Mascaras I wish I hadn't bought

I have wasted a LOT of money on mascaras that haven't done what I wanted them to do. If it were possible to return them, I would have. So I've decided it's time to share these with you. I'll explain why I don't like them - who knows, this might make it your perfect one!

For reference, my lashes are totally blonde, so the first coat just colours them in. I always do 2 coats (or more), expect a bit of length and lots of volume without crispy lashes or '4 lash syndrome'.

Chanel Le Volume de Chanel - I got a sample of this through a Stylist magazine offer. I'm glad I did as if I'd paid full price for it, I would be really sad. Another wet formula that goes a bit clumpy, and no big lashes, which is what I was expecting. Save your money - you can get a similar (or better) one a lot cheaper.

Benefit They're Real - this stuff is the hardest mascara I've ever tried to remove. I have specific eye makeup removers as I wear a lot of eye makeup and even they didn't shift it. It gives very good length, but maybe I apply it wrong, as I find that if you need more than 1 coat, you end up with clumpy, crispy lashes. Not cool.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam - Being a 60s lover, I got sucked in to buying this while killing some time waiting for a train at St Pancras. I'm just underwhelmed. Rimmel claim it will add volume to lashes without clumps, giving a 'fanned out' look to your lashes. I applied two coats to each eye, and definitely got some volume, but as for no clumps, I would have to disagree! The formula is quite wet, and gives me 4 lash syndrome. Boo!

17 Dolled Up - this gave nice definition to lashes, but that was about it. I liked the curved brush design, but the overall result was just a bit 'meh'. The curl effect that the brush is designed to give also didn't last very long and I noticed that my lashes started to droop throughout the day.

Max Factor False Lash Mascara - Now, when something says it promises false looking lashes, I do have quite high expectations. I quite like certain Max Factor mascaras, but this one was a big fat disappointment. The brush head is massive, and quite hard to apply the mascara without ending up with lots on your eyelid. I found building coats without it going clumpy pretty tricky too. At best, I looked like I had normal lashes. Definitely no false looking ones here!

I'm sure there are many, many more that have disappointed me over the years (I just can't remember them all!). I'll be doing a post soon on mascaras I love to help balance all this negativity, and you'll probably see some of the same brands crop up, just different types!

Do you love some of these mascaras? Am I applying them wrong?