YSL Shocking Mascara review – Quite a Shocking Verdict!

I finally splashed out the other day on a new mascara because I’m still on my quest for my Holy Grail of mascaras! And I’d heard rave reviews about the YSL Shocking Mascara from like every Youtuber and beauty blogger going around.

I got the sales girl to try it on me before I bought it, and I was very happy with the immediate result even using the disposable mascara brushes which were different to the one that came in the bottle.

The Look I’m After: I want a big fan of long, thick, plush looking lashes. I want them to look really bold and almost false in appearance because they look so good and fluttery!

So after trying YSL Shocking for a week, what do I think of it?

The Cost: 

Very expensive and high end at $52. If it worked amazingly then I’d be alright with splashing out occasionally on a brilliant mascara. But not in this case...

The Packaging:

It is very luxurious and glamorous looking. I love the gold shiny bottle, the ‘Shocking’ written along the side, the twist top that clicks into place and how visible and bold it looks. One of the best mascara packaging I have ever seen!

The Formula:

The formula is very wet and creamy, and has an almost gel like and glossy texture to it. It’s very thick and when it’s on the brush it looks quite clumpy and lumpy. I do like the richness and the pigmentation of the black colouring. It is also scented with a quite strong rose fragrance, that actually irritates my eyes (I don’t even have sensitive eyes). Some people may appreciate the wetness of it because it allows you to layer better, but I just found it got stickier and clumpier the more it was layered.

The Brush:

The brush is absolutely terrible. The bristles are way too short and far apart, and tonnes of gunky formula gets stuck between them. The brush is supposed to distribute the mascara in a hexagonal distribution pattern, but it just makes for a clumpy, wet mess. I feel the brush is what lets the whole mascara down.

The Overall Look and Experience:

All the lashes end up getting stuck together into about 4-5 main points. There is barely any definition, and the ‘volume’ that occurs is just as a result of the wet formula gathering at the base of the lashes. I curl my lashes every day because they are very straight and because this formula is so heavy and thick, the curl drops to being nonexistent within a few hours. There is virtually no length added on and instead of volumising my lashes, it ends up making them look even sparser than before because all my lashes stick together and it makes me look like I have even less lashes.

Overall I just am insanely disappointed with this. My eyes feel irritated and heavy when I use it due to the intense fragrance and the heaviness of the formula weighing my lashes down. Without a curl my lashes just look bland and unimpressive. I wanted the look of a full fan of long and thick lashes, and this achieves neither. Plus it set me back $52!

Verdict: C- (and that’s probably being too nice)

Perhaps when I went to the store and they tried it on me first, their disposable thick bristled brushes worked with the formula way better and it looked far nicer. They were able to distribute the product in much better manner. But with the brush that it comes with, it just takes so much time and effort to get them looking even vaguely nice. Every time I choose to use this I end up wishing I had chosen one of my other mascaras. 

To be honest I should have simply paid more attention to what the Sales girls lashes looked like. She was wearing Shocking and her lashes were so clumped together there were virtually 5 points and it reminded me of a star. I don’t know whether she thought this looked good, but I remember thinking ‘it’s okay I can just apply it differently to get the look I want’.

So I am going to try and return this today (they let me phew!). What a depressing experience! I have heard that it works far better with a primer such as Dior’s Lash Maximiser underneath, but I shouldn’t have to spend over $100 to get nice lashes. It should just work brilliantly on its own. I don’t understand why this works so much better for others, how can so many people love it if this is how it works and looks? I’ve tried everything to apply it nicely as well, such a slow wiggle, doing the tips first, layering it, etc.

I thought this would be my Holy Grail, but now the search continues. I think I’m going to examine the Dior mascaras as I’ve used Diorshow Extace before and absolutely loved that.

Any suggestions from you guys would be enormously appreciated. Let me know what your favourite mascaras are and what you recommend I should try! And tell me if you’ve had an experience with YSL Shocking and what you think of it?