Review Time: Lancome Hypnôse Drama Mascara

Price: $24.50

Where to buy: Lancome.com, Lancome counters, Sephora, Sephora.com

Description: Hypnôse Drama mascara provides high volume lashes in a single stroke. The full contact brush, with its S-shaped curve, grasps and loads lashes for a fanned out, full body fringe.

My Opinion

As promised, here is my review of the Lancome Hypnôse Drama Mascara.  I got this mascara during my Memorial Day haul, I have been wanting to try it for a while since I read great reviews on it, so here is my own.

This Mascara is supposed to be used when you want that "wow!" factor, therefore the "drama" in its name.  But, does it really do as it claims?? YES! It does!

Let me tell you all... I LOVE this mascara!  It is so easy to apply and extremely hard to clump.  I know it has a weird "S" shape wand but that's what makes this mascara work so well.  I was very surprised to find that I was able to reach every single lash, even the ones on the outer corners of my eyes!  I didn't expect that from a mascara with a wand that is so big, but somehow it just works.

Lancome's website suggests ways of taking advantage of the "S" shape wand: The best way to apply Hypnôse Drama is to start with the brush at the root of the lashes. The curve of the brush should face up in a U shape. Using a zigzag movement, glide the brush up the lashes from root to tip. To create more drama, rotate the brush and use the longer bristles to fan out the lashes. This formula can also be layered and built for maximum volume without clumping.

Another thing, this mascara will give you a ton of volume and the look of false eyelashes with just ONE coat! How amazing is that!? Like I said earlier, it is very easy to apply, I didn't have to try hard at all and after the first time using it I was in love with it.  It won't flake throughout the day and it washes off with water and soap easily as well.  It does not irritate my eyes at all and when you make a little mistake (i.e. when you get mascara on your eyelid) it is easy to remove without messing up your makeup too much.  This is not a waterproof mascara, I haven't tried getting it wet and honestly I am not planning on doing that anyways.  I really like this mascara a lot so I do recomend it if you are looking to add volume to your lashes or to make your "smokey eyes" look more dramatic.  I give this a 5 out of 5.
Here are the before and after pictures:

Wearing no mascara at all.

After applying ONE coat on top and bottom lashes.

See the difference? 

Final look!

Just imagine how much more dramatic it would look if I had black eyeliner on!

Review Time: L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara

Price: $7.99
Where to buy: Any drugstore.
Description: This mascara is designed to lengthen, thicken, and separate 100% of the lashes. The patented Flexi-Globe Brush applies from every angle for a spectacularly fanned-out look.

My Opinion
This mascara is the low end version of the Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes Mascara ($29.00 at Sephora.com). I personally haven’t tried this specific brand but I did my research on it and it is supposed to be pretty good at separating all lashes, even the ones on the outer corners of the eye.

But how does L’Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara compare to this Givenchy Mascara? I can’t really compare it but I will tell you what I think of it. First of all it is very affordable and that is a huge plus in my book. One big difference between these two mascaras is the length of the wand, L’Oreal’s mascara has a longer wand then the Givenchy one which can make it a little more difficult to apply but I think practice will perfect anyone’s technique.

When it comes to application, at first it can be a little hard to achieve the wanted results, it can be easy to clump BUT again, a little practice will take care of all of those issues. I think for almost a fourth of the price of the high end brand it is worth giving it a try.

I like this mascara a lot. It does separate each lash from end to end for a fanned out look. It doesn’t flake throughout the day and even though it doesn’t thicken the lashes as much as I would like it to I think it’s great for a more natural look. I personally prefer more drama on my lashes.  Here are the before and after pictures:

