This week I'm mostly being brunette although that is subject to change. Now i've turned 31 and I've ...
This week I'm mostly being brunette although that is subject to change. Now i've turned 31 and I've got my degree I'm trying in vain to look a bit more sophisticated and intelligent...(not that i'm saying blondes are not, of course!)
Member since:17.12.2002
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I’m not really a make up sort of person. I don’t know that much about it and when I apply it I invariably find it goes horribly wrong and I end up looking like a small child who has run amok in mummy’s make up bag. The whole ‘less is more’ adage is generally lost on me. So normally I would avoid make up ops and stick to my fascination with skincare products and hair care. However I felt compelled to write this op because I hated this product so much and I feel the need to vent my spleen on a poor defenceless mascara!
The mascara in question is Maybelline’s new Lash Expansion Mascara.
Maybelline (or Maybelline New York as it was rebranded for the UK market) was launched in the UK in 1998. Before that, I knew of women who made special trips to America to buy
Maybelline mascaras. The brand has been going in America for about 80 years so it’s certainly no newcomer to the cosmetics market and is one of the most respected brands. It was born when a chemist mixed coal dust with Vaseline to make a lash darkener for his sister Mabel to help her win her man back when he strayed – it worked and mascara was born. Although judging from my experiences with ‘Lash Expansion’ it would seem Maybelline have gone back to the old coal dust and Vaseline formulation!
Since its UK launch in 1998, I have used Maybelline ‘Great Lash’ mascara. You may have seen this one in Boots – it’s the one in the disgusting cheap and nasty bright pink and green tube. But it has attained cult status as THE mascara for a very good reason. It’s marvellous. It sells at a rate of one every 1.9 seconds, which is pretty impressive and the reason why the very vile but very recognisable packaging hasn’t changed since 1971.
In recent years, Maybelline has been bringing out additions to its mascara range, fronted by glossy advertising campaigns where Sarah Michelle Gellar flutters her eyelashes at the nation.
Now this claims to be somewhat revolutionary in the fact it coats the lash all around, wrapping the lashes in colour rather than just painting a layer on top. Hence the fact it thickens and lengthens because the lashes are given bulk
As always I’m a sucker for advertising and more to the point the extra Advantage card points that were available with the product so I decided to give it a go.
On thing I don’t like about Maybelline mascaras is the amount of unnecessary packaging. I can’t see why mascara needs packaging at all, but Maybelline mascaras come blister packed onto a cardboard backing. Its difficult to open and it looks tacky.
The mascara itself looks very attractive. Gone is the cheap and cheerful look of Great Lash and in its place is a smooth, sleek dark blue and silver tube that feels really nice.
There is no product information on the packaging or the tube itself apart from descriptive information.
I chose the Very Black shade although it is also available in brown.
When you take it out of the tube it doesn’t look any different. It doesn’t have a fancy brush just a plain straight brush and the consistency of the mascara itself is quite thick. It smells a bit like paint but only if you make an actual point of sniffing it (when of course most people don’t.) It isn’t an overpowering smell.
When you apply it the thickening effect is instant, as is the clumping effect! Even the slightest touch with the mascara brush on your lashes leaves them looking like big horrible spiders. It’s just too much of an effect. Because it’s so thick you get clumps and lashes end up looking fake and brittle. Whatever Sarah Michelle Gellar has on when she’s flashing her peepers at us in the adverts, it sure aint this stuff! This claims to give you ‘look at me’ lashes, but it’s more like ‘look at me, I’m a lunatic who doesn’t know when to stop applying mascara and now I’ve applied 20 coats.’ The effect is certainly false, but I wouldn’t call it ‘false lash.’ As I said, I’m no make up expert, but when Maybelline’s other mascara is so easy to use I can’t see why this one is so messy.
This is not one for spectacle wearers either unless you want to invest in a bottle of Windowlene. I’ve been trying to be a good girl and wear my glasses more regularly of late but with this it makes your lashes so long and bulky that you get mascara marks on then straight away which take some removing.
As does the product itself from your lashes. Once it’s wrapped your lashes it intends to adhere, which is great because you get limited smudging but not so great when you come to try and take it off. It doesn’t say that its waterproof, but it works as well as any waterproof mascara I’ve ever tried.
I don’t have sensitive eyes but this mascara does make them feel uncomfortable. My eyes felt very heavy when I was wearing it (no doubt weighed down by being coated in the mascara equivalent of gloss paint!)
Somehow I can’t ever see ‘Lash Expansion’ selling at a rate of one every 1.9 seconds and becoming a cult make up item. It is widely available at the moment and receiving a lot of promotion but at around £6 a tube in most chemists it isn’t cheap and I just don’t think it will have the staying power of ‘Great Lash’ (except of course in the removal department, where it will stay indefinitely no matter how much eye make up remover you use!)
Maybelline, stick to what you do best. ‘Great Lash’ is a classic and you really didn’t need to create a mascara that follows the current trend for fake lash effect mascaras.
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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 18th, 2003
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