Lancome's 'Hypnose' Mascara in 'Brun'.

I am not ashamed to admit it, my eyelashes are my pride and joy. And probably my best feature (and only feature).
Nothing (apart from maybe eating) gives me as much pleasure as much as putting tonnes of mascara on my eyelashes, ala Twiggy.
I am a big fan of the saying 'bigger is better' when it comes to eyelashes. However, there is a line between chav-style clogged lashes (a la Jordan-esque) and the big, black, voluminous yet delicate, fluttery and realistic looking lashes that I yearn for.
I don't do natural looking lashes, I do standout big lashes day and night. I don't have big Angelina-type lips, nor do I have fantastically sculpted cheekbones like Miss Knightley. And one knows you should always play up your best features, eyes in my case.

However, it takes a certain type of mascara to really do the job. I always used to use Rimmel's 'Volume Flash x 10 Extreme Black' (click for product spec) because it's cheap, and I did go through about two tubes a month, so how much it costs is really a big deal. It also does the job right up until it runs out, I love the brush because it grabs every single little lash and gives it a nice thick coating of mascara. It's my favourite mascara so far, however, this could all change!

However, I love everything else about it. I love the packaging, it's beautiful. I love how easy it is to apply when you're aiming for the 'natural' eyelash look.



However, I managed to get my hands on this Lancome mascara. It's Hypnose and I think it's the shade 'Brun'. I say 'I think' because I've lost the box for it (I got it ages ago). If you have a look at the picture of the wand, it does look more brown-ish than black, but if you look at the pictures of my lashes, they look very black. So I'm more than a little confused! I'm pretty sure I've got a 'Brun', because on the bottom of the tube (fourth photo down) it's got a little sticker dot that is very much brown. It started off great. The brush is great because it grabs every single lash and coats it. However, I did find the brush didn't grab the outer lashes very well. Consistency of the mascara is great too, nice and thick. It doesn't flake off and even when I accidentally rubbed my eyes quite ferociously (I was tired okay?!) I didn't get any 'panda-eye', although I did end up with three thick eyelashes, haha!
I always curl my eyelashes before applying mascara so I can't comment on the curling ability of this mascara m'fraid!
You encounter trouble with this mascara when you try to build it up (>3 coats). For this reason I would say this mascara is better if you're aiming for a 'natural' eyelash look, which is nothing too dramatic.
Well, I found this a wee bit disappointing, because I like mascara's that you can build on and build on (I'm talking about seven coats here), without any clumping or any other undesirable finish.

I don't think I'll repurchase, just because I can get the same results with Rimmel's 'Volume Flash x 10 Extreme Black' for a quarter of the price (Hypnose is £21 directly from Lancome's website). However, I am quite keen on the look of 'Hypnose Drama', by Lancome again, which has a much fatter brush.
As I said, the only reason it's not for me is that I have trouble with the buildability of it. It's fine and works perfectly as if you only want a natural eye, but any more than that and it starts to flag.

So...what is your ULTIMATE mascara?