The product in this review was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

Website: http://www.envyderm.com/

After my last review of EnvyDerm mascara, the company contacted me to try again with a different tube. I accepted, and then sat on the product review for a long time, mostly because I suck and my students ran me ragged this year.

EnvyDerm sent me Eyelash Enhancement and Conditioning Volume Mascara in black. It retails for $29 USD for 7 mL, with free USA shipping. EnvyDerm claims their lash enhancing products contain “innovative and proven ingredients provided by Mother Nature.”*

The mascara promises
– Longer, thicker looking, luscious lashes with extended use.
– Condition and moisturize lashes.
– Infused with Moroccan Argan Oil.
– Smudge-proof and Clump-free formula.
– Doesn’t flake, run or clump.**

Ingredients list is
Purified water, Butylene Glycol, Myristoyl Pentapeptide-17, Cera Alba, Copernicia Cerifera Wax, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Acrylates Copolymer, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Adipic Acid/Diethylene Glycol/Glycerin Crosspolymer, Euphorbia Cerifera Wax, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Medicago Sativa Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Honey Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Extract, Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolized Keratin, Marine collagen, Myristoyl Hexapeptide-16, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Triticum Vulgare Oil, Organice Simmondsia Chinesis Seed Oil, Organic Argania Spinosa Oil, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Hydrolized Glycosaminoglycans, Urtica Diocia Extract, Mica, Iron Oxide Black***

It looks like the ingredients are the standard mascara waxes, stabilizers, and colorants, plus several plant-derived products like argan and jojoba oil, kelp, arnica, and chamomile, among others.

The hourglass wand has small rubbery bristles and flares into a rounder shape at the end for getting at corner lashes. You can see a picture of it at my other review. This tube’s formula was much more hydrated than the previous one, and the black stood out strongly. It went on my lashes easily and left me with defined, separated black lashes.

For comparison, I applied one coat of EnvyDerm on one eye and one coat of Bare Minerals Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara on the other eye. The BM gave me more volume, I think, but it’s not a huge difference.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I like the black much better than the brown I got the first time. This time, the formula was nice and saturated, similar to the formula of the mascara I used in comparison. I used the EnvyDerm often for work, because it gave me well-defined but natural looking lashes. I do prefer a little more volume, but this was a really nice mascara for everyday wear. I didn’t notice any volumizing effects over time, even when I wore it every day for several weeks.

My philosophy on mascara is that the magic is mostly in the brush, and that drugstore is just as good as luxe. That doesn’t stop me from buying my fav Too Faced Better than Sex, but I try to buy it infrequently and get by with drugstore brand price points. EnvyDerm is $30, which I think is still too much for mascara, but I feel much better better about this tube that EnvyDerm sent me than I did about the last one. I think this formula in black gives a great natural, well-defined look that probably adds volume for people with sparser lashes. I’d recommend it if you can easily afford it.

What do you think? What’s your go-to mascara?

* http://www.envyderm.com/about-us (retrieved 2015-Feb-17)
** http://www.envyderm.com/envyderm-black-volume-mascara (retrieved 2015-Feb-17)
*** from product packaging