L'Oreal PRO XXL LIFT MASCARA

Product is nice and slim and fits perfectly into my make up bag. Great packaging. Love that it has two sides for double the action- volume and lift, just what you need in a mascara. Easy to use and apply. Doesn’t clump and is long lasting. Slight smudge for me but otherwise looked great on and worked well. My eyelashes don’t usually stayed and lift definitely helped it to- just what I needed!

Firstly, by way of explanation, I have long lashes but they're very, very pale. I usually go for a regular mascara to give them a bit of bulk and colour, but I'm not really in need of the length. I used to get them tinted but I found I still needed to wear mascara for the volume. I don't wear a lot of makeup but I always always always wear mascara - I just feel undressed without it!

Which brings me to this particular mascara. I'm not sure what I expected from the "lift" exactly, but I was disappointed. Firstly, the tube is double-ended and clearly marked 1 and 2, so you know what order to apply it. End #1 has a straight wand, End #2 has a curved wand. For some reason, the mascara in #1 was gluggy and yuck. Every time I tried to apply it, I'd end up with clumpy, awful-looking lashes, no matter how much product I tried to scrape off the wand first. Quickly became not a fan of #1 - and applying #2 on either dry or wet lashes just had me ending up looking like a toddler who'd gotten into Mum's makeup bag.

So, I tried just applying from End #2, after scraping off as much excess as I could. I liked End #2 a little bit better - it wasn't as gluggy and I liked the wand shape (curved), it was easier to apply without ending up with a mess. I'm not sure what each end was supposed to do as there were no instructions with it, so I can't really comment on whether it did what it said it was going to do (perhaps lift? If that's the case, I didn't really notice anything like that happening).

I liked End #2 well enough but it just didn't really do anything extraordinary that other mascara's didn't already do for me (and they were easier to apply, on the whole).

So I'm afraid this one is a no from me. I might keep it as a back-up and just use the remainder of the mascara in End #2... or I might just give it away to my daughter and see if she can make it work for her. She may succeed where I failed miserably!

I love a two-step mascara, but this one is so different to others. The difference here is in the brushes, not the formula!

So instead of using a 'primer' first and then following with the colour mascara formula, this one you begin with a straight brush to evenly coat the lashes, and then use the curved brush to lift them!

I really found this lifted and curled my lashes, an effect that lasted all day.

No smudging, flakes or transfer and relatively quick to dry.

I confess to think two brushes was a waste of time before using it, but I'm a convert!

The packaging is nice and easy to use, reminds me of the old school mascaras that had primer on one end and the mascara on the other, I like how it "clicks" when you close it to stop it from drying out. It clearly tells you which one to use first as it's marked out by 1 or 2 so very user friendly.

The effect I got was amazing, my lashes were thicker and longer but not sure if you'd say it's more curled than usual as I think the second side is supposed to curl your lashes.

I haven't changed my mascara for many years and usually get a very expensive one as I haven't found anything better but this one is waaaay better and made my lashes look a lot longer and thicker.

It's a bit harder to wash off as it leaves quite a thick residue so I probably wouldn't use it every day but more of an outing mascara where I spend a bit more time taking my make up off.

Definitely my new favourite outing mascara.

One thing I noticed straight away was this was a double ended mascara wand. So to me that his double to work and application - I'm lazy so this was something I had to just deal with. Wand #1: It's rather gluggy so you do really need to take your time applying otherwise you look like you have 5 stupidly thick lashes. Wand #2 This can be tricky, if the coat from wand one is still wet than it winds up thick and you look like you have spider legs instead of lashes. If it is dry then you feel that creepy sensation of scraping onto your lashes. I tried the wands on seperate occasions too. #1 is just like a basic clumpy mascara but ok. I love wand #2 it does actually curl your lashes up = they look awesome! So because my lashes are an ok length I'll keep using wand #2. I would only purchase wand #2 on it's own.

On a side note it's not waterproof but it doesn't smudge either. After my usual spa I found clumps on my face - not panda eyes so that's a win for me.

I wanted to love this mascara. Sadly it didn't really live up to it's claims. Positive stuff: It comes in a cool looking red double-ended wand, clearly marked 1 and 2 for the different steps. It's easy to apply. The product is quite thick and looks almost gluggy but goes on easily. It does have good staying power once dry. I rubbed my eye quite forcefully before it smudged.

Negatives: I didn't really find a huge increase in volume or lift.

All in all this is an okay mascara. I wouldn't buy it over my usual product, but will finish the wand none the same.

Love love this mascara. I have short eyelashes so all the volume a mascara can give me is great. This product has 2 wands, one is for giving a volume and the other one curls the lashes. So with one mascara you get the effect of using 2 mascaras. My eyelashes look long, curly and beautiful. It stays well and doesn't bother my eyes at all. I wear contact lenses and mascaras often give me headache. Haven't experienced with this one yet

The packaging is really pretty and looks lush