Hard Candy 4 Day Lash Ink Stain Review

 Hard Candy's 4 Day Lash Ink Stain is a "mascara that won't quit til you do". According to Hard Candy, this lash stain will hold up through tears, swimming, showers, rain, and rubbing your eyes, making it "perfect for a weekend away or partying all night long." I purchased this mascara for my trip to Australia, because I figured no other mascara can stand up to a long haul flight. Hard Candy, a former high end brand previously sold at Sephora and department stores, is now exclusively available at Walmart in America and Canada. I purchased this mascara for $7 for 10.8g (.38oz). Hard Candy products are made in the USA and are not tested on animals.

 [why?]

Lash Ink comes in a cardboard tube, which is entirely unnecessary. The front of the black tube features the name of the product in fancy silver lettering, along with a silver feather. The back of the tube features a product description, as a well as a full ingredient list. I'm really not sure what motivated Hard Candy to package their lash stain this way. It's wasteful and very bulky. I'm not really feeling the actual mascara tube either. It's also black and has all the same information and logo printed on it. The cap is way too large in proportion to the rest of the tube. Maybe I'm being too analytical of the packaging, but it looks off and I hate when companies over-package their products. It rarely looks good and ups the price. 

Lash Ink's brush isn't good at all either. It may as well be a generic spooly. It does nothing for my lashes and actually seems to cause clumping. It's such a basic brush that there's barely anything to say about it. The traditional bristles are super short and spiral around the wand, coming to a fairly blunt tip. The bristles are spaced fairly far apart, so don't expect separation. I tend to use a different brush from an old mascara with this because of how much I dislike the one it comes with.

 Lash Ink's formula is very thin and inky, like the name would imply. It has the texture of a lash lacquer, but applies more like a mascara. The first coat merely darkens your lashes. Anymore than two coats is asking for clumping. This mascara stays wet for a bit longer than I'd like. After it dries my lashes become quite crunchy, dry, and brittle. This definitely isn't a lash lacquer you'd like if you want soft, enhanced lashes. One bonus though? Lash ink is very, very dark, so this may be a good option for you if you have light lashes that you want to look darker but still natural.

[clumps when damp]

Does Hard Candy's 4 Day Lash Ink Stain really last four days? I can't tell you that as I can't bear to have it on for more than 2 days. It gets super itchy and uncomfortable after 12-16 hours, so itchy that I want to pull my lashes out. It wears well through out two days though, very little flakes and no smudges. It's survived my flights from Pittsburgh to Sydney and back (about 23 hours) and then some. It's even lasted through a good deal of crying. This stuff is waterproof only in the way that it doesn't come off when wet. It does, however, get clumpy, sticky, and heavy when wet. Do not like, it only adds the discomfort. 

 

 It's probably a good thing that I can't stand to wear this mascara for more than a day or so. It's unhealthy to wear mascara or any beauty product for too long. Your lashes/skin needs to breathe and what not. This lash stain makes my lashes very brittle and I tend to lose a few when I finally remove it. I think a super long wearing lash product list this one is best reserved for times you need extreme wear, like long haul flights or roadtrips, the occasional weekend away, or if  regular waterproof mascara doesn't hold up for you. But please, for the sake of your lashes, don't wear this four days straight on a regular basis.
Contrary to what you may have heard in other reviews for this lash stain, it is possible to remove it. It's not easy, but you can do it. I apply Vaseline to the lashes, let it sit for a bit, the remove with an oil based eye makeup remover. This won't remove every trace of Lash Ink, but it gets the most of it off. Once again, expect to lose a lash or two, especially if you've been wearing it for a couple days.

I'm not really feeling Hard Candy's Lash Ink Stain. It should only be used under very specific circumstances. It's quite damaging to my lashes and gets very uncomfortable after several hours of wear. It's severely over-pacakged. The price is right for it though, and it gets the job done if you want mascara for days. Don't expect long, full, fantastic lashes, this product only coats them. I'm not away of any similar products on the drugstore level, so if you want a lash lacquer for cheap this may be your only option. I don't really recommend it unless you have a long trip coming up or will be doing a ton of swimming. I'll probably hold onto Hard Candy's Lash Ink for my next international trip, but I likely won't buy it again.

This review was requested by Haley and Carly

Ingredients:

Isododecane, Trimethylsioxysilicate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Water, Dimethicone, Polyester 5, Phenoxyethanol, Propylene Carbonate, Panthenol

May Contain:

Iron Oxides