Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes Mascara

Good Morning, Drunch Girls! For you guys who read the blog, this post will probably not catch your attention — unless, of course, you occasionally dress in drag. In which case, listen up! Drama queens of all shapes, sizes and genders need to be aware of this fantastic new product. Behold! Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes.

I was introduced to this at Sephora yesterday, and thought it might just be my best beauty find all year. My friend Tricia completely validated that thought over lunch today when she asked me if I’d started using Latisse, the prescription eyelash lengthener that Brook Shields is hawking (more on that another day).

To be honest, I’d seen this product months ago and thought, “That is the dumbest brush ever. I’d totally poke my eye out. Why on earth did they model it after a mace? Do I color my lashes with it or use it to club small animals and children? Hmm…

But I digress. Thanks to Keshia at  Sephora — and if you live in Birmingham, promise not to let anyone else help you– anyway, Keshia told me it was her personal favorite and convinced me with a tester brush that I could, indeed, use the product without blinding myself.

First impressions

Positives:

This brush/product curled my lashes like crazy. Mine are pretty straight and I use an eyelash curler religiously. I swear it is completely unnecessary with this product. Bonus points for eliminating the obligatory tears when I pinch the bejeesus out of my eyelid each morning. Also, this is a really nice black. Very dramatic. If you’re going for a natural look, keep on going. This is high drama, and of course I love that in a product (not so much in other people as that tends to siphon attention away from me).

Negatives:

Honestly, there aren’t many. The brush takes some getting used to, but is really easy to use once you get the hang of it. I think I may have spent a little extra time on my lashes this morning, but part of that was just goofing off to see what I could achieve. Don’t spring for the additional extender formula. This is in a separate tube and looks identical to the first. You apply it over the first coat and it’s supposed to give you the look of false eyelashes. I think it just turns great eyes into a clumpy mess. One coat of the original formula is sufficient, but I would guess that more than one might present a clumping issue as this is a thick mascara.

In my opinion, well worth the $27 price tag, cause a little goes a long way. That comes to about $9 a month on mascara. Which is $108 over the course of a year — roughly equivalent to one month of Latisse. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anyone up close who uses Latisse, but the results are dramatic. But certainly for the price, I think Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes is an excellent budget alternative.