Product Review: L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara

Not being blessed in the eyelash department, I consider mascara to be one of my daily makeup essentials. It was thus understandable that when Matchstick contacted me about trying out L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara, I jumped at the chance. Matchstick sent me two tubes of the mascara along with a makeup bag full of other L'Oreal goodies--a black liquid eyeliner, makeup brush, and a smoky eyeshadow quad.

I was pretty stoked about the accompanying loot, but it was the mascara I was dying to try out. L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara promises to lengthen your lashes by up to 80% and mimic the lush, full look of lash extensions with its 2-step application process. The white base coat creates a tube-like coating to pump up your own lashes' length and volume. L'Oreal also claims this mascara washes off very easily with water--no rubbing or makeup remover required. Unfortunately, one of the tubes I was sent was completely dried out! I opened the black end and pulled out a bristle brush with tons of dried black clumps sticking to it. The second tube I opened was usable thankfully.

The good news: The mascara does everything it promises to! The first time I tried it out, I didn't notice a distinct difference between the effects of this mascara and my classic standby, Cover Girl Lash Exact. The second time around, I applied the white layer more rigorously, starting from the base of my lashes and wiggling the brush all the way up. This resulted in a dramatic difference. It does indeed form tubes around your lashes, as I discovered when I washed my mascara off with a wet terry cloth. Instead of flaking and blurring into a smudgy mess, it slid off in thin black lines. I tried wearing the mascara with contacts and am pleased to report that it doesn't irritate my eyes.

The bad news: The brush for the black coat clumps something fierce. Every time I applied it, I had to run the brush against the rim of the container to remove all the excess black gunk the nylon bristles dredged up. Also, when I did get clumps, they were harder to comb out with an eyelash comb than standard mascaras; I suspect it has something to do with the lengthening and volumizing effects of the tube extensions. Lastly, this mascara retails for $14.99, which seems a bit pricey for a product that has to be replaced every 3 months, but I suppose that's still a lot cheaper than paying for lash extensions.

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Update: I thought it only fair to you guys to mention it: After a week of using this mascara, I was forced to throw it out. The black brush was just clumping too much. I suspect this has to do with the black formula drying out after repeatedly being dredged up from the tube, exposed to the air, then scraped off and pushed back into the container. My final verdict is that although this mascara works wonders, in the long run if it dries out so easily it's kind of a waste of money.