Somewhere along my tour of Maybelline mascaras and during an Ulta sale, I picked up the classic Colossal mascara from Maybelline’s Volum’Express line. I had it hoarded away for a while but have been breaking it out recently and have some thoughts and photos of it to share today. The Colossal has a “mega brush” and collagen formula to give 9X volume instantly, in just one coat.

Like you see on the package, it has a pretty large natural bristle wand that doesn’t look particularly special (at least to me). I bought the washable formula in Glam Black, and was optimistic because I’ve heard some pretty good things about this mascara from other people.

Honestly, I liked it right from the start. It’s somewhat wet, which keeps it from getting too clumpy but I also don’t have an issue with getting it all over my eyelids. I just have to be a little careful to keep my eyes relaxed for a moment after applying it so that it doesn’t transfer to my brow bone.

The color is pretty black, and the volume I get from just one coat is sufficient for me. I don’t find that my lashes clump together too much, so the wand is doing a fine job of separating. It does ok on length and curl, as well, but I’d definitely say that volume is it’s specialty.

Under normal circumstances, I don’t find that this mascara smudges or flakes on me, but I did notice smudging when it was warmer out earlier in the summer. I’ve had this mascara open since May, but I only used it a few times before determining I needed a waterproof option for traveling (it was monsoon season in India, after all), and so I had it tucked away since then until September. I did notice some smudging initially in May as the weather was really starting to warm up, but since I’ve reopened it in the fall I haven’t noticed one bit of smudging. So I think whether this works well for you will just depend on your environment, if that makes sense.

I personally like this better than The Rocket from Maybelline (review), because it separates a little better and is also easier to remove at the end of the day. The one thing I have trouble with is applying a light amount to my bottom lashes, but I guess that’s just how it goes with these kinds of volumizing mascaras. The brush is kind of big and deposits more product than I’d prefer. Other than that, I find it to be a really great everyday mascara.

You can also see me wearing it here.

The Colossal costs around $7 at drugstores and Ulta. Have you tried it? Do you enjoy it?

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