in Beauty Confidential (page 110), and it is, indeed, very, very good.  But I always feel like I’m missing something when I read flowery, gushing, OTT reviews proclaiming it as The Best Ever!  Really?  Ever?  For me, the brush is just a bit too fat, and I can’t reach those tiny hidden corner lashes that you don’t notice until they’re defined (and then it’s, like, Wow!), and I find it awfully prone to clumping, and I simply can’t stand that rose scent.  I feel like I’m using my great-grandmother’s mascara from 1893.  Don’t get me wrong: I don’t stabby-hate it.  There will just be no babies made with it.  Et tu, beautés?

As a “beauty expert”, you might think I know absolutely everything in the world relating to beauty.  You would, in fact, be wrong.  I am all-too-frequently surprised, enlightened, guided and chastised by readers who take their beauty very seriously.  There are simply too many products in this world for one gal to be familiar with every…single…one, and even beauty editors (or former beauty editors, or whatever the hell you want to call me) play favorites, which leads to occasional laziness on my part.  (”Hmm…should I try this shiny, brand-spanking-new product?  Or should I use the same damn thing I do every other day of my life?  Not because I am a sloth–oh, no!  Because it is the best!  And I am too busy to use anything but the best!  Yeah, that’s it.  Er….anyhow, I’ll try the new thing tomorrow…I swear.”)  There’s a debate raging on the Jolie Facebook page about the best mascara, and several readers have piped up in favorite of Maybelline Full ‘n Soft…which I’ve never tried.  (Egads!  And, seeing as how often I’ve ragged on poor Great Lash, something makes me think the Maybelline publicists will not be sending me a free tube.  To CVS I shall go!)  With magazines dominated by advertiser concerns, I find that the best way to discover a great new (or old) product is by word-of-mouth, which is why I love hearing from you all, and why it tickles me pink when you email in or comment about your own favorite discoveries.  So, what are you waiting for?  Hit me up!

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J. says:

I also have a question regarding mascara, I purchased your fave Lancome Definicils. I like the formula, but am having a problem with the application (the brush?). It seems there is too much product on the brush and it goes on clumpy. Any tips?  Thank you. I love your site and advice, please keep up the good work!

J., if you find there’s too much product on the brush, an easy fix is to take a square of tissue or toilet paper, wrap around the brush and then gently squeeze.  This will remove excess mascara, while still leaving on enough to coat and define your lashes.  Another good trick: run the tube of mascara under hot water for a few minutes, which will help to thin out the formula and make it less likely to clump.  Finally, if you have an old tube of mascara, clean off the wand so there’s no product on it, let it dry out, and then use it as a lash comb to de-flake after applying coats.  I know that your problem is with a new tube of Definicils, and it’s important to remember that mascara is a personal thing: what one person loves, another person might despise.  (I, for example, cannot stand Maybelline Great Lash, which often tops makeup artists lists as being wonderful and fabulous and earth-shattering.  I don’t know what they’re smoking.)  In general, however, the older the tube of mascara—anything that’s been open for more than three months would qualify as old–the more likely it is to clump and flake.  I hope that helps!

Okay, Lancome knows mascara.  (Of course, they also know skincare, perfume, makeup…but whatever, details.)  There are a few other mascara brands I’ll use every now and again (I’m thinking of Max Factor Lash Perfection, which is tops if you’re looking for a good drugstore buy that still performs excellently), but 99.9% of the time, I stick with my Lancome, thank you very much.  Seriously, why mess with the best?  Defincils, Flextencils, Hypnose, my current favorite Fatale…they’re all crack-addict addictive.  This morning I tried out Courbe Virtuose, the new long-lasting curling mascara that promises to deliver the sort of flip you normally only get with an eyelash curler.  I was skeptical, being an eyelash curler devotee (equally obsessed with Shu Uemura and Shiseido, but the Shiseido is better for my Asian-type eyes), and even tested out the difference, using Courbe on one eye, and another mascara + my eyelash curler on the other.  Lo and behold, the Courbe works!  Color me seriously impressed…and add another Lancome classic to my arsenal.  (I forgot to bring my camera, but I’ll try to remember to take photos tomorrow of the same experiment and post.)

Shopping site SheFinds.com recently interviewed me on my top five, can’t-live-without-’em beauty products.  They’re also giving away five copies of BC, so if you haven’t gotten yours yet, be sure to check out the post and comment to enter.  All the products below are ones I actually use, would (and have) spent my own hard-earned cash on, and recommend enthusiastically—and endlessly—to my friends, who are like, “Okay, we get that you’re obsessed.  Now shut up about it!”

Jolie’s Must-Haves:
Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Foundation
OC Eight Oil-Control Gel
Lancome Definicils Mascara
Bond no. 9 New York Chinatown Scent
NARS Orgasm Blush