Well now here’s a thing! Justine doing a girlie op on make-up?! Unheard of! To be honest I very rarely wear the stuff. If I do, it will be mascara – always, and lipstick – not so often.
I buy very little make-up and spending money on it irks me. Too many other things like CD’s to buy! I have always felt the make-up market has been a huge rip-off. I always favoured the dirt cheap stuff from the market – you know, the black lipsticks that are more like a light grey lip salve and glittery eye shadows more suited to an ABBA revival concert.
But mascara – that’s different! I have a very pale complexion (being your stereotypical red-headed English rose – ahem!), and as mascara is my only mainstay, then it’s the one thing I am likely to spend dosh on slightly less grudgingly.
So my latest purchase – the first one for three years – is Maybelline’s newish (they seem to bring out a different one every week!)
lash expansion mascara. I was unashamedly swayed by their slick new TV advertising campaign (these guys must spend a fortune!) and the fact that if I bought it in Boots I got serious wads of extra advantage card points, and it was on special offer at £5.49. £5.49?! Mutter grumble mutter rip off moan. But looking around, that seems to be the price of the wretched stuff these days. Talk about inflation!
Packaging ------------ It did not, thank god, come in one of those really annoying blister packs that I have to remove all of my nails trying to open. It is a nice solid ‘fat’tube. Silly sounding I know, but it is very comfortable in your hand. It is between 6 and seven inches long, around a centimetre thick at each end, widening to around a centimetre and a half in the middle. I think the tapering shape is to put the suggestion of thickening and expanding in your mind! The tube is such a deep navy blue as to be black at first glance. For some reason there is a little grey insert in the top of the tube which makes it look like a pen, a small silver band around the bottom of the cap – to make it look stylish I suppose, a label on the cap stating colour – in my case true brown, the fact that it wraps lashes 360 degrees and is 6.5 ml. Under the cap rim there is Mabelline with new york running around it. Then up the length of the tube we have lash expansion written in a little circle with an arrow on it – presumable because it allegedly wraps 360 degrees(!) and expansion in increasing size letters.
Lack of Information ------------------------- Contact information is tiny and ineffectual and I was surprised to find absolutely NO ingredients, tested on, beware poking it in your eye, if you do you should do this type information. Given that this was sold with no box or cover their arses leaflet, if you have any kind of sensitivities in the eye or skin department, or indeed strong moral issues with manufacturers in terms of testing policies, I would beware.
Ease of Use ----------- The tube is very well constructed, comfortable to hold in the hand, and of quality construction. The cap unscrews easily, and the thread is sturdy and unlikely to snap if you twist it slightly the wrong way. It also passes the squashability test – I.e. considerable pressure has no effect on the tube. If it falls on the floor and you trample it, it may break, but otherwise you should be OK.
The wand is standard, and looks very much like the mascara my mum used to use. The brush is uniform and not curved in any way. So the old ideas work best then eh?!
There is some clogging on the very end of the wand as tends to be the norm with a mascara, but it does wipe off into the tube rather than all over the cap as in some I have had in the past! There is no unpleasant smell – just the usual smell of mascara. Sorry any boys who don’t wear make-up out there, but the girls should know what I mean.
When using the mascara, it covers all or most of the lashes extremely easily and in one stroke. No having to repeatedly risk stabbing yourself in the eye here! As for the 360 degree wrapping – I suppose they are trying to say it covers the top and bottom lashes at once. Well yes, it does. If they mean anything else – well your guess is as good as mine!
As for the expansion lark – well I noticed no difference to any other mascara I had used! I do have quite long lashes anyway though. They did not look any thicker either in truth!
The colour is excellent and even. You ARE left with the odd one or two tiny clumps just in the corners, but these are removed very easily. The lashes are very well separated – no mutilated tarantulas in evidence.
Wearablity ---------- I work in an office and am at a computer most of the day. When my eyes get tired I tend to rub them. With some mascaras, you end up looking as if you have either a) Been thumped in the eye or b)just finished watching Sofie’s Choice. This I have to say is excellent. It dries quickly – only a few seconds after putting it on I tried rubbing my eyes and nothing happened. Still all on the lashes and not ingrained in the skin around the eye area. Hurrah!
At the end of the day – it’s still on and still looking good.
The only slight problem is you need something nuclear in the removal department to get the stuff off when you want to. It takes some serious removing and I found I had dragged the skin around my eyes by the time I had finished (this could be something to do with the fact I’m not very well practiced though!
1. Stays on and does not rub off during the day 2. Very easy to apply 3. No irritation at all, but then I am not prone to it
Disadvantages
1. Price! £5.49 was a special offer?! 2. Total lack of information on the packaging concerning ingredients, testing etc 3. Bloody annoying and stupid TV adverts that made me buy it anyway 4. Some difficulty in removing 5. Lash expansion and thickening – well – not in my experience
Thanks for reading!
J x
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
if you know someone going to the ststes on hols get them to bring you back a supply - i use the one in the really tacky pink tube - it costs me about £10 for 4 tubes when I get it on hols
Maybelline Lash Expansion Mascara: Waterproof mascara wraps, thickens and lengthens ... more
lashes. Provides all around coverage for dimensional lash volume and length that lasts all day. Patented waterproof formula builds volume all around for a thicker, l...
Postage & Packaging: £1.95 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Apr 15th, 2003
very helpful by (100%):
