Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System Review

Here's the lastest in mascara by Too Faced. It's a two-piece Nylon Lash Extension System consisting of a Mascara Activator and Sealer and a small tube of Nylon Lash Enhancing Fibers (the extensions). That sounds rather complicated, but it really isn't. It's very easy to use.


The front flap of the box lifts open to reveal the products, presented beautifully in a black velvet tray. Underneath the front flap, a detailed set of instructions. Flip the box over to see a little more information on the product and a list of ingredients.


The golden tube contains step one and three of the process, the Activating Mascara Top & Base Coat. The smaller, white tube contains the Flexistrech™ Nylon Lash Fibers.


The Activating Mascara Base & Top Coat is a black mascara and comes with a thin, stiff-bristled mascara wand. Very good at separating and defining the individual lashes. This seems to be a tubing mascara, like the original Too Faced Lash Injection. It has a stretchy texture when dry, and comes off in little stringy strands instead of melting when warm water and pressure are applied.


The Flexistrech™ Nylon Lash Fibers are little loose strands of nylon fiber. They're very thin, light and wispy, almost like a tube full of spiderwebs. The applicator is a tight spool brush.


Go ahead... click for a closeup of the fibers. See the little fuzzy strands all wrapped around the wand?

Now, the way this works is a little different from what you might be used to, but is actually incredibly simple. The fibers are not suspended in a wet primer, like Urban Decay Eyelash Primer Potion, they're loose and dry inside the tube. They can't stick on their own, so they need something to stick to, and that would be step one, the Activating Mascara Base & Top Coat. If you've ever used something like Magic Lash, this is exactly like applying that, to give you an idea of what's involved.

Quick run-through of the directions:
  1. On clean, bare lashes, apply 1-2 coats of the Activating Mascara.
  2. Using the spool brush like you'd use a mascara wand, apply 1-2 coats of the nylon fibers directly over the wet mascara. Focus more fibers where you want more volume. Just on the ends for length, all over for volume, as much or as little as you'd like.
  3. Apply a final coat or two of the Activating Mascara to seal the fibers and stretch them out to add length.
  4. You can repeat the second and third steps for even more length and volume if you'd like, but keep a lash comb handy just in case.

So, does it work? Have a look!

For reference, this is how my lashes look naturally. No mascara, no lash curler.


Here's how they look with one coat of the Activating Mascara as a base, two coats of fibers, plus one more coat of Activating Mascara to seal it. If you look closely at the second picture, you can actually see some of the mascara-covered fibers. Kinda neat, eh?


Edited to add: Here's the result I get using normal mascara (in this case, it's Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes) and the Too Faced fibers. One coat of mascara, two coats of fibers, and then two coats of mascara to seal them. Pretty good length, right? I certainly think so.

What I liked:

  • Beautiful packaging. Clear instructions.
  • The fibers give crazy length and a little volume.
  • The system is very easy to use.
  • Defines and separates my lashes.
  • The fibers can be used with any mascara. You don't have to use the Activating Mascara if you don't want to.
  • When I used the fibers with a normal, non-tubing mascara, it gave me an almost scary amount of length. Like... almost touching my eyebrows long lashes.
  • Like Magic Lash, the more you use a mascara over the fibers, the more fibers will get mixed in and you'll end up with a tube of fiber mascara. Bonus!
  • The amount of fibers seems small (0.02 oz), but that's really a ton of product since you use so little of it each time. The fibers will last you ages after the mascara runs out.
  • I didn't experience any flaking or smudging.
  • It doesn't run or melt when you get it wet and you don't need makeup remover to remove it. It slides off easily with only warm water and pressure.

What I didn't like:

  • The Activating Mascara is very, very dry. I found it hard to get enough of it onto my lashes to make the fibers stick, or enough to cover the fibers completely. When I have a really dry mascara like this, I mix a few drops of Visine into the tube to thin out the formula a bit. But, you can use any mascara you want with the fibers, the Activating Mascara is not required for them to work. I actually get better results when I don't use the Activating Mascara.
  • The fibers irritate my eyes. Whenever I use a fiber mascara/primer or a loose lash fiber (like Magic Lash), I can always feel them. It seems like some get stuck near the lash line and tickle my eye all day. It's especially irritating when I'm wearing contacts.
  • The duo is pretty expensive at $35. On the upside, the tube of fibers will last a long time after the mascara runs out, so you'll still be getting use out of it for months afterward.
  • When used as directed, it didn't give me a false lash look. It gave me a natural, fluttery, light lash look with wispy length. I usually want tons and tons of volume out of my mascaras, but this mostly extended my lashes without adding much volume. Could be due to the tubing mascara formula of the activator, tubing mascaras always give me length with little volume.

The set really does extend my lashes quite a lot, but I didn't see the 98% increase in volume stated on the packaging. I think the fibers are really cool and are an excellent tool for effortlessly lengthening your lashes in a believable way. The system is really easy to use, it's not complicated, confusing or messy. Definitely easier than applying false lashes, but doesn't quite give the same dramatic results as fakes do. I'll have to play around with this some more and possibly thin out the Activating Mascara to see if I can build that false lash volume I crave using just these two products. Hopefully they'll sell the two pieces individually at some point, that way you can buy just the fibers (which are amazing and totally worth getting if you crave long lashes) and use your own mascara.

The Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Nylon Lash Extension System is currently a Sephora exclusive. It's $35 for the set and is not limited edition.

(This was sent for review.)

30 comments:

  1. oh no, not a fan!! It looks clumpy and makes your eyelashes look like they have split ends! Just regular mascara is a much better look.

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    1. Split ends, lol! You're right, though! I definitely prefer how it looks with normal mascara, the fibers are less visible because it covers better than the dry Activating Mascara that comes with the kit.

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    2. I think she meant just regular mascara WITHOUT any fibers... If so, I definitely agree. This has a lot of spidery danger going on... Not a fan! But I love your eyes, so pretty. :)

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    3. I think she meant a look with regular mascara WITHOUT any fibers... If so, I agree. This has a lot of spidery danger going on. :P Not a fan! But I do love your eyes though, so pretty! :)

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    4. Yes, I know what she meant, Mnemo. I just wanted to stress that the fibers look better when used with regular mascara instead of the Too Faced Activating Mascara.

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  2. Cool idea, but I don't know how practical it is, haha.

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    1. Super practical, if you ask me! Just one little extra step to add some additional length to your normal mascara. Really easy to use :)

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  3. I'd love to see you post a pic using the fibers with another mascara. My eyelashes are fine as far as length goes, but I love falsies for the volume. I've heard really great things about this and I really want to try it, but if it's mostly lengthening I'm afraid I'll just look weird :(

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    1. Sure thing! I'll do an eye of the day using it with normal mascara. If you don't want to drop $35 on the set, a couple other brands (Magic Lash, Japonesque and Make Up For Ever come to mind first) sell pure lash fibers for a little cheaper. I think the Japonesque ones in particular are only $12.

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  4. Id love to see you use this with another brand mascara. I really want to try this product but I'm not ready to plop down the $35 until I know if you can actually get volume :)

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  5. Expensive .
    Is there any other products like this ?

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  6. I can imagine that this system would not be good for anyone who wears contacts.Those fibers would drive ones eyes nuts! I thought that soon as I heard about this system. Not interested in any mascara (system or non) that is drying. That's the best part of some of the other new mascaras like Tart's Lights Camera Action and let's see - I think it's Benefit who came out with the Better Than Real which is similar. Your lashes might not get huge like they say they will...but they stay soft & pliable - so much so, you can add a new fresh coat mid day if you wanted to (not that you need to). This system you reviewed here would never be a good match for me with super sensitive eyes, contacts and plugs in my tear ducts to try and get more moisture in my eyes. I am happy with LCL and now they have a new formula of that same one that is super dark, dark black that stays shiny black.

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    1. Well, the mascara isn't drying (it's very supple and waxy feeling, actually), it's just a dry formula, hard to apply enough to get a good coat.

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  7. I've never understood why all the fiber mascaras have white fibers. It's like they want it to be difficult to cover up.

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    1. You know, I never thought about that. Why DON'T they make them black or brown to match out lashes? I wonder if there's a reason for them always being white colored.

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  8. It looks great, but the fibers would skeeve me out,I think. I have a hard enough time with my cat's hair!

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    1. Hahaha! It is definitely reminiscent of applying lint to your eyelashes XD

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  9. are there any other loose fiber brands out there? I remember my friend had one back in the 90s and lasted forever, but I haven't found anything similar before spotting this post....

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    1. Yep, check my reply to the third comment on this post!

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  10. I get irritated eyes as well, those small fibers are invisible to pick up from the eys but scratch everything on their way....

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    1. Yep, it's not as bad as when I'm wearing contacts, but I can definitely feel when I get one in my eye :(

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  11. What's the fallout on these? I've heard of some that start to fall off a couple hours later and give you eye dandruff LOL. Also I'm sorry but this made your lashes look bad :( I preferred the au naturale to the look you got with this, whether it's with their activator or another mascara even. This makes them look very stringy and like..weird. Bah. I don't even know if I would use this if I was given a free sample.

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    1. Eye dandruff, eeew! Hahaha! I had zero fallout from this. No flaking or anything.

      I think the lashes look worse in a zoomed-in macro photo than they do in real life, but I do agree that they look funny using the Too Faced combination. That mascara is too dry to cover the fibers very well. I do think they look amazing when I use a different mascara, though, so I'll have to disagree with you there!

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  12. Not related to this particular post, and you may already know, but I work for Sallys, and OPI are releasing a Minnie Mouse range this summer, and also a range to coincide with the new Spiderman film. Thought you might be interested to know. :)

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  13. I was just wondering what eye shadows did you use in your second set of pictures? Those colors are awesome!

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    1. The second set (where I'm wearing the Tarte mascara with the Too Faced fibers) is the trio from the Benefit Cabana Glama palette :)

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  14. i. need. the. primer. thanks for reviewing! awesome sauce!

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