Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara

benefit badgal bang before and after
$24 Benefit BADgal Bang!

If I could go to Mars, but I could only bring one tube of mascara with me… LOL! It’s a variation on the “deserted island” theme.

Anyway, would I bring new Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara?

Hmm… Maybe? Perhaps for the poetic irony, because according to Benefit, BADgal BANG! does incorporate space-age technology, so there’s that… Benefit says that they used lightweight aero-particles, which were first developed by the space industry, to lift lashes to gravity-defying heights.

“BADgal BANG! 36 HOUR* FULL-BLAST volumizing mascara creates MASSIVE volume without weighing down lashes. The gravity-defying formula contains aero-particles, one of the lightest known materials, derived from space technology. This innovative intense pitch black mascara layers easily for bigger BIGGER impact. It’s custom big Slimpact! brush is streamlined to reach root-to-tip, corner-to-corner, upper lower lashes for BIG VOLUME WITH 360° REACH!”

— benefitcosmetics.com

My lashes definitely look lifted when I wear it…but seriously, not nearly lifted enough. In fact, the formula relaxes a lash curl a bit and leaves the ends of my lashes pointing out rather than sticking up (I prefer the latter look because I think my lashes look curlier that way).

benefit badgal bang closeup
Two fresh coats on my upper and lower lashes

Not that I dislike the way my lashes look when I use this mascara. I like how much longer and thicker they look, and I like the lightly glossy finish, like they’ve been dipped in lacquer. It’s a similar look to the gorgeous NARS Audacious, sans the curl hold and with slightly less volume.

On my average lashes, I’d call the overall lash look a few steps above natural but a few steps below glam — so somewhere right in the middle for length, volume and lift — and I also like that BADgal BANG! doesn’t flake or smudge. It’s also easy to remove, and I don’t need a separate long-wearing eye makeup remover to do it.

But…I want MOAR DRAMA (she roars for the millionth time)!

If your lashes are already naturally lush and long, you might like this and, heck, you might even love it enough to take to Mars. I, on the other hand, am more likely to wear it on a slow Tuesday on Earth. I mean, it’s pretty, but it isn’t nearly dramatic enough for me to pack in my Mars “go bag.”

And let’s get real — if I’m willingly hurtling my body through the Earth’s atmosphere into space for any reason, I’m gonna do it with glamorous drag queen lashes OUT TO HERE, no doubt!

benefit badgal bang full size mini

benefit badgal bang full size
The brush head is similar to the one for MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash.

BADgal Bang! only comes in black, and it’s $24 for a full-size 0.3-oz. tube (there’s also a mini 0.14-oz. tube for $12). It’s available now.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen