Too Faced is one of the most popular cosmetics brands on the market today. What took them there? Many would argue it was the brand’s Chocolate Bronzers and Better Than Sex Mascara. The iconic formulation is one of Mecca’s best-selling mascaras and an influencer and celebrity favourite, beloved for its lengthening and thickening properties. So what does new to the game Damn Girl have to offer that Better Than Sex doesn’t? I had to find out.
Largely Damn Girl’s launch intrigued me because it was following on the heels of such an already iconic, beloved product. And when I heard it was volumising I was even more surprised. Better Than Sex is already volumising! How were those cosmetic chemistry white witches at Too Faced going to up the ante?
How Is Damn Girl Different?
Damn Girl, 24 Hour Mascara, claims to up just about every ante there is. Described as a “Game Changer” by Too Faced the mascara aims to provide “shocking” length and volume with a weightless finish, and intense, long-wearing jet blackness. Their dual fiber “infinity brush” hugs, lifts, separates and loads the lashes with their air “whipped,” weightless formula (the website warns – “already fully loaded. Do Not Pump.)
So, does it live up to the hype? And is it better than Better Than Sex?
It really depends what you want from your mascara.
What does Damn Girl Do?
I was shocked, and impressed by the curl, volume, and intensity of blackness this mascara delivers in a literal TOUCH of the brush. It provides on those claims tenfold. My go-to mascara is the Hourglass Caution which is described as “high impact, volume, length, and definition” mascara and Damn Girl blew it out of the water on every count.
But unless I am rocking a smokey eye, I usually prefer a more natural look. With my Hourglass mascara, you can rotate the brush head to expose your lashes to shorter bristles that deposit less product. This means you can use the mascara for many looks, natural or dramatic. There is no such option with Too Faced’s Damn Girl. This is a mascara not for the faint of heart or the shy-of-lash.
The brush is a voluptuous enormity of tightly packed hourglass bristles. It is designed to act as a “sponge” for product and emerges from it’s pink, 3D cylinder positively LOADED with Damn Girl’s proprietary jet black formula. Indeed, the brush is so large, and the amount of formula it deposits so enormous that you have to be careful applying it. I have large eyes, and I struggled to angle it around my lashes without transferring it onto the rest of my face. For those with smaller eyes, I can see this being a problem.
Another factor is referred to as “weightlessness” – an outrageous statement on Too Faced’s part! After applying this mascara I feel like I am wearing false lashes – my lashes are HEAVY but on the flip side, I look like I am wearing false lashes. And to its credit, once you have carefully applied it, the mascara doesn’t flake or smudge. After wearing it for eight hours, getting caught in the rain, attending a yoga class AND a pilates class (it’s no cross fit but hey Europe holiday, I’m trying) it looked identical to how it had applied at the beginning of my frantic, wet and sweaty day.
The Baddest, Blackest Lash You Can Get
Damn Girl is, without a doubt, the most dramatic mascara I have tried. I feel like it would be an excellent option for lash extension addicts weaning themselves off the glue. The extreme blackness is something I have never experienced from a mere mascara – that synthetic gloss I have always thought the remit of extensions and falsies. Not so anymore. Damn Girl’s hypnotically pitch, squid-ink black is the result of blending two pigments: one opaque black, one sheer and glossy pigment to create three-dimensional depth of colour on the lash. The formula is so unique Too Faced’s Jerrod Blandino has said they had to create new vats at Too Faced’s factories (which I imagine as exactly like Santa’s workshop but for every gingerbread man there’s a candy-scented eyeshadow) for the mixing process.
Returning to my Hourglass Caution Mascara after two days of Damn Girl my lashes felt next to naked. And Caution is my BIG mascara! Too Faced founder Jerrod Blandino has said that Damn Girl! is for the fearless, I don’t know if I’m Damn Girl levels of fearless every. Like my namesake favorite mascara, I’m a cautious soul and like to be able to slam the breaks. That said, I’ll be definitely keeping Damn Girl my arsenal for when I need to break out the big guns.