Too Faced
I am very loyal to my mascara. I love experimenting with new shades of lipstick and blush and trying different foundation formulas, but I rarely stray from the mascara I’ve worn since college: Lancôme Hypnose Drama ($33). Sure, I’ve dabbled in other formulas, though I always come back to my tried and true. It may be The One, but what kind of beauty writer would I be if I didn’t give into temptation and spice things up with a newbie once in awhile? There’s always room for one more in my makeup drawer, but if Too Faced has its way, I may need to make space for two lash-lifters.
Too Faced’s Better Than Sex Volumizing Mascara is an icon. It’s one of the best-selling mascaras of all time and has millions of devoted fans. Shockingly, I’d never tried it, despite the fact that the pastel pink tube was very up my alley. The mascara promises longer, thicker lashes thanks to its signature hourglass brush and deep black formula enhanced with peptides and film-forming polymers. It’s so beloved, it was a total no-brainer that Too Faced would launch a companion primer—cheekily named Foreplay—to make lashes even more luscious. Honestly, I’m surprised it took them this long.
Ahead, all the details on Too Faced's Foreplay Lash Primer, and my honest review.
Too Faced
The Product
It had been awhile since I lacquered my own lashes with a pre-coat of primer; they first became popular when I was in my teens with a fleet of dual-ended tubes where half was a chalk white primer hitting the drugstore shelves circa the mid-2000s. Unlike some mascara trends, however, primers stuck around thanks to a devoted following of fans who trusted primer to condition their lashes and help them reach their full, fluttery potential.
Mascara technology has come a long way since those early days, and Foreplay Mascara Primer is more 2023 than 2003. First item of difference: the primer is black, not white, and tints your lashes with color while promising to nourish and keep them lifted and lush for 24 hours. The formula contains lash-conditioning ingredients including argan and grapeseed oil, as well as the brand's tri-blend complex, which helps lashes hold a curl.
In lieu of the hourglass-shaped brush of its sister mascara, Foreplay features a slim double-arch brush so you can really get in there and coat each lash with a layer of primer, prepping it for the ultimate in length, volume and curl. I like a super long, thick lash, so if a primer promised to give me the lashes of my dreams all day long, with no flaking or falling flat around 3 PM, I was in.
My Review
First off, in true Too Faced fashion, the packaging of both the primer and the mascara is all glam, all the time: sleek, stylish with a luxurious heft. As you probably know, the mascara is pink, but Foreplay comes housed in a sleek black tube. Packaging isn’t everything, of course, but it certainly adds to the overall experience.
Kara Nesvig
After making sure I had absolutely no leftover mascara from the night before on my lashes, I applied a thin coat of Foreplay to both top and bottom lashes. Because it’s tinted black and not white, you could essentially wear the primer alone in a pinch; it provides a decent amount of pigmentation and definition for daily wear.
Kara Nesvig
Once the primer was dry, I then applied two coats of Better Than Sex, focusing mostly on my top lashes. I worried about heaviness and clumpiness due to the multiple coats, but thankfully my lashes felt light and fluttery despite looking dramatically thick and full. (I like a spider lash when the moment is right, but this wasn’t that time.) The deep black color and subtle curl stuck around for most of the evening, and the cocktail was easy to remove at the end of the night.
Kara Nesvig
Will the double whammy of Foreplay and Better Than Sex replace my old faithful? It’s unlikely, but I’ll definitely reach for them when my routine calls for a little extra va-va voom action.
