Beauty Scandaleyes Retro Glam Vs Wow Wings: Which Mascara Wins?
Scandaleyes Retro Glam and Wow Wings both promise bold volume. Retro Glam uses an hourglass brush for wide-eyed fullness. Wow Wings uses a two-sided brush for flared drama. Here is the head-to-head.
| Factor | Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara, G | Rimmel Scandaleyes Wow Wings Mascara, Ex |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara | Rimmel Scandaleyes Wow Wings Mascara |
| Brush design | Hourglass, plumps up and out | Two-sided, loads then flares |
| Volume claim | Bold false-lash volume | Up to 11x volume |
| Lash effect | Wide-eyed and full | Winged and flared |
| Shade options | Black, Grape Carded plum | Extreme Black |
| Best for | Doll-like fullness | Cat-eye drama |
| Typical price | Check price | Check price |
Our Verdict
Choose Retro Glam if you want a false lash effect. The hourglass brush plumps every lash. The plum shade option softens the look. Choose Wow Wings if you want winged-out drama. The two-sided brush flares the outer corners. The extreme black is bolder. Both cost around eight dollars. Both resist smudging. Retro Glam wins for doll-like volume. Wow Wings wins for cat-eye flair. Pick the lash shape you love.
More Top Picks in This Category
Not sold on either of these two? Here are more bestselling options worth considering.
Best for: Curled lifted black lashes
Rimmel Scandaleyes Curve Alert Mascara, Black
- Curve Alert curved brush
- Lifting curl formula
- Classic black shade
- All-day curl hold
Pros
- Curved brush lifts from the root
- Curl holds without a curler
- Reliable everyday black
Cons
- Curved brush has a learning curve
- Less length than Wow Wings
- May smudge on oily lids
Want the Full Picture?
Lower-Lash Mascaras: The Fine-Brush Ranking
The Scandaleyes mascaras compared here are full-size wands, but lower lashes deserve their own tool discussion since no full-size wand does them well. The dedicated lower-lash mascaras with fine, narrow brushes exist for a reason: full wands deposit too much product on tiny lower lashes, causing clumps and under-eye transfer. The fine-brush options apply precisely, coat each lower lash individually, and keep product off the skin.
The technique for lower lashes with any mascara: wipe excess off the wand first, hold the wand vertically, and use the tip to paint the lashes with minimal product. Less is more; lower lashes need a whisper of definition, not full volume. Allow each coat to dry for thirty seconds before assessing; wet mascara always looks heavier than the dried result. The most common lower-lash mistake is treating them like upper lashes, which creates the spidery, heavy look that ages the eye.
The tubing advantage on lower lashes is significant: tubing formulas do not transfer to the under-eye area, which is the main lower-lash failure. If your lower mascara always ends up under your eyes by afternoon, switching the lower lashes to a tubing formula while keeping your regular mascara up top solves it elegantly. Our Glossier Lash Slick tubing guide covers a formula that excels on lower lashes.
Brown vs Black Mascara: Who Should Switch
Black mascara is the default, but brown flatters specific wearers better. The switch candidates: very fair skin with light brows and lashes, where black creates harsh contrast; blondes and redheads, whose coloring harmonizes with brown's warmth; professional and daytime settings, where brown reads as polished without severity; and mature eyes, where black can emphasize texture and tiredness. Brown-black splits the difference for those who find true brown too soft.
The occasion logic: brown for day, black for night remains the useful rule. The mistake is wearing black with an otherwise natural face, where the lashes become the single harsh element. Matching mascara intensity to the overall makeup intensity keeps the face coherent; the mascara should never be the loudest thing on a bare face.
For the Scandaleyes comparison specifically, check shade availability; the dramatic Retro Glam and Wow Wings effects come in black primarily, and the brown versions, where offered, give the same volume architecture with softer impact. If you love the formula but find the black too much for daily wear, the brown is the exact solution, not a compromise. The volumizing mascara guide discusses how wand design affects the intensity as much as color.
Mascara for Sparse, Aging Lashes
Sparse, aging lashes need a different mascara strategy than full young lashes, and the advice is rarely head-to-head. The formula ranking for mature lashes: conditioning tubing formulas first, since they add minimal weight and remove without rubbing; lightweight lengthening formulas second; heavy volumizing formulas last, since their weight drags sparse lashes down and their removal costs the fragile lashes that remain. The Scandaleyes volumizing formulas in this comparison suit those who still have density; truly sparse lashes do better with the lighter categories.
The application adjustments: one coat only, since second coats clump sparse lashes into spikes; wiggle at the base for the appearance of density rather than coating the tips heavily; and tightline the upper waterline with eyeliner, which creates the illusion of lash density at the base without any mascara weight. The tightline-plus-one-coat combination outperforms two coats of mascara on sparse lashes visibly.
The growth-serum question comes up inevitably. Lash serums with prostaglandin analogues grow lashes but carry side-effect risks (iris darkening, lid discoloration) that deserve a doctor's discussion; peptide-based conditioning serums are safer but their results are modest. Mascara is the cosmetic solution; serums are the medical-adjacent one, and they should not be confused. Our sensitive-eyes mascara guide covers gentle formulas for fragile lashes.