Shiseido Nourishing Mascara Base

Do you remember when I blogged about my holy grail eyelash product, The Makeup Mascara Base by Shiseido? It's the only thing that makes mascara work on my faulty eyelashes.

I had a moment of panic a few months ago when I heard that Shiseido was no longer going to be available from US stores. Then I heard that they were only going to sell it from their own US store. For some reason, I was still able to get one last tube from Sephora.

Then about 3 months (?) ago, I noticed that Sephora no longer had any Shiseido products - but they hadn't taken down the links to the Shiseido page. I started scouting around for the Makeup Base elsewhere on the internet. No luck. Panic set in. Surely they weren't discontinuing my favorite product? I NEED this stuff!! What was I thinking? Of course they were discontinuing it - that's what happens to just about every product I love.

When Sephora had their friends & family discount, I searched for Shiseido again - and this time they had some Shiseido products!! No Mascara Base. Sadness. But I did see a product called Nourishing Mascara Base. The reviews were mixed - with a lot of people saying that it didn't work as well as the original. I decided to give it a try anyway.

OMG. I love this stuff!! I like it even more than the original!

I didn't save a list of the original product's ingredients, but I found this on Makeup Alley:
Original product ingredients: C11-12 isoparaffin, dextrin palmitate, polyethylene, cyclomethicone, trimethylsiloxysilicate, polymethylsilsesquioxane, microcrystalline wax, isostearic acid,  trioctanoin, phytosteryl/octyldodecyl lauroyl glutamate, tocopheryl acetate, silica, macadamia ternifolia oil, methicone, tetradecene, iron oxides, titanium dioxide, mica 
Nourishing Mascara Base ingredients (from the box): C11-12 isoparaffin, dextrin palmitate, disteardimonium hectorite, trimethylsiloxysilicate, isododecane, sucrose tetrastearate triacetate, PEG-10 dimethicone, polyethylene, macadamia seed oil, polyglyceryl-6 esters behenate, butylene glycol, water, hydrogenated polysobutene, sucrose tetrasostearate, PEG-20 hydrogenated castor oil trisostearate, trimethylsiloxysilylcarbamoyl pullulan, arginine, nylon-12, ultramarines, tocopherol, zinc oxide, polysilicone-2, silica, BHT

The cost is the same - $23 at Sephora. The brush is different - it's a really skinny brush with short bristles, as opposed to the fuller, tapered brush with the original. The consistency is also different - it's more of a thin gel now. The color is still clear. For me, this product goes on more smoothly and really makes my lashes hold the curl. Mascara is easier to apply and doesn't clump - and it stays on all day. I feel like this product may last longer than the original, too.

Definitely a keeper!!