Review Time: Estee Lauder Moisture Binding Mascara

Price: $21.00

Where to buy: Estee Lauder counters, Esteelauder.com
What it claims to do: Defines, conditions lashes. More Black impact. Defines each lash from end to end with a continuous stroke of color.
Here’s what I think:
I wasn’t planning on writing a review on this mascara for a while longer since I just did one for the Bareminerals Flawless definition Mascara, but the “deal breaker” happened today, so here it is: Up until this morning I absolutely adored this product. I applied it early today when I was getting ready for church and while I was putting it on my lashes I kept thinking “this mascara is awesome, I can’t even clump my lashes even if I wanted to” And I was really trying to, I wanted to see how much it would take for me to mess it up. The truth is that I wasn’t able to. The application was so incredibly smooth, the wand that it comes with is perfect, you get just the right amount of product on your wand, no need to wipe it off and after applying just one coat my lashes looked next to perfect. They were defined, I achieved exactly what this mascara promised I would.
So what happened? Well, for all of you that don’t know this yet, I am 33 weeks pregnant and on the way to church my “hormones” got to me (it was a long morning getting ready, I was pretty grumpy) and I started crying. I was really self conscious about it because I didn’t want my makeup to get ruined, but the little crying I did was enough. Let me tell y’all, this mascara is perfect up until any kind of moisture gets near your eyes. As I was carefully wiping away my tears I noticed TONS of this black liquid all over my fingers. I know this is not a waterproof mascara but I honestly expected it to last a little longer than a few seconds after my tears touched it. I have used drugstore brands that last longer when wet or if they do come off, is not as much as this one did (hope that made sense).  I think this would be a perfect product if it came in a waterproof form as well, but it doesn't and for that I give it a 8 out of 10.
So, this is my bottom line: Do I recommend it? Well, if you are completely sure that you won’t be crying when wearing it or that it won’t rain that day either, then YES. This mascara is perfect if dry. But if you are not sure about being able to keep it dry, or if you have oily eyelids, or you are going to be sweating, than NO. You be the judge of that yourself.
Would I buy this product again? Yes, I would. I will be more careful though on choosing the days when I will wear it. I don’t have oily eyelids and I don’t cry often either so I think this mascara will work fine most of the time.
However, this is not a mascara I would recommend if you are looking for volume or length (i.e. if you are going for a dramatic smokey eye look). This mascara defines your eyelashes, but it doesn’t give them volume or length.

Review: Bare Minerals Flawless Definition Mascara

Price: $18.00
Where to buy: Sephora.com, bareminerals counters, bareescentuals.com
What it claims to do: Accentuates and separates each lash for a flawless and well-defined finishing touch to your eyes.

Here’s what I think:
I’ve been using this mascara on and off for about a month now, and even though I don’t have the “full size” tube (I have a sample one that I got when I purchased a set of brushes at the BM counter), I have used it enough to tell you what I think.
My first impression was that this mascara wasn’t any better than any drugstore mascara I’ve had in the past, I thought for 18 dollars this thing better work twice as good, but that was just my first impression.
Application was not as easy as I expected it to be, I did not like the wand that it comes with and also you have to wipe most of the mascara off the wand and into the tube before applying it to your lashes or you will have some major clumping.
I think it has the “potential” of being a great mascara but you have to work hard at applying it, I’ve had it for a month and it still is somewhat complicated for me to use and that is not what I am about.
A couple of more things that I didn’t like about it is that it can be hard to layer, if you are going to apply a couple of layer on your lashes you need to do it one after the other, if you wait until it dries a bit than it starts getting ugly. The other thing is that it doesn’t hold your curls, I have to use an eyelash curler (I wasn’t blessed with those beautiful, perfectly curled eyelashes that my son has), and I noticed that after a couple of hours or wearing this mascara my lashes started getting back to their normal shape.
The good things I will say about it is that it lasts all day long, it won’t flake on you and it stays put. Does it separate and accentuate each lash? Well, yeah, it does, but it takes some work to get it to do it without clumping. Also, if applied right it will lengthen your lashes somewhat. If you are going for a dramatic look on your eyes I don’t believe this is the right mascara for you, this is more for a natural look.
Do I recommend it? That’s hard to say because you CAN achieve the results that the mascara promises, it just takes a lot of work to do it, so if you have the patience needed for it, than go ahead and buy it. As for me? I won’t be buying the full tube when my sample is gone. I would say I give this a 6.5 out of 10.