Sorry, Lancome & Clinique. L'Oreal wins this one in my 20-year-long trials. I've tried umpteen brands from drugstores to Bergdorf Goodman's insanely-priced NYC counter, and Voluminous Waterproof mascara is still my favorite. When a new mascara comes out, I sometimes try it, but so far none have given better quality or staying power than Voluminous.
I usually curl my lashes gently before applying mascara, and this one holds the curl all day long. I usually only apply one coat, since I like a natural look and the one coat makes my lashes very thick...which I need, since I'm fair and my eyes disappear without it. Used every day with an occasional glorious no-makeup weekend, a tube usually lasts me two months or so.
I'm constantly on the move with my job, home life & exercise, and even when I glisten (per Grandma, "Pigs sweat; ladies glisten") the mascara stays in place. I remove it easily with baby oil on a cotton ball (horrors! you say — it's still the best thing I've found to remove makeup, and my skin and eyes are in excellent condition).
Icing on the cake? Often drugstores will have sales on L'Oreal makeup, so you can get a tube for about $5. That suits my Jewish/Scottish sensibilities just fine.

This is the only mascara that I toss out after the second use. The first time I applied it, I noticed it smeared quite a bit during the day. I had to remove the smudges under my eyes several times. Second time was on a particularly warm day. I was out running errands and didn't check the mirror. Came home and was shocked to find so much dark smudges under my eyes. Very disappointed.

I really like the way this mascara separates and elongates my lashes, however after about an our or so the tips of my lashes leave black smudges under my eyebrows. I guess I'm lucky that I have long lashes, but I should at least be able to go a couple hours without my mascara smudging all over my face. I've even tried using primers and powders on my eyelids to prevent this, but it always manages to sneak its way onto my skin. On the other hand, I do like that it is very waterproof and does not come off with water alone. Hopefully this helps!

This mascara quickly climbed itself to one of my top favorite mascaras and I was definitely impressed with it. It gave me GREAT volume and length. As for curl, it was good but could've been better and doesn't stay curled all day. Also, this mascara does tend to clump so you might have to be careful about that ... but other than those 2 small factors ... this mascara is great! Especially for it's price!

Great volumizing mascara. The brush is also easy to use.

Just got my second tube of voluminous waterproof. I wanted to try it out again because I forgot how it is, plus it continues to have decent reviews. The mascara is more "voluminous" only after the product thickens over time. When it's brand new, I have to use a few coats for thicker looking lashes. The worse part is...this mascara droops my recently curled lashes....instead of pointing up, they will point straight out. Mmm..probably won't buy again.

definitly not the best. i wouldn't recommend it to anyone. i only brought it cause of the hype & it was an epic fail so yea.. don't get it(:

I have used this line in particular for a while. At the current moment I am using both the waterproof version along with the regular version as well. The color is very dark and goes on well. The formula is smooth and creamy enough and doesnt clump. My only issue wirh this mascara really is the fact that it doesnt come off so easy. Of course its waterproof and it certainly does have lasting power although you will need a good make-up remover to take this bad boy off..Doesnt give much length or thickness in my opinion but the dark tone of the mascara definetly adds drama to your eyes.

Got this on suggestion from my college roommate who raved about it. Maybe she got a better tube than I did, because I threw mine out. It was super clumpy and smeary, and did nothing for my lashes but make them stick together. Didn't like it.

So far so good :)!

I've had this mascara for two days now. TWO VERY ROUGH DAYS.
I"ve ran 5 miles, I"ve cried, I"ve slept with make up ( which is really bad...but it was only for like 30 minutes xD) and it really didn't come off. Normally I have extremely oil eyelids but it hasn't smudged on me! I have a marathon and an amusement park day planned, so we'll have to see if it pasts those two~

Normally waterproof mascaras smudge all over me ( which is typical of maybelline waterproof mascaras for some reason)

This has held up its curl decently, has not smudged on me, is easy to remove with some oil-based makeup remover!

It's cheaper than most mascaras, not dirt cheap but not as much as covergirl lashblast!

I just wish the packaging was more appealing.....but I guess it's classy :)