Review: Lancome Hypnose Drama and Cils Booster XL

(Unfortunately photos in this post were lost due to The Great Deletion of 2014. Some efforts to re-do photos will be made but not all posts will be redone.)

For some reason, samples of Lancome mascara are really easy to come by in my household. This has mainly been due to Lancome gift with purchases that always seem to have a mascara in them. Typically I've gotten the Lancome Definicils which I never really liked but I was pleasantly surprised to be gifted with a sample of their Hynose Drama and Cils Booster XL. Let's see how these mascaras stack up.

I've used both these products together for about 4 months now and I think it's just further solidifies that I don't really like Lancome mascaras.

The Cils Booster XL (super-enhancing mascara base) is basically a mascara primer. This product is suppose to lengthen and thicken your lashes and boost the appearance of your favorite mascara (they suggest a Lancome one of course). I would say that this product lives up to its claim. It does add length to your lashes and gives them a little more volume. I definitely notice a difference if I use this before my mascara and if I don't. Just remember to let it dry a bit before applying your regular mascara. Usually I'll curl my lashes, apply this, then finish up the rest of my face before I end off with mascara.

It's suppose to have micro-fibers though I find the fibers less obvious than some micro-fiber mascaras that I've tried. The price of this product is a little pricey at $28. I wish it were less expensive and I really wouldn't buy this product at that price. There are some mascaras that do a good job of lengthening and volumizing without the expense.

The Lancome Hypnose Drama is suppose to create "instant full volume for lash drama". I would say that this also lives up to the claim quite well. However, I find this formula very wet when you first purchase it and it took a month before it was the perfect dryness for me to apply without leaving marks on my upper lids or elsewhere. I've noticed that I like more dry formulas and this is not one of those. There was maybe a few weeks where the consistency was pretty good and then it started getting too dry. This mascara is also quite clumpy and you really have to comb through a few times to make sure no lashes are sticking together or no globs of mascara are on your lashes. 

One of the good things about this mascara is the shape of the wand. It is really good at getting into the smaller outer corner of your eye so I think there are some major points there. But all in all for the price of $31 I would definitely be skipping this product. I haven't found a single Lancome mascara that I've liked and probably won't ever really take a chance on a full size version just because there are so many mascaras out there in the world that could do a similar or better job for less money.

What do you think of Lancome mascaras?