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OK, as an Avid Mascara User™ ever since I found my holy grail—see my positively glowing review here—it's been verrry hard to impress me with anything else. But of course, as a beauty editor, it's my job to continuously test out new releases to let y'all know which ones are worth lining up for and which ones you can skip. (Cosmo Real Girl Reviews, you know the drill!)
I recently got the chance to try out a mascara with a steel wand, which, apparently, is the key to achieving lashes that are perfectly separated with just the right amount of length. Now, if you know mascaras, you'd know that they typically come with an applicator made of silicone or plastic bristles with different shapes and densities. They're meant for creating volume, length, or both.
When the new Canmake Metalook Mascara that featured said steel wand landed on my desk, I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to try it out. But it's a J-beauty mascara, and the Japanese really know their shit when it comes to mascara, so I had some faith. But is it really worth ditching my HG mascara? Find out below:
What is the Canmake Metalook Mascara?
According to Canmake, the Metalook Mascara gives you "complete lash control," thanks to its metal comb with an ultra-fine, 2.5mm diameter. The steel bristles are also closely set together—just 0.45mm apart—making it easier to reach the inner and outer corners of your lashes. It's said that a few swipes of it can grant you perfectly clustered lashes. Think: the dolly lash look of your fave Korean celebs!
It also claims to be able to hold the curl of your lashes and its oil-based formula is run-proof and designed to be able to withstand sweat, sebum, and water. It's available in two shades: Black and Brown. It retails for P790 for 20ml of product.
My honest review of the Canmake Metalook Mascara
- Name: Cheska
- Age: 25
- Skin type: Oily and acne-prone
First things first, can we talk about the packaging, plz?! Canmake is known for its adorable, almost coquette-inspired aesthetic, and this mascara is no different—it's a cute addition to my makeup kit. As for the actual mascara component itself, it feels surprisingly heavy and luxe compared to others I've tried in the past.
As for the application, I was expecting that it would have a bit of a learning curve since it's so different from other mascara wands I used, but it's pretty much the same. First, I curled my lashes using the Shiseido lash curler—the best one I've ever tried, but that's for another article, lol—and began applying the mascara to my lashes using short zig-zag motions to ensure that every hair gets coated.
It's easy to coat every lash without getting the pigment on your lids.
One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to applying mascara is that pigment gets on my skin while trying to coat my outer lashes—this is usually due to the bigger wands that also get coated with the formula as I swirl it inside the tube, trying to get pigment out.
I'm happy to report that this mascara and its thinner wand make applying a breeze. Bonus points for it not getting on my skin, either! The metal coil also deposits just the right amount of pigment onto my lashes more easily than traditional mascara brushes where I have to do multiple passes to get every strand coated.
Its wand can be easily sanitized.
NGL, I've been using mascara for a looong time, but I never thought of cleaning the wand, especially since you're supposed to throw it after two to three months, anyway. But I recently found out that "dirty" mascara brushes are one of the key causes of clumping—not to mention, they also lead to bacteria buildup.
Conventional mascara brushes are way harder to clean, plus it feels sayang to be wasting all the pigment out of the brush. But with a metal wand, you can easily clean it by polishing it with a wet wipe and then drying it using a tissue after every use.
It lasted me the whole day!
To really test this product, I applied it before leaving my house to go to an appointment I had in Makati. After I was done with my session, I walked from V.A. Rufino St. all the way to MRT Ayala station—gotta love rush hour in the Philippines (*insert sarcastic smile emoji here*)—and had to deal with the crowds once I got there. After a grueling commute, I did a quick check at home and was pleasantly surprised that my lashes still looked good.
The mascara held up my curl, and there were no signs of panda eyes. If you look at the picture below, I had a tiny smudge on my left undereye, but that was probably because I was in a rush while applying it, haha!
Is the Canmake Metalook Mascara worth adding to your cart?
The finished result gave me long, perfectly defined lashes that weren't Clump City. I love how it lengthened my lashes without looking too dramatic—it's the perfect mascara to use for days when you want to achieve the clean girl look. As for volumizing my lashes, this mascara didn't really give me the volume I was looking for; I'd still use my beloved HG to achieve some thickness.
The mascara also helped my curl stay intact, which is good since my lashes are extremely stubborn and tend to fall down throughout the day. The formula also didn't run down my undereyes even if I was under the hot sun for most of the day.
But at P790, it's not the cheapest mascara when compared to others available in the local market, but it's worth it to me given its unique selling point. That said, I'd still prefer to buy it (read: hoard it) the next time I'm in Japan since it only costs about 990 yen (approx. P367.02) there.
Canmake Metalook Mascara, P790, Shopee and Lazada
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