When my fellow beauty blogger Nichelle at 55 Secret Street raved about Maybelline’s launch of their vibrating mascara, Pulse Perfection, I was excited. I know there are other vibrating mascara’s out there, but right now they are out of my price range. For just $15, Maybelline’s was right up my alley. So during a recent trip to Walmart this past weekend, I found it in the beauty section a month before I expected to find it on shelves. I was ecstatic and scooped it right up. So did it work as promised?
I put the brush to my lashes and pressed the button. Tickle-city! The weird sensation of my eyelashes buzzing made me want to blink right away, especially when trying to get those tiny lashes closer to the inside corner of my 
eye. One application and I barely noticed any difference in my lashes. Two applications and it was slightly more noticeable, but not the amount of coverage that I typically like. I did notice, however, that it easily separated my lashes. Three, four, five…finally my lashes were more noticeable and dark…yet very 
clumpy. They didn’t seem to separate as well either. And no you can’t see the mascara wand vibrating, but you sure can feel it.
I would love to hear if you had better luck. I’m willing to give Maybelline’s Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara a few more tries and if I get different results then I will update this review. So what do you think when you look at these pictures? Too clumpy? Or do they look Ok to you?
Other mascara reviews on A Girl’s Gotta Spa! (sm):
- Rimmel London Sexy Curves Mascara
- Rimmel Glam’Eyes Lash Flirt Mascara
- L’Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara
- CoverGirl LashBlast Length Mascara
- Purple Lab Lashionista Modelista
- AVON superEXTEND Mascara
You are a better woman than I. I tried this out, and couldn’t get past the button being on the tip of the cap, making it difficult for me to get a firm grip on it. (*it irritated me so much I made a video of it. Heh.)
Paula - June 16th, 2009 at 8:48 pmI think that it doesn’t separate your lashes enough for what I would expect from the vibrations, let alone need you to go over them 4 or 5 times to see results just to get clumpiness.
I had higher hopes for this, but mine went back to Wal-mart.
UM I SAY NO.. TOSS OR RETURN.
ana o. - June 21st, 2009 at 2:20 pmThe mascara made your eyelashes look too thick and much too clumpy. Don’t think this is something I would really be interested in. If it works better for you after several uses with the vibrating wand, please be sure to let us know.
Paula - June 24th, 2009 at 10:47 amStick to your old favorite, I LOVE the Telecsopic, with the skinny want, I am addicted, and its only $8 bucks.
MK - June 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pmI actually loved this mascara! I have very long eyelashes…but they are blonde, and hard to cover (and still look natural.) The trick is to start as close to the base as you can get, and SLOWLY brush to the tip. Don’t move this brush from side to side at all or it will clump. I find it helps that if I start at the base, I slowly close my eye so that the blinking does part of the application for me. If you use an eyelash curler, use it BEFORE applying mascara. It only takes 2 coats of this mascara for my blonde eyelashes & I get at least 3 compliments every day on how pretty my lashes are (or asking if they’re real.)
Stephanie - June 28th, 2009 at 5:55 pm*Maybe it’s Maybelline* Well I have not yet gotten ahold of Pulse Perfection. I have done my research though, haha. I mean for a Mascara its pretty pricey. C’mon $15?? but i guess it floats my boat haha. I’ve read a few reviews and some love it and others, well not so much. I think it depends on everyone and how much makeup they like to put on. I love dark makeup. Im not emo or anything. I just absolutely love everything about the dark makeup on me ahah. Some say it gets clumpy and im NOT about CLUMPINESS but I spend up to an hour+ doing my makeup which only consists of eyeliner (liquid and pencil) and mascara. I like it PERFECT and I MEAN PERFECT. I HATE clumpiness and ALWAYS manage to NOT have it in my presence lol. It seems to be that at the THIRD layer of Pulse Perfection clumpiness begins to arise. Lashes get longer and bolder. If you love that without the clumpiness then it will be perfect for YOU! If you like a more natural look then you are most likely to just do ONE layer. Ive seen it be done and the ONE layer gives a much natural look only with longer lashes and it DOES NOT give you the “heave makeup look “. Maybe it will work on you and maybe it wont. Maybe youll love it and maybe you WONT. It seems to work on long and short lashes, depending on how much you put on and how u put it on. You are supposed to start at the base of your lashes and SLOWLY move up and DON’T wiggle the wand. Thats y clumpiness HAPPENS! I will be buying it this week (I hope) and I will get back to you on this NEW product by Maybelline. You should check out the youTube videos of women trying it on. Then if you wish to buy it, buy it and you be the judge of it!
