Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara Review – Before & After

What is Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara?

Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara is a volumising and lifting mascara designed to give lashes a more dramatic, panoramic effect.

The formula is intensely pigmented and the moulded brush is designed to coat the lashes from root to tip, including the smaller lashes at the inner and outer corners.

The result is intended to be very black, lifted and defined lashes, with the ability to build the intensity with additional coats. And I think the buildability is one of the best things about it.

You can absolutely wear this as an everyday mascara, but if you want more drama, you can keep building it.

Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara Key Features:

• Intensely pigmented black formula
• Lifts and defines the lashes
• Gives a dramatic, eye-opening effect
• Buildable from one coat to a more intense look
• Curved, hourglass-shaped moulded brush
• Coats lashes from root to tip
• Helps separate and define individual lashes
• Flexible formula that doesn’t leave lashes feeling overly stiff
• Available in different shades
• Designed for long-lasting wear

My Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara Review

The packaging

Let’s start with the packaging because this is where Marc Jacobs has taken a very different direction. The old Marc Jacobs Beauty packaging was very sleek and grown-up. Think plain black, black and gold, elegant and very much my kind of thing.

The new Flashes Mascara is much more playful. It has this lilac, star-shaped tube with a metallic star detail on the lid and, well, it’s definitely having a bit more fun!

I’m going to be honest and say that it isn’t really my aesthetic. I preferred the sleek black and gold packaging of the old range and, for me, this feels a little less grown-up.

Aside from that, it actually feels really nice in the hand and I’m more than happy to have it in my makeup bag. It’s just not necessarily the packaging I’d have chosen for myself.

The brush

I really like the brush. It’s a curved, hourglass-shaped moulded wand, and I find the shape makes it very easy to get right into the base of the lashes.

It’s also quite precise, which I appreciate. I don’t want a mascara wand that feels like it’s going to end up all over my eyelid, and I find that happens quite easily with some mascaras.

The shape allows me to work through the lashes, and I find I can get right into the corners without too much faffing around. And there’s another thing worth mentioning. The wand holds quite a lot of product. That means you get a serious hit of pigment with very little effort.

The formula

This is where Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara really won me over. It gives me seriously black, lifted, defined and dramatic lashes, but without feeling stiff or crunchy, and I can build it up depending on how much drama I want. I get a really noticeable result from just one coat.

It’s also VERY black, which I love. I’m not really into the current no-mascara trend. I like my lashes to look like I’ve actually put mascara on! This gives you that proper mascara effect without needing loads of coats.

The formula is also really buildable, which is something I loved about the old AtLash’d Mascara. You can put on one coat and stop there for a more defined daytime look, or keep building if you want something much more dramatic.

I’ve shown before and after pictures with a fairly moderate application because I wasn’t trying to create enormous, false-looking lashes. But you could definitely take this further.

And I really like the way the formula stays flexible on the lashes. That’s important to me because I don’t like mascara that dries down so hard that my lashes feel stiff and crunchy.

With this, I can add another coat later in the day if I want more drama without it feeling like I’m putting a layer of dried-up mascara over the top.

How does it wear?

For me, it wears really well, with one exception: watery eyes. The lift stays nicely in my lashes and they continue to look curled and defined, and it doesn’t get crusty as the day goes on.

That flexibility means I can actually keep the mascara in my makeup bag and add another coat later if I want a bit more drama. That’s something I really appreciate in a mascara.

Is Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara waterproof or smudge-proof?

This is one thing I would flag if you have very watery eyes. This isn’t a waterproof or tubing mascara, and if your eyes start watering, it can smudge a little.

I had this happen one day when one of my eyes was particularly watery and I did have to give it a little wipe underneath. It wasn’t a massive problem, though. It wiped away quite easily and, importantly, the mascara on my lashes still looked really good afterwards. It’s not a deal breaker for me at all, but I think it’s worth knowing.

If you’re someone whose eyes water a lot, I’d probably go for a waterproof or tubing formula instead. And if you’re planning on crying, sweating heavily at the gym or doing anything else where your eyes might be streaming, this probably wouldn’t be my first choice!

For everyday wear, though, I’m absolutely fine with it. You just need to keep an eye on your makeup if your eyes decide to start watering.

Is Marc Jacobs Flashes Mascara easy to remove?

This is my other slight downside. Because the wand picks up quite a lot of product and the pigment is so intense, you do need to make sure you properly remove it at the end of the day.

I would usually expect an oil-based first cleanse to get most mascaras off, but with this I find I need to give my lashes a second cleanse. You just need to make sure you take it off properly before bed, otherwise you could potentially wake up with a few panda eyes.