Do you feel like you’re always searching for a great mascara?  There’s just something about mascara.  Even after you’ve found one you like (even one you love), you’re still ready to be seduced by a better one.  I don’t feel that way about lipsticks, blushes, or eyeshadows.  Just mascaras, and maybe concealers, but that’s another post.

I received a sample of Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara ($26) in one of my Sephora orders.  I was in a pretty serious relationship with Armani’s Eyes to Kill at the time, so I put it in the bottom drawer and promptly forgot about it.  That is until my go-to mascara started to show its age, and started giving me trouble, in the form of flaking. So I decided to dip into the sample drawer.

Just a little harmless flirtation, I’d be back with my main squeeze just as soon as Sephora’s Flash Shipping could get my go-to tube acting right again.

The first time I applied the Velvet Noir, it was a bit messy.  I immediately regretted my infidelity, and longed for my old mascara.  But as there was one day to go before my delivery arrived, I was just going to have to make it work.  So I scraped the excess product off the tapered wand, and tried again.

Sometimes with a new love, you have to learn new tricks.  In the case of Velvet Noir, the brush requires a new technique.  You use the tip of the wand to apply mascara to the base of your lashes during the first coat (like in this PopSugar video).  This technique separates and lengthens the small hairs.  Then, you run the brush the entire length of the lash with a little jiggle.  And lastly, you fluff and fan the outer lashes with the tip of the wand to give you a doe-eyed look.

It’s a bit more work, but it’s worth it.  I’m getting such great definition that I exchanged my Eyes to Kill for a full-size tube of Marc Jacobs.  I also haven’t experienced any flaking or smudging, though you can get a little bit of transfer if you sneeze before it dries (lessons learned the hard way).  No mascara is perfect, but this one is definitely perfect right now.

Need an affordable dupe?  I hunted around and discovered two different mascaras that are said to give a similar effect. The first is L’Oreal Lash Paradise, a 2017 Allure Best of Beauty winner.  And Essence’s Lash Princess, which has a similarly shaped brush to really get the product to the base of the lashes.

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