During my visit to The Makeup Show, I received a generous bag of goodies to try and review from the participating brands. It’s one of the most fun parts of visiting the show, because I get to try a ton of new things. I’ve discovered a lot of great products this way. In this year’s bag, media visitors received Benefit Bad Gal Bang mascara. I was surprised. First, this product has been out for a little while–it launched in February of this year. But then I realized I didn’t hear a ton about this, and I haven’t heard about it recently. So I honestly didn’t know what to expect. But I’m always down to try a new mascara! I’ve been test driving Bad Gal Bang for a few days now, and I’m ready to share my thoughts.

First, what does Benefit have to say about Bad Gal Bang?

“BADgal BANG! 36 HOUR* FULL-BLAST volumizing mascara creates MASSIVE volume without weighing down lashes. The gravity-defying formula builds volume the more you layer, and 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. Its custom big Slimpact! brush is streamlined to reach root-to-tip, corner-to-corner, upper & lower lashes for BIG VOLUME WITH 360° REACH!” 

Wow…so my mascara has space technology particles in it. Fancy. 💁🏻‍♀️

The brush on this mascara is a tapered synthetic bristle brush. It’s fairly large, so I was kind of intimidated about getting it into the corners of my eyes without bumping my nose or something, but I managed to get into those harder to reach areas of my eye area without incident. It doesn’t have those pokey-scratchy bristles that some synthetic brushes have, either.

I would say you can definitely see volume has been added to my lashes. They look thicker and blacker, similar to the (probably enhanced) photos on the Benefit website. I also definitely see added length. In this photo I’ve applied just a single coat. To be honest, I’m not a mascara layering kind of gal. I don’t have the patience to layer my mascaras up. If they don’t work with one or two coats, I’m over it.

A large reason behind my intrigue towards Benefit Bad Gal Bang mascara was its claim of being smudge-proof. I’m not sure if it’s due to my eye shape, but everything smudges on me. EVERYTHING. (Translation: I’m pretty sure it’s due to my eye shape, but also don’t want to admit that since hitting my 30s I need much more emollient under eye products that are also contributing to the problem.)  So when a mascara claims to be smudge-proof, my ears perk. I’m happy (and shocked) to report no smudging with this mascara! It’s not waterproof (but does label itself water-resistant), and yet doesn’t smudge. Impressive, Benefit. I see you.

Lastly, I did a wear test after curling my lashes (a step I’m 99.9% of the time too lazy to do). My lashes often point straight down and get stuck to my bottom lashes, but today they’ve remained curled with this mascara. They aren’t exactly reaching for the sky, but I still call this a win.

So is it worth paying the high end mascara price? Well I’m certainly glad I got to try it for free first, because shelling out high end prices for a mascara that has to be thrown out in 3-6 months is not my style. But I have to admit, this is a great mascara and I’m really happy with it. Would I repurchase? It’s definitely within the realm of possibility. The lack of smudges is a pretty big deal to me. This mascara might just be the one that gets me to cross over to the high end mascara dark side.

Benefit Bad Gal Bang mascara retails for $25 for a full size, and $13 for a mini at Sephora, Ulta, and Benefit’s website. Don’t forget your Ebates. ;)