Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash Mascara Special Effects Blue Noir

 

This blue mascara from Bare Escentuals, which can be purchased at Sephora, is “a paraben-free, lash-volumizing mascara with special-effects color that shifts from blue to black before your naked eye.” The product also claims to hold the style of your lashes for a continuous 12 hours with no flakiness. It is meant to  darken, lengthen, and thicken lashes from root to tip without clumping.  
I have been using this product for a few months now and I will say that, like the original black Buxom mascara, this blue version is great at darkening, thickening, lengthening, and separating lashes without clumping.
Once applied, the blue colour is still visible but only up close. As you can see from the swatch below, the blue is a bit bright. However, on the lashes it turns more of a navy shade. That said, my lashes are naturally very dark so  light brown or blonde lashes may be tinted a brighter blue colour.
When wearing this mascara I feel like my brown eyes stand out a lot more. The whites of my eyes look much whiter and brighter as well.
My issue is with the flaking. This blue mascara is much dryer than my black Buxom mascara and it has been since the day that I purchased it. Within an hour of wearing this mascara I am left with horrible blue flakes under my eyes which give the illusion of dark under eye circles. Maybe I got an old tube. I hope that that is the case because I love how my lashes look when I first apply this mascara. I will consider repurchasing to see if a different tube will not cause flakes.
My rating 3.5/5
*click photos to enlarge*