Yet to find a holy grail

If there's one make-up item that I'm constantly striving to find that holy grail moment with, it' is mascara. I've never been particularly faithful to just one and I'm starting to think that maybe my ideal mascara just doesn't really exist as one product. 

For this reason, I tend to stick to drugstore/high street mascaras and my current stack shows this, minus one which I did decide to take the plunge and splash out on. My lashes aren't really anything special, they are relatively straight naturally so I usually curl my lashes beforehand with my Shu Uemura Lash Curlers with the hopes that they will hold the curl for as long as possible. With mascaras, I try to only keep them for a maximum of six months before repurchasing or trying out something else but sometimes the odd one does slip through! 

So as for the mentioned high end mascara, I bought the YSL Babydoll a while ago and I have to say, this and one other have come pretty close to holy grail status. The packaging alone is enough to make it a winner and it easily creates length and volume without any flaking or smudging. The only thing I've found is it sometimes irritates my eyes and I'm not sure if it's the scent or just the formula doesn't agree with me. Otherwise, this is a pretty great mascara.

Now onto the drugstore offerings and there are quite a few! Let's get the negatives out of the way first and give a quick mention to Rimmel's Kate Rockin' Curves, which I found extremely difficult to use.  I really love Kate Moss' other Rimmel products so I had high hopes for this one but sadly it let me down in a very big way. I just didn't really understand the reasoning behind the curved brush, I just found it really strange and more of a hindrance than a help. The positive; once I did eventually apply the product, it did leave my lashes looking slightly lengthened. One other disappointment was the Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde, which left my lashes looking stick straight, despite them being significantly lengthened. This was another that I found quite difficult to apply, it did coat every lash but I just didn't really like the end result. This one is definitely not for me.

Onto the positives! Revlon Lash Potion These are both L'Oreal offerings and the first is the Miss Manga Mega Volume. I love how this mascara leaves my lashes looking, they have added volume and length and the curl holds practically all day, I'm now intrigued by the waterproof version of this too. The one thing I would have to say is that the flexible brush is slightly unnecessary and I feel you'd get so much more control without it. That being said, this is my go-to mascara at the moment. The next L'Oreal offering is the False Lash Telescopic (again, I'd like to try the waterproof version) and this was what I reached for the most until I discovered the Miss Manga. I just find this so easy to apply and it doesn't flake or smudge in the slightest, while the brush is great for coating the lashes and getting to the inner corners too. Close, but not quite holy grail?

What is your favourite mascara? Have you found your holy grail?