Dior Diorshow Mascara...

On my quest to find the perfect non waterproof mascara for my lashes I've stumbled upon a few that I would consider repurchasing even though they're not quite what I would qualify as HG.

The most notables until now...

Dior Iconic, so far is The One! Sadly the brush is a pain with it's tight bristles. I get about six weeks of use out of it, after that due to the fact the formula thickens a little, the brush becomes hard to work with.

Estée Lauder Sumptuous, an excellent formula combined with a good brush, this one is at the top of my list. Goes on smoothly, keeps the curl and doesn't flake. 

Benefit They're Real!, superior to Estée Lauder (in summer) but the brush now annoys me a little and the formula crumbles under cold Canadian temperatures.

Clinique High Impact, good formula, easy to work with brush, this one almost made it but for some reason on some days it doesn't hold the curl. 

The latest contender?

Let's think for a minute that maybe, just maybe all the Dior mascaras have the same formula but in different containers with different brushes... Yes there are companies out there that do this! Notice how some can launch up to three "new" mascaras a year?

Dior Diorshow Mascara...

As mentioned Diorshow Iconic has an amazing formula so could it be possible that it and Diorshow share the same mysterious recipe but with different brushes?

Sadly no!

Diorshow I was told was developed for last minute back stage "oomphing" up lashes and that, it does beautifully. It thickens and lengthens in two coats, dries fast and will definitely achieve great results on someone who already has lots of naturally curly lashes. Yes ladies, they are out there those who need neither mascara nor a lash curler... don't you hate them? 

Nah just kidding! :)

The brush of Diorshow, although huge, works nicely with the formula and unlike Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara, the product gets evenly distributed on the brush when you take it out of the container. On the picture below you can see there is less mascara on the tip of the Diorshow brush (top).

How does it perform? Read on...

It gives me long thick lashes with no clumps, resists the heat of my lash curler (remember I heat mine with a hair dryer otherwise I get no curl) but for some reason on some days the curl can last up to nine hours while on others I'll get barely two! This puzzles me since I always do the same thing and no, this doesn't happen on hot humid days so I have no smart explanation for this.

On me, it flakes!!! Weird again since this doesn't happen every day just like the curl doesn't hold the same from one day to the next... 

Is my Diorshow Mascara possessed?

Well probably not but it sure is a little cray cray, unstable I mean. Friday it did great and lasted an entire work day but Saturday it did poorly! Same weather except maybe I was outside a little more. When it flakes it doesn't do so in a discrete fashion but instead with big specs so I sometimes end up with black spots on my cheeks!!! Oh and it smudges a little! Now this is something I didn't expect. It does so very lightly in the outer corners of my eyes. I know it's Diorshow because these days I pretty much always wear the same eye makeup but with different mascaras and this happens only with this Dior offering.

The reviews...

After having written the above paragraph I decided to go have a look at some of the reviews on MakeupAlley, just the first two pages because there are 3026 in all... One confirmed something I was puzzled by, thinking it was a problem with mine only but apparently it's happened to others. After a while the wand doesn't screw back on properly and I get the feeling that if I force it it'll break and so it's the weirdest thing which has never happened to me and quite unimpressive coming from a luxury brand.

Makeup Alley: 3.5 / 5 lippies for 3026 reviews.

Beauté-test: 4 / 5 stars for 903 reviews.

Do I recommend Diorshow Mascara? Not really.

In the reviews there are many who swear by this mascara but I can't. Sadly I found it too unstable which is a description I never thought I would give a mascara. Some days are good while others not so much. Great dramatic look that can last and entire day or only a few hours, flakes here and there and a bit of smudging...

The fact that the brush is huge makes it unsuitable for short lashes.

I took my sweet time before writing this review because I wanted to make sure, sure I wasn't imagining things. I wore Diorshow on it's own as well as over other mascaras, namely Iconic, Benefit, Clinique and MUFE for that bit of extra oomph effect. It did that well but the flaking and smudging also happened in those instances. In other words, I really did put it to the test this past month and although it's working a little better now due to the fact it's dried up a little, it's not a formula I'll repurchase. 

If you've never tried a Dior mascara, best steer clear of this one which is $31.00 and either go for Diorshow Iconic or Diorshow Overcurl which is pretty much the brand's best seller and gets the most love from my bloguerette friends.

Now you do know there's a new one coming out don't you?

This little beauty is now available through Sephora's website though I haven't seen it in the store yet and goes for $32.00. The brush does remind me of Benefit's but from other pictures I've seen, appears to be a little thinner which I think will make it easy of use on most eye shape as well as on shorter lashes. I sincerely hope it's as good as it looks!

Do you use different mascaras in rotation or do you always go for the same one?