If you're a beauty-lover, you've already heard about Benefit Cosmetics' new BadGal BANG! Mascara.
In addition to Benefit's tireless promotional campaign, the new mascara has been generating significant buzz. Every single beauty influencer on YouTube and Instagram has given it a stellar review — so stellar, in fact, that some fans are convinced it's all a scam. They feel that Benefit's massive #sponcon budget and lavish influencer trips *may* have convinced more than a few beauty vloggers to give this mascara a favorable review.
So how does this mascara *really* shape up? I put it to the test to find out.
I put Benefit's hyped BadGal BANG! to the test against L'Oreal's Lash Paradise, a Revelist staff favorite.
I began with Lash Paradise, which retails for a cool $10.
This popular drugstore mascara ($10, Ulta) has been compared time and time again to Too Faced's cult-favorite Better Than Sex mascara, which means it must be pretty spectacular.
L'Oreal's mascara wand was the type I normally associate with clumps and therefore stay far, far away from.
When swiped across my arm, the Lash Paradise formula was also slightly clumpy, which made me fret for my lashes.
But once I took that wand to my eye, I had to accept that this cheap mascara actually delivers major bang for the buck.
As I predicted, the Lash Paradise formula was slightly prone to sticking to itself and creating small clumps, but it only required an itty bitty amount of finagling to get it just right. The one downfall of that very chunky brush, however, was that it was not ideal for reaching the inner corner or the lower lashes.
I'll be the first to admit I'm rather blessed eyelash-length-wise, so I was delighted Lash Paradise could deliver the number one thing I do naturally lack: lash volume.
L'Oreal gave me fluttery lashes on the cheap — and they lasted all day long.
My naturally puffy under-eyes make me super vulnerable to mascara smudges on my lower lash line, but after a full 8-hour work day, my transfer was minimal. I've tried just about every high-end mascara dupe at the drugstore, and I can tell you L'Oreal Lash Paradise is absolutely one of the best.
But… how does it compare to Benefit's higher-end product?
Benefit's massively hyped BadGal BANG! mascara retails for more than double L'Oreal's price at $24.
Although even I, a noted high-end beauty snob, generally find it hard to justify spending this much on mascara, I normally do. I already love Benefit's Roller Lash mascara so I went into this test with very high hopes.
BadGal BANG!'s packaging was far more lightweight that L'Oreal's, and its brush was the complete opposite.
Whereas Lash Paradise had a short and thick brush, Benefit's BadGal had a long and slender brush with very tiny and spread-out bristles. I knew due to my experience with Roller Lash that this kind of brush would do wonders for my eyelash length, but I had my concerns about its volume-inducing potential.
Swatching Benefit's mascara on my arm was difficult due to the wand's flimsy nature, but its formula yielded far fewer clumps than L'Oreal's.
Just as I'd expected, BadGal BANG!'s longer, slimmer wand made lengthening disturbingly easy, and made inner corner and lower lash application a damn breeze.
But I was shocked to see that the Benefit mascara was a low-key volume powerhouse, too.
If L'Oreal's smudging was minimal, Benefit's was non-existent. After the entire work day, it looked exactly the same as it did when I applied it.
I hated to admit it, but I agreed whole-heartedly with the beauty bloggers — this mascara was bomb.
At the end of the day, I had fallen in love with two very different mascaras, but one of them was just a little more full throttle than the other.
While they both exceeded my expectations, Benefit's BadGal BANG! mascara ($24, Ulta) was far easier to apply, and its wand made it easier to fully coat each individual lash without risk of clumping.
While I loved L'Oreal's Lash Paradise's ($10, Ulta) for its budget-friendly price point, it was a little clumpier and slightly more likely to smudge.
That's why, though only by a hair (er, lash?), the winner of this challenge is Benefit's BadGal BANG! Mascara.
The differences are slight, but they're noticeable. You've got me forever, Benefit. I consider this mascara money well spent.
Luckily for you, if mascara isn't your top priority, you'll be in almost as good hands with the $10 alternative.
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