Essence Lash and Brow Gel Mascara: Review, Swatches

Essence Claims: Put an end to unruly eyebrows! The lash and brow gel mascara pampers your eyebrows as well as your lashes to get them back into perfect shape. Opthalmologically tested.

My Review of Essence Clear Gel Mascara:

Price : It retails at Rs.249 , but online, you can always get them for atleast 10% off.

Packaging : To be completely honest, i don’t love the packaging. It’s a little bit kiddish. It’s a clear, see-through regular mascara tube with a spulee brush, and blue accents . It’s not appealing , but it’s non-messy and it gets the job done.

Texture : So, the texture of the essence clear gel mascara  , is a little bit of a puzzle. It applies and feels like a gel, it goes on a little bit watery , and it dries out as a tough glue coat.

Now , i haven’t really tried an eyebrow grooming gel so far, i did test one out from sephora , but that was back when i had unruly , un-kept eyebrows and it made matters only worse (worse as in, if cara delevingne had a unibrow! ) , so i haven’t had the courage to go back and pick one up since then. So , this is unchartered territory for me.

It does dry out very very tough, and there is almost no shot of your eyebrow hair  going wary by themselves. They’re groomed, ruly and perfectly set all day long. If you don’t mind the slight stiffness from the gel mascara.

Setting time : With products that tend to set themselves, it takes a bit of practice to learn just when the clear mascara is set and upto what point you can mess around with it and shape and sculpt as you like.  So, being the curious bug that i am, i took an actual timer and took note of it. To be exact, somewhere around 1 minute and 8 seconds is when it’s on for good. So , you have 68 seconds to play around and get your eyebrows groomed the way you want them to stay.

What i thought of it As a clear mascara:

On a similar note, it does say that it is a clear mascara as well, and i have tried out my fair share of mascaras, and the clear ones i’ve tried are usually the ones with fibres through the composition, and this , again, was something alien to me.

It does nothing for volume, but what it does do as a mascara is separate, and accentuate the length , and once you have your lashes curled,  if you go over them with the clear gel , they retain the curl a lot more, because it’s the kind of product that sets over your hair (eyelashes) . All in all it works really well as a no-mascara mascara. On the lashes, thankfully,  it doesn’t feel as odd and stiff as it does on the brows.

The essence clear mascara gives you a fluttery , flirty and separated set of lashes that hold a curl in a hurricane. Although, it doesn’t layer well at all over a mascara . (Yes, i did play guinea pig and try to layer it and see if it would add extra volume, or help with clumping. The things we do for reviews! )

Longevity : On the lashes, the essence mascara upholds the curl and length for sometime around half a work day (and that’s because my lashes can never stay curled and tend to droop . It might work way better for you guys.)  And on the eyebrows, there is no way it’s coming off unless it comes in contact with water. once it’s on, it stays on. No more unruly eyebrows that cannot retain a set-shape.

How i like to wear clear gel :

As a mascara, i only like to wear it solo, after i’ve curled my lashes.  It’s a god-send for the “sans-makeup” look.

As for my eyebrows, i use the gel as the very first step (but that’s only because i need to fill them in later quite a bit since my mother overplucked them for me recently, and now i have a few bald spots. If you have no major crators and gaps that need filling, this is a one step process for you.) and go in later with some brow powder and a pencil to fill them in.  Also, the gel mascara is not going to layer with anything else, and if you go over brows that are already filled in, all it does is wipe off and displace the product, like it does when layered over mascara.

What I Love about Essence Lash and Brow Gel Mascara:

• The fact that it’s from essence, which means, it isn’t tested on animals . (Also, their products, like most on the market , work fine for people with contact lenses)
• The fact that it works as a mascara in addition to a brow gel.
• The fact that it holds a curl through just about anything other than water.
• The fact that it retain the sculpted shape of my eyebrows through an entire day.
• The fact that it doesn’t feel as stiff on the eyelashes as it does on the brows.
• The affordable , downright drugstore price point .

What i don’t love about Essence Lash and Brow Gel Mascara:

• The packaging. Seriously. Their lipsticks look amazing, and their mascara looks like something for a five year old. WHY?
• The fact that it can feel a tad bit off if you aren’t used to having product applied on your eyebrows.

Price in India: Rs.249

VNA Rating: 4/5

Where to Buy Online in India: amazon.in

VERDICT? As a mascara : Not really recommended, unless you really do like to go for the sans-makeup , au-naturale look. As a brow gel : For the price point, there is no way i wouldn’t recommend it. All in all?  Highly reccomended for anyone on a budget . It works, without burning a hole in your wallet.

Have you used Essence Lash and Brow Gel Mascara? Share your reviews with us.