5 Things You Should Know About MAC Upward Lash Mascara ($22)
- You might feel compelled to say, “ONWARD AND UPWARD!” to your lashes every time you open the tube — and yes, it is perfectly normal to talk to your lashes (well…).
- The compact brush might remind you of other compact things, like kittens! You may even start to think, “Hey! I should get another kitten or two, or 12.”
- The glossy black finish makes my lashes look exactly like the fur of this black cat in my neighborhood that I’ve been trying to befriend for, like, ages. Bribing the neighborhood cats with treats usually works, but this cat is wise to my tricks.
Oh, well. Sooner or later, I’ll wear her down.
- Your (and by “your” I mean “my”) current MAC mascara love, Extended Play Gigablack Lash, will start to wonder if your three-year love affair is over because you haven’t reached for it in days.
Reassure it by stroking it gently. Try not to look like a pervert.
- Friends may mistake your tube of Upward Lash for an XXL tube of MAC Lipstick, because doesn’t it look like one?!
OMG! Can you imagine?
Anyway, feel free to toy with their emotions by saying, “Yes, it’s a giant tube of MAC Lady Danger.” 🙂
The nitty-gritty details about MAC Upward Lash
- The latest mascara to be added to the MAC permanent line, it’s $22 and available now online and at MAC stores and counters in a single shade called Upward Black.
- It does it all, quickly adding dramatic lift, volume, curl and separation while giving lashes a glossy, black finish.
- The brush head is weird! It’s small — about half the size of a standard mascara brush head — and the bristles are nubby and spiky like Chanel le Volume de Chanel, only smaller.
WARNING: Be careful not to poke your eye out (I almost did the first couple times).
- It’s a great mascara for quick length and volume, especially at the base. Lashes start thicker at the roots and taper out, looking long, stretched and lifted, and it only takes one coat. The results are that dramatic.
But the thing is, the brush isn’t ideal for getting good lash separation. It likes to herd my lashes into groups of two or three, resulting in spiky lashes, as opposed to highly separated lashes that look like a feather.
- The first few times I ran this mascara through my lashes, the brush touched the skin behind my lashes and left a lot of product on my lids, so you might want to place an index card or a finger back there while you practice and get used to it.
- The formula is easy to remove, and I haven’t noticed any flaking or smudging.
I like this mascara. I do. The look is bold, dramatic and fast, in that I don’t have to sit there applying layer upon layer…
The only thing is the brush… It’s different, so while you’re getting used to it, it might leave a small mess behind. If you like spiky lash looks that are dark and glossy with lots of length, lift and volume, give MAC Upward Lash a try.
PRICE: $22
AVAILABILITY: Permanent, and available now online and at MAC stores and counters
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B/B+ (I’m partial to lashes that look more feathery, but sometimes I like spiky lashes too)
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
karen sez:
The compact brush might remind you of other compact things, like kittens! You may even start to think, “Hey! I should get another kitten or two, or 12.”
jessica sez:
ohhhh no. NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO MORE CATS
if you want another cat PLEASE TAKE PEBBLES. She peed on me while I was still asleep this morning. Think cat pee lake. My down comforter caught all of it and we are off to the vet AGAIN tomorrow……she’s completely mental.
Do you want an instant BFF emotionally clingy high maintenance insecure medium hair orange cat? She will be your instant BFF FOREVER. Besides, Tabs needs a lady.
Aww, Pebbles! I hope that she’s ok. Good luck at the vet tomorrow. The last time Tabs went he projectile vomited and then pooped all over El Hub. 🙁
I would LOVE to get Tabs a lady friend, by the way, but I have a feeling getting them to the place where they could be BFFs would take a long time. He’s very territorial.
How many cats do you have?
Three. I got all….well, i got all squishy-hearted and got sucked into Pebbles.
You can HAVE. HER.
She was abandoned in The Bronx in an empty apartment, starving. She had six kittens. 4 of them died. I was going to adopt one, for my cat Isis, so I thought, hey, why not get mom too, they can stay together forever. Then the kitten died and I just could not back out of adopting Pebbs, so I got her and a kitten from a different litter and Pebbles has some real serious issues.
But she will be your personal diet assistant, and she will love you instantly and forever, she will pee on you in your sleep, and you can have her.
Gosh, i would love Pebbles!! I wish i was in a nearby area but I’m in Australia. I just lost my 15yr old ginger cat Fella…i miss him heaps. Lol..ginger cats sure have their eccentric ways, huh? But win them over, you have their love forever. Black cats are like that also..my black cat girl would be onto those treatie-winning tricks straight away too..and run off too! 🙂
Not really my style, but I’m on the lookout for a new mascara. My eyes are just super irritated by my beloved Chanel these days. I’m using a sample of the new DiorShow formula right now and it’s all right.
I look goofy right now because I have falsies on one eye. I’ve never put them on myself before, but I put a couple of eyelash trios on and it looks good! I need to wear them for some of my performances, and don’t want to rely on others to put them on.
Good for you! If you keep at it, then soon enough putting them on will be easy-peasy. Which ones did you use?
These Ardell ones I got at Sally Beauty! I’m working the door at my friend’s burlesque show next week, so I’ll do a full test run there! (She recommended this glue by Kiss which seemed to work wonderfully)
Ardell makes great lashes. Super comfy and affordably priced! Whatever you do don’t get the Duo lash glue, ’cause it stinks.
I’ll make a note to try the Kiss glue. 🙂
Did you manage to get the falsies on the other eye?
I didn’t even try, LOL! I just wanted to see if I could do it at all!
Now you know you can, yay! Wait till you graduate to full strip lashes. It’s only a matter of time.
Great review Karen. I wanted to try it, but with your detailed review, I don’t think this is the mascara for me. I need full and long. I’m actually thinking about getting eyelash extensions. Have you ever done that?
Hi Sarah, I’ve wanted to for the longest time but have never done it. Part of the reason is I’ve heard you can’t wear mascara when you have lash extensions, and I need to be able to do that in order to test things. I’ve also heard that you have to be really good about keeping them up, otherwise your lashes can start looking a little wonky. I’m not ruling them out in the future, but for now I can’t do them. I have friends who’ve done it and love it!
I’ve never tried a MAC mascara, this one looks pretty rad! Though I already have as many kittens as my strata will allow 🙂
Thanks for the review. My HG at the moment is MAC gigaplay extended lash. And so I believe yours too. Which one do you prefer? Do you think that using them together will be an option.
Love from The Netherlands.
I have never gotten along with MAC mascaras, the all turn clumpy on me.
Yeah, feather beats spikes. I don’t necessarily dislike the result though.
Awesome! I’ve been wondering about this mascara and now I have all the info!
Part of me wants to try this just because it looks like a giant MAC lipstick lol. It does seem to give lots of volume at the base but I like my mascaras to give a little more length. Looks like I’m sticking to my Extreme Dimension
This brush looks identical to Sephora’s outrageous curl mascara wich I love. So now I’m curious how much different are they to each other? Because sephoras mascara is only 12 bucks!
Hi Dee Dee,
I haven’t tried that one yet. I have a Sephora trip planned for later on this week so hmm… Maybe I’ll check that mascara out! How does it do in terms of volume?
I actually use it for volume not for the curling aspect because my lashes are super curly already buy i love how black and thick the sephora curl mascara makes my thin, short, curled lashes look