[Gbby] - July 6th, 2009 at 11:00 pmthis product works great for me, i am a mascare fanatic ( I must own +20 different tubes of the stuff ) But i have found that not wiggling the wand is the trick, which is hard because thats all I have ever heard to do, it actually makes my lashes too big and long that i have found i cant wear this to work or church, dont want to stir the pot.
ali - July 13th, 2009 at 12:10 pmI have not tried this product yet but I just want to vent about their print ad which has a photo of what are no doubt false eyelashes!! Duh, of course her eyes look fab whose wouldn’t?! Would it be too much to ask Maybelline to use a REAL photo of REAL eyelashes with this product on them…silly me… of course it would.
I feel better now, thanks ~~
Cblack - July 15th, 2009 at 7:25 am@Cblack This is true…for all cosmetic brands. Any ad that you see for mascara has been enhanced either digitally or by using fake lashes. You might remember that the ads with Penelope Cruz for Telescopic got into trouble in the UK for false advertising at one point last year. Same goes for skin care ads…images are always enhanced. But that’s why there are beauty blogs to turn to…real people telling it like it is.
Shannon - July 15th, 2009 at 7:34 amTrue Shannon it is all ads – I didn’t mean to pick on Maybelline alone, I was just looking at their ad when I started this research…didn’t know about the trouble in UK, interesting same not possible here I suppose. Anyway thanks to the ones who start blogs like these! You all are such a big help!
Cblack - July 16th, 2009 at 6:37 ami am also pretty fed up with ads that supposedly show us product results, but in reality it is just a mastery of photoshop. Maybelline mascara seem to be very clumpy. i had similar results with colossal. the vibrating stuff i dont buy into, whether it is for mascara or razors.
Anna S. - August 21st, 2009 at 1:07 pmHave we gotten so lazy that we can’t even wiggle a mascara wand into our eyelashes without help? Not to mention all the misleading advertising that has already been mentioned.
I have to admit that I do actually LOVE one of the Maybelline mascaras: Full & Soft Waterproof — it meets all my criteria — doesn’t irritate my contacts, is waterproof, doesn’t smudge or run for at least 9 hours, and is easy to remove. Jennifer Love Hewitt (I think?) did a print ad for them for it a while back and was interviewed and said that those were her real lashes and that the make-up artist actually separated them using a pin — one at a time. Scary.
Suzy - August 21st, 2009 at 1:14 pmI would think the vibrating would be very uncomfortable! I’m not sure I like this product!
Jennifer C. - August 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 amI have tried Maybelline Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara and it works great! It makes my lashes super long – you hardly notice the vibrations- but it does tend to clump. However, the clumpiness can be fixed with a lash comb!
Tina - August 22nd, 2009 at 11:33 amWhat do I think?
Your lashes look great!
(If MINE were that long
more guys’d ask me to date!)
BTW:
As far as the ‘clumps’ others mentioned, a lash comb would just add a finishing touch.
AND:
Daphne - August 22nd, 2009 at 5:14 pmDoes this run on a battery? Does the battery last as long as the mascara?
I got the same mascara, so excited to try it out.
Cathy - August 28th, 2009 at 10:44 pmIts alright, pretty cheap though. Just like you said its very clumpy and doesnt spred well. The brush itself isnt to good either, if you hadent noticed.
LOVED IT! I just bought it today at the pharmacy and I fell in love with it from the start. My lashes are very thin and short. I with the first coat, my lashes were longer and separated. You do have to do a few coats to get the darker color but it works great. No clumps for me.
lover - October 11th, 2009 at 6:37 pmI actually liked the mascara… i found that it made the whole application process a lot more easier and less tedious.
LC - February 25th, 2010 at 1:35 amMine worked great. I bet a million bucks you applied it wrong, cuz with me it never clumps like that. DON`T WIGGLE IT JUST GO SMOOTHLY IN A STRAIGHT LINE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.
me - March 16th, 2010 at 8:15 pmIf you do it in a smooth motion like that, it`ll look beautiful! Try it!
me - March 16th, 2010 at 8:16 pmuhmmm….pretty sure i have this mascara and i love it.. what i noticed helped was curling my eyelashes before hand (alot of people think youre supposed to do it afterward…not true). also i noticed if you take your time, and as youre near the tips of your lashes leave it there for a fiew seconds. i didnt like it at first either, but i always hate makeup if its something i hadnt had before. because im not used to it. pluss i tend to load the mascara on. hahaa. i dont like that its waterproof though. i have to sit there for about an hour and peel it all of, and it all gets in my nails. i guess i can never win.
Emilyy - July 14th, 2010 at 10:41 pm