If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably already know that Zuzu Luxe has been my holy grail mascara for a good while now. I've tried other options, but it's what I've always come back to. You can find my longer review here, but basically, as natural mascaras go, I've found it's the best in terms of both volume and length, and once it's on, it doesn't budge - I'm talking absolutely no smearing, smudging, or flaking, and it stays on until you wash it off.
Gabriel owns both Gabriel Color and Zuzu Luxe, but back when I first tried Zuzu's mascara, Gabriel Color's mascara was a completely different formula, and for whatever reason, I never tried it. At some point, Gabriel switched the Gabriel Colour formula over and it's now identical to the Zuzu Luxe one...at least in terms of ingredients.
What I find confusing is that, for all that the ingredients are the same, they must still be different formulas, because they don't perform the same. In terms of the appearance of your lashes and staying power, both are excellent, but they also have a few key differences. I mentioned in my original review of Zuzu's mascara that it can sometimes leave your lashes hard and crackly feeling - this is not a problem at all with the Gabriel Color formula, which, as a result, is much more buildable.
Unfortunately, the Gabriel Color one doesn't seem to last very long. I always make a note of when I start using a mascara so I know when it's time to toss it, and after using it for less than two months, my Gabriel Color mascara has changed smell and frankly smells a bit funky. I don't know if I just got a dud tube or something, but at this point, I really don't feel okay using it anymore. These days, I toss my mascara after 3-4 months, but I've never had this problem with the Zuzu formula, even after as long as 8-10 months. (Which is terrible and gross, I know. This was back before I knew all the icky reasons for tossing mascara a lot sooner)
The Bottom Line
It looks like Zuzu Luxe is still my HG mascara. Like all Gabriel Color products, the mascara is a couple dollars cheaper than the Zuzu one, and I did really like that the Gabriel was more buildable and didn't leave my lashes crunchy, but when paying $15-17 for a mascara, I want something that can make it to the 3 month point without spoiling!
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