I've always LOVED Lancome Hypnose. I loved Hypnose Drama too but nothing beat Hypnose for every day voluminous, soft, fluttery, dark lashes. However, perhaps due to ageing or perhaps due to wearing it for intense gym workouts (I like to think, the latter) - my mascara had not been holding up. A primer was therefore in order, as sacrificing Lancome Hypnose seemed untenable after so many years of loyal service.
For a while I'd been using L'Oreal Beauty Tubes mascara (red and white packaging) which did the job but didn't seem to maximise the Hypnose potential. After being recommended the Lancome version, and reading amazing reviews, I decided to try it. At £23.50, it's the same price as their mascara. And at a measly 5.2g, it's less than the portion of primer given in the L'Oreal Beauty Tubes mascara.
Part of me wanted to dismiss the Lancome instantly. After all, L'Oreal owns Lancome, so I hoped it was just the "same" product in sleeker packaging. The L'Oreal Beauty Tubes did its job after all. But having fianlly tried it, well, let me just say, my Beauty Tubes mascara is now in the bin.
The Lancome primer makes it look like your lashes have multiplied; a host of secret lashes seem to reveal themselves from some hidden depth. A coat of luscious thick lashes emerge once the mascara is layered on this primer. At first opening Lancome Cils Booster XL, my wand was utterly dry and I wondered if I'd received a defective or dried out product? But I swirled the wand and applied. The formula is white as with L'Oreal Beauty Tubes, however, the texture is far smoother and doesn't have the visible fibre strings that the L'Oreal Beauty Tubes has. It must be noted that L'Oreal Beauty Tubes only claims to be lengthening, and it is, but lashes (unless independently blessed) become long, thin and spindly and even a little gritty up close. The Lancome somehow lengthens and volumises. Perhaps the L'Oreal Beauty Tubes actually lengthens more than the Lancome, now that I think about it, but for me, volume is the most important. Using this primer is like applying my Hypnose 4 times layered. In some ways, this can arguably be said to economise on your mascara usage! The picture below is after only one coat of Lancome Hypnose over the primer.
I do wonder if others have found a magic formula layering two drugstore mascaras to get the same effect for less than half a ton. I never thought I would be prepared for a two step mascara process, let alone devote even more expense than simply using a high end mascara. I am wondering if this Lancome is so magical as to make any (even lacklustre, perhaps even a previously dismissed drugstore) mascara work miracles. I literally look like I've had lash extensions when I wear this Lancome Cils Booster XL with my Lancome Hypnose.
Sadly (and with the caveat that it mustn't dry out/ run out too quickly) this is now an absolute a must-have.
L'Oreal Beauty Tubes base - notice the somewhat 'gritty' and spindly fibres
Lancome primer - smooth, and doesn't look like much...
...BAM! Where did all those lashes come from?! A lustrous carpet of lashes
Lancome Hypnose over L'oreal Beauty Tubes. Lovely and natural long lashes, but no wow factor and no dramatic thickness. I can't return to this now!
