Rimmel's latest mascara offering: 3 looks in 1...

Rimmel's latest mascara offering is the 3 looks mascara. My initial thoughts were ones of confusion, 3 looks in 1? How can that be? Even when I got the mascara home and examined it I was still a bit perplexed. It finally occured to me that when you twist the dial, the pressure at the top of the tube increases or decreases, thus allowing more or less mascara on to the wand, depending on your desired look. You probably are a bit smarter, and worked that out quicker than me. The pictures on the advert are so exaggerated it's not even funny, so I decided to conduct my own little test to show you what the different looks you can really create are. Turning the dial to number 1 is supposed to create 3 times more volume; number 2, 5 times more volume and number 3, 10 times more volume than your ordinary lashes. Ok... so below is a picture of the wand to give you an idea of the amount of mascara released on the wand on each dial, top left is number 1, and going clockwise, 2 and 3. Sorry they are not the same size exactly, but hopefully you can see the difference in the wand each time.And below are pictures of the mascara when applied with just one coat. When twisted to number 1, lashes are really separated well with just enough volume to enhance your lashes without it being glaringly obvious you're wearing mascara, a nice natural day time look.Number 2 for me is probably the best way to wear the mascara. More volume yet still enough separation so you don't get that nasty spider looking lash situation. The only problem with this was I felt like I couldn't achieve the right length with my lashes. They seem a little stumpier in this picture. I guess I could fix this with a dash of another mascara on the tips, something specifically for lengthening.Number 3 is below, different lighting in the shot, but you get the idea. My lashes were pretty lengthy after application but I'm not too keen on the volume side of things. You can see from the top picture of the mascara wand that when the dial is on number 3, there is a LOT of mascara on the wand, and that's the problem, the bristles on the wand can't really do their job because the wand is overloaded. So instead of separating it just kind of puts a huge chunk of mascara on your lashes which you're left to try and sort out. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't use mascara a lot. I wear it everyday almost without fail, so I feel I'm a pro at applying it on myself by now! I could see myself getting in a mess with this if I wasn't so familiar with the whole process though. Looking at the picture I think it resembles the spider lashes I was talking about. My lashes are volumised but it's like I can count how many lashes I have which just isn't quite right.

My overall conclusion of the mascara: I like the idea of it more than the actual mascara. 3 looks in 1 seems too good to be true, and sadly yes it is. If you want to create 3 different looks you probably need 3 different mascaras. Personally I think it's better to have a mascara that is buildable. Examples of these are L'oreal Lash Architect, and Rimmel's Glam Eye Mascara. They really separate your lashes so you an build up the volume by applying a greater number of coats. I sort of think this mascara is trying to do too much. It works well on number 2 though, and that can be built up but then it renders the other dial numbers useless. So honestly, this is a bit of a gimmick which I clearly got suckered in to. Like I say, nice in theory, but it doesn't represent what Rimmel is about. I really rate Rimmel mascaras on the whole, I have quite a few reviews on here, but this just isn't one of their best. It's probably better for someone looking for a daytime mascara, using it on dials 1 and 2 depending on how dramatic you want your lashes, but I'd steer clear of number 3, it just doesn't deliver what it's meant to and their are plenty of better max volume mascaras out there.

Anyone tried this and had more success?