REVIEW: Lashcard - goofy gimmick or effective makeup tool?

What if I said yes to both?

Retails for $6.99 for a pack of 10

I received four of these in the Ipsy February 2013 box and the first reaction was a big ol' eyeroll. People actually pay money for stuff like this? This was up there on the list of ridiculous purchases along with lip stickers and Evian spray water. Pay me $15 and I will come and spritz you with water. And those Violent lips things just make you look like you have an exotic strain of herpes. Really.

These retail for $6.99 for a pack of 10 cards and they suggest you use a new one with each makeup session.  Of course they did, what would you expect.

Armed with a healthy dose of skepticism and my mascara, I took these babies for a spin.

It lifts the lashes upward making it easier to coat them with mascara

The cards have two curved cut outs, different sizes meant to fit a large number of eye sizes and shapes. What I found was the smaller side worked great for my lower lashes and the larger side for my top lashes. You align the card with the curve of your eyelid and gently press against the lash line which then lifts your lashes upward, making it easier to coat your lashes from root to tip with mascara.

As expected, it did a good job of preventing mascara from transferring to my lids and ruining my eyeshadow. Any barrier including a plain old business card would do the same.

What I did not expect was that it made me love a mascara that I previously was struggling with. Maybelline's The Rocket Volume Express Waterproof was in the pile of TO RETURN until I tried using it with the LashCard. My main complaint was that the formula seemed to clump my lashes together and it did not really lengthen my lashes at all.

The Eye of Sauron minus all the evil

When used with the LashCard the mascara lived up to the advertising. My lashes were thick, held a curl like a champ, not clumpy (I do run a clean spoolie brush thru them at the end out of habit) and looked great! I was extremely happy with the results. I'm not sure if this was because the card tilted my lashes into the perfect angle for the wand to optimally coat my lashes or what.

Is it worth the money? I'm still on the fence with this. I've been reusing the same card for the last week, so I know I would not replace them nearly as much as they suggest. I can't deny that I do love the results, but having to order them online and pay $0.69 for essentially a business card with a half moon cut out?

For now I'm going to just do the business card thing I think.