From Bold to Barely There: For the Love of Mascara!
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara & YSL Lash Clash edition...
Black mascara has been the default, since like— high school, right? I vividly remember the “Maybelline Great Lash Mascara” sitting on my grandmother’s bathroom counter, buried in all of her Mary Kay products.
Who could forget their iconic tagline? “Maybe it’s her, maybe it’s Maybelline” (and that was before AI babes). Mascara didn’t just land in our make up bags by accident. She’s left countless smudges on our pillows, striking ‘smizing’ statements, and a mark on the beauty industry for over a century that’s undeniable.
So, I did what any beauty-loving girl would do, I did some research—and turns out, choosing to be innovative instead of assimilating led to one of the beauty industry’s most sustainable products to date!
→ Lash From the Past: A quick look into how we even got here…
Who is Maybelline? Cleary, resourceful…
Before she was flying off the shelves with her Sky High mascara or showing up on your timelines with Gigi Hadid, Maybelline was the ‘out the trunk’ type of hustle. In 1915, a teenage boy named Thomas Lyle Williams watched his sister Mabel darkening her lashes with Vaseline and coal dust (*the OG version of getting the spoolie wet to loosen up the product). He turned that moment into a business, created a product called Lash-Brow-Ine, and named the company after her—Maybelline (Mabel + Vaseline, if you caught it). I mean, c’mon!
Fast forward, Maybelline is one of the biggest names in beauty. It was bought by French powerhouse L’Oréal in 1996 and hasn’t looked back since.
→ Why her? She’s affordable, on-trend, and for the girls who want to look good without the hefty price tag. Think:
Great Lash—the classic pink-and-green tube that’s basically a rite of passage
Sky High mascara that went viral for a reason
Colossal Bubble mascara, TikTok shops’ MVP
And a roster of muses like Storm Reid, Jourdan Dunn, and a long legacy of faces that reflect the moment
→ Entering the chat: YSL Lash Clash [In Brown]…beauty meets couture
In 2008, L’Oréal acquired YSL Beauté from Gucci Group (now Kering) for nearly $1.8 billion, gaining full global licensing rights to the brand’s fragrances, makeup, and skincare. Talk about a takeover. YSL Beauté is L’Oréal’s luxury problem child, in the best way. Fashion-rooted, the powerhouse has never been scared to push the needle. The same house that gave us Opium and Touche Éclat now drops brown mascara like it’s a quiet revolution. tuh, go figure!
I know I’m late. Being a makeup artist the last 10 years and just getting hip to the power of the brown…I must say, is a lil’ crazy! BUT let’s stay in the moment, and appreciate the soft, and sultry feels that come in this tube.
I’m definitely a ‘clean make-up’ girlie—don’t get me wrong, but I also love a full glam moment too. Y’know, the baby doll lashes, modern day cut-creases, lil’ sun kissed blush, and a bomb nude lip combo (or mauve); but ever since my bestfriend (Juvaughn Scurlock: YSL Regional Artist) blessed my lashes with this particular mascara— I couldn’t stop looking at myself.
Why it works…
First things first, the texture! I mean, one swipe and it’s there. Lash clash is known for its buildable formula, and high volume impact. But, the way YSL Lash Clash in brown gives you that low-lit speak easy vibe, the “I”m here” vs the “Look at Me”. It got me! The subtle yet powerful. If you ask me, YSL Beauty single-handidly reshaped luxury cosmetics by bringing runway-level boldness to everyday beauty counters. It’s couture’s beauty sidekick.
→ Let’s Wrap it up…
Funny how something as small as mascara can literally shift the way you see yourself.
I wanna be clear. I will always love black mascara. Simply because she’s one of those enhancements that gives you just enough boost. Like getting your eyebrows done, or a good wax. But, what if we started noticing what actually works for us— and not just what’s popular or loud? Moving with more intention, more ease, and more curiosity. Could we be more innovative like Maybelline—or tap into something more sustainable like YSL? They built a whole Ourika Community Garden in Morocco, where local women grow the botanicals used in their skincare…. THINK BIG B*TCH!
That’s where I’m at right now.
Thanks for reading,
-Sadé (SweetFace)
you thinking small, when you need to be thinking big, THINK BIG B*TCH! I'm going to try the brown mascara and report back! XOXO