Lancome Virtuose Divine Lasting Curves & Length Mascara 01 Noir Sensuel

...some reviews, and decided on Lancome Fatale - then found it to be out of stock everywhere I tried! So I went on the Lancome website and tried their handy little mascara diagnosis tool, which told me I needed Virtuose mascara for my lash type - long, thick and black, but absolutely straight with no curl. So I popped into Boots and bought it tonight, put it straight on and....oooh!

===The Packaging===

Simple matt silver card ...
...slippery to the touch, the Lancome logo in gold on the applicator handle with the Lancome gold rose below. The most interesting part is the shape - it is curved like a banana, ending in a truncated point at the applicator end.

===Applying===

The mascara brush is curved like the tube, into a gentle almost-semicircle. The brush itself is quite thin (although having been used to Benefit BadGal which has the HUGEST brush ever ... more

I have never been one to stick to a mascara brand, my last few that I recall have been a real mix of brands and price ranges, Benefit BadGal, Clinique Long Pretty Lashes, Maybelline Great Lashes to name a few.

When my most recent tube of BadGal ran out, I wanted to get a mascara which really did something for my lashes as I've never been happy enough with a mascara to stick with it. I read some reviews, and decided on Lancome Fatale - then found it to be out of stock everywhere I tried! So I went on the Lancome website and tried their handy little mascara diagnosis tool, which told me I needed Virtuose mascara for my lash type - long, thick and black, but absolutely straight with no curl. So I popped into Boots and bought it tonight, put it straight on and....oooh!

The Packaging

Simple matt silver card box with black Lancome logo and embossed art deco-y design, no instruction leaflet and product description and removal instructions on the back of the box. Mascara tube itself is quite beautiful, glossy black almost slippery to the touch, the Lancome logo in gold on the applicator handle with the Lancome gold rose below. The most interesting part is the shape - it is curved like a banana, ending in a truncated point at the applicator end.

Applying

The mascara brush is curved like the tube, into a gentle almost-semicircle. The brush itself is quite thin (although having been used to Benefit BadGal which has the HUGEST brush ever I might have lost perspective). It is composed of many bristles, differing in length which I guess is designed to catch shorter lashes.

I didn't curl my lashes before applying (mine are very straight) and just put it straight on as normal. I noticed far more of a 'pulling' sensation than normal - the brush really seemed to catch my lashes well, and they were very evenly coated in mascara. The curve of the brush encourages you to pull it upwards when applying, and I was amazed to see my lashes actually stayed in the curled position!

It was a little trickier than most mascaras to apply - I think the curve of the brush and the way it really grabs every single lash takes some getting used to, but it is by no means difficult.

Results

I was seriously impressed. I have never been able to apply false lashes so don't know how I would look wearing them, but I can't imagine it would look better than this. My lashes were actually curled, separated, and about 20 - 30% longer looking, a very significant difference. I can honestly say I have never, ever noticed such a huge impact from just one coat of any other mascara.

An hour later, and they were not quite as curled as before, but still an incredible difference to how they usually look. I kind of tucked them back and held them in place with my eyes open for a while (I have very long lashes which you can do that with!) and they were even more curled than before - and still were an hour after that.

The box says it has 12 hr curl hold - I've taken it off to go to bed after 4hrs so can't verify that, but I have high hopes as it didn't seem to shift much when dried.

The only very slight downside to this was that the lashes were not quite as separated as I would have hoped, I had to run through with a lash comb afterwards, but they were perfect after that.

Considering the price, at £19.50 is only £8 more than No.7's latest mascara, I definitely feel this is good value for money, and highly recommend.  

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