Mascara hi hi hi

I am having a mascara dilemma. I can't find one that I love. I recently went through a few periods of mucky eyes (infections and styes) so I threw out all my mascaras and picked up the 4 above.

I got: Benefit's They're Real (sample sized, magazine freebie); Bourjois's Volume Clubbing Waterproof; Collection's Big Fake and 2True's Wow waterproof.

To me a good mascara needs to be:

Waterproof - as a monolidder there's a lot of  transferring and smudging going on. It's only in the last couple of years that I discovered the joy of waterproof mascara. I can't believe I wasted nearly a decade of my life wearing non waterproof mascara.

Affordable - Prior to Penny Palace I used Clinique, Dior, YSL, Benefit and Lancome and they were good but a) they weren't that amazing and b) I can't afford that upkeep

Volume - Obviously if I could have length and volume I would - but if I have to choose, I definitely choose volume. 

I like to alternate mascara's or layer them, which is why I'm using so many at once.

 The thing I can't figure out is what brush (or do I mean wand?) is best for me. There's so many brush types to choose from nowadays and they often don't show you a sample brush in Superdrugs or Boots and the pictures are useless.

But anyway, let me stop waffling and tell you how I've gotten on with my new mascaras!

Benefit - They're Real: I got this blogger favourite free with a magazine. I've wanted to try it out but I think this retails for £18-19 and I couldn't justify this. It's not waterproof but it's not too smudgy. I actually really like this - it makes my lashes look much thicker, but it's not so life changing (can a mascara ever be life changing?) that I would pay full price. 

Bourjois - Volume Clubbing Waterproof: The tube says that this mascara has been tested at a foam party. I've never tried a Bourjois mascara before and I must say, I'm really impressed with this one. When I'm wearing this I don't need to constantly check for panda eyes. I'm tempted to repurchase as it's probably the most suitable I've recently tried but I think I will attempt to try more brands and styles before I start bulk buying lol

Collection (formally Collection 2000) -  Big Fake: I'm not sure what to say about this. I picked it up in Poundland (for £1 duh!!!). It's not waterproof and the brush is bigger than my eye so it's no shock that this didn't work great for me. However, I like layering different mascara so sometimes when I've finished with my main mascara I'll give them an extra swipe with this. 

 2True - Wow in waterproof: You might not be aware of this brand - 2True is available in Superdrug and is super affordable. They started off with their USP being 3 items for £5 (I guess the equivalent of Boot's Natural Collection range?) but they also have 'pro' items that aren't included. This mascara is part of the pro range (rrp £3.00) and I must say, I really like it. First I was worried that the brush would be toooo small but the brush and mascara give my lashes good volume and I'm not sure how waterproof it is but it's good enough to keep me smudge free-ish during the 9-5 day. 



Can you recommend me a good mascara?