Mascara Review- Lancôme Hypnôse

I haven't used Lancôme mascara in ages. I don't use many Lancôme products nowadays, but when I did I always had way too many samples of Defincilis from those gift with purchase bags. There's no polite way to say this: Defincilis is a less than mediocre mascara that belongs in the drugstore, where products that are 1/3 of its cost deliver very similar results.

A recent trip to the Lancôme counter (I still use Bi-Facil, Rouge Sensation lipstick in sugared maple and their blush in cappucine) has earned me a sample of Hypnôse mascara which I tried today.

Here is what the web site promises: "Custom Volume Mascara- Dare to go up to 6 times the volume. With each stroke, the patented POWERFULL™ brush intensifies lashes from root to tip. Exclusive, fluid SoftSculpt ™ formula, enriched with Vitamin B5, wraps lashes one luxurious layer at a time without smearing, smudging or clumping."

As I've mentioned here before, I'm not in the market for volume. I have more than enough of that naturally. But I am looking for defining and curling, and will not reject a mascara that would also add a little length. Had I been searching for volume, I'd be very disappointed with Hypnôse. It doesn't deliver at all when it comes to thickness and volume. If that is what you're after you will not find it here. However, if you need just a bit of added length and a defining color this is a great product.

The texture is just the right consistency for even coating. It didn't run, smudge or dot. The brush colored and separated my lashes with no clumping or sticking. I didn't need to use a lash comb and the result was just I was after: long, dark (I used black) and curling upward. It held nicely all day and didn't flake.

I didn't use it on my lower lashes (I rarely do), because the result would have made Tammy Faye proud. I didn't use primer (I never do) or any other lash product.

My conclusion: This mascara is a formidable competition to my beloved Clinique High Impact. It's more expensive, though ($22 while Clinique is $13.50).