Benefit Roller Lash mascara review – curl power

Beauty confessions: I hate mascara.

I know, I know… mascara is like, everyone else’s desert island essential. But with crazy-sensitive eyes that tear up at the merest suggestion of the music from Up (the other day I even cried about how cute a dog on Instagram was), I very rarely wear the stuff. In general, I find mascara heavy, that it irritates my eyes, that it’s a pain to remove… and for all that, it doesn’t even make that much of a difference to how my face looks. [Note: I opt for lashings of eyeliner instead.]

BUT if I did wear mascara often, then Benefit’s Roller Lash mascara would probably be high on my list.

The Benefit boffins definitely have form in the lash department – cult favourite They’re Real is currently the UK’s best-selling mascara. So what’s the difference? Well, if They’re Real is a tool for total mascara junkies, then Roller Lash is a product practically tailor-made for us mascara noobs. And rather than aiming to bring all-round mascara drama like They’re Real, Roller Lash instead targets some more specific but pretty common lash laments.

With a design based on retro hair rollers and suitably adorable packaging to match (come on, this is Benefit we’re talking about… would you expect anything less?), Roller Lash boasts a small-ish curved brush made from softer rubber-like material with teeny-tiny little hooks that grab onto your lashes with as much intent as I do to the last salted caramel cupcake at a party. The theory is that this patent-pending brush hooks, lifts and curls with the minimum amount of effort – making it ideal for people with short, straight lashes or smaller eyes.

And let it roll baby… because this stuff totally works! Since the Roller Lash brush is smaller than your average mascara wand, allowing it to manoeuvre pretty effortlessly around your eyes, and latches itself onto your lashes with an almost magnetic force, I found this to be one of the easiest mascaras I’ve ever used; it manages to grab onto your lashes so intuitively that you barely need a mirror to apply it, and Benefit has even designed the tube with an in-built “wand wiper” that gets rid of excess product (a definite plus as the formula is on the wet side). A little wiggle here, a swift swipe there, and it’s hello to inky-black, defined and clump-free lashes quicker than you can say, “Here come the curls”.

Honestly, I think my photos speak for themselves – you can clearly see how Roller Lash has lifted and lightly curled my lashes (especially in contrast to my non-mascara eye), making for eyes that look brighter, wider and more awake. I also love that it does all the above whilst still feeling about as lightweight as mascaras come (possibly because it’s not like those iron-clad waterproof varieties?), meaning that my eyes refrained from freaking out and springing forth tears like they’d spotted a sad dog story on The Daily Mail. It’s also supposed to last 12 hours… but honestly, I’ve never managed to make it more than 12 hours without getting watery eyes about something; I did go for about 6-8 hours though and it was smudge and flake-free.

Benefit also claims that Roller Lash is so good, you won’t even need an eyelash curler. I’m afraid this is where we part ways though, because the curl is nowhere near as pronounced and pretty as when my trusty Shu Uemura curlers have been let loose on my lashes. This is more an observation than a complaint though; frankly, I don’t believe any mascara delivers quite the same eyes-wide effect that the extra deployment of an eyelash curler brings!

That being said, I do think Roller Lash is a great everyday mascara that makes a noticeable but natural difference to your eyes. On those days where my eyes need a little extra oomph, I’ll definitely be reaching for some added curl power!

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara, $230 (available 1 March 2014); see all Benefit locations in Hong Kong here

Note: I received this product for my consideration