Sunday, December 14, 2008

Review: L'oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes mascara

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I was asked a few weeks ago to test and review the L'oreal Beauty Tubes mascara. According to the product info on it, its the type of mascara that wraps around your lashes forming tubes that make it resistant to smudging. This product is already available in Europe and is just being launched in Canada. I saw it in a Loblaws Superstore last week but haven't seen it in all drugstores yet.


The product is a two sided mascara: One side is the base, which is white

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The other side is the mascara itself. This side has a larger than usual brush, its probably better suited for people with longer lashes and larger eyes.

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Its quite good at lengthening and separating lashes.

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However the added effect of both the base and mascara tends to weigh down my lashes. Compare this pic with the one above and you should see what I mean...

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Also when I'm applying it, the product does clump at the ends so I had to use my finger to sorta brush off the clumps while they were still wet. That annoyed me.


Ease of removal is the best aspect of this mascara - it comes off as little tubes once you gently rub your lashes with warm water.

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Now you probably already thought this sounds exactly like Blinc mascara! Thats what I thought too, which is why I was excited to compare both and hopefully find this would be a cheaper alternative to Blinc.

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You can tell it loses in the packaging department...but thats probably because of the price difference.


Comparing the brush sizes - see how much larger the L'oreal brush is? That could be a good thing for people with longer lashes, but with my short asian lashes the L'oreal brush is hard to manipulate.

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Comparisons:

Blinc
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L'oreal
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Its probably hard to see from the pictures but Blinc provides volume and length, while L'oreal provides only length. I found that surprising since I was using Blinc without any base while L'oreal has the extra white base.

To its credit, the L'oreal mascara does separate lashes better than Blinc. See below how Blinc brush tends to make lashes more spiky.

Blinc
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L'oreal
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After comparing the two products, I would say the main failing of the L'oreal mascara is the brush. The base brush is a regular size and works wonderfully at dispensing product. However the mascara brush is too large, so its hard to manipulate the brush enough to catch corner lashes (which are already covered with white base). As a result there are some lashes where the white base still isn't covered by the mascara.

The bristles of the mascara brush are too fine to pick up enough product. As a result its hard to layer on enough mascara to completely coat over the white base. Also the fine bristles brush off too much of the base and cancel out any volumizing effect the base would have.


Overall
Price: 3/5 Its still pricey for a drugstore brand at CAD$13.49
Packaging: 2.5/5
Effectiveness: 3/5
Would purchase: No. If they improved the mascara brush then yes. Otherwise I am the type that would rather pay more for the ease of application that Blinc offers.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

i didn't know we already got this!
i was intrigued cause of the tube thing of the product. but was a tad weary to try, cause i really don't like my maybelline xxl mascara cause of the two step program. it just is too heavy!
the brush is huge though, just like you noted.

IchigoBunnie said...

loreal has been on the copy-high-end-brands escapade XD.

i wish loreal wouldn't be so expensive...i mean it's a drugstore brand yet they charge borderline clinique-priced stuff. lipgloss is pretty much $10 and clinique lipglosses are $13.

Rae // theNotice said...

Grab an old tube, wash off the brush, and use that one instead! You do lose more product that way (as you have to wash it off each time) but who really ever finishes off an entire tube?

Thanks for the pics, hon!! Great review.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm it's interesting that mainstream brands are catching on with the "tube" mascaras. I had a bad experience with Imju Fiberwig that basically does the same thing because I kept on having fallouts during the day and it really irritated my eyes. I think I will just stick with regular waterproof mascara lol.

AskMeWhats said...

I just saw this mascara over the weekend but got intrigued with the Telescopic first :) Thanks for the review :)

cheryl said...

my eyes are so small that loreal mascara applicator surely won't work for me...too bad...

Chiara said...

Great review arashi <3

I don't think I could give up my blinc... bought like 2 replacements already!

Grayburn said...

Yeah I think Blinc looks better. I too have the one from L'oreal and I found it heavy too. I haven't tried Blinc but I'm so happy with imju still.

Before things get hectic (or maybe they have already!), just wanted to wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new years. Have thoroughly enjoyed your blog in 2008 and look forward to seeing more wonderful posts from you!

x Grayburn

Jazzy said...

Your page popped up because I was surfing for info on L'oreals new mascara...this was an excellent review.

I think Blinc gives you volume and length as well...now I'm off to look up more info on Blinc. I've never heard of it.

Angie | Pandaphilia.com said...

sounds kind of like fiberwig. i like the tubes when washing off part. nice review!

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