Mascara of the Week: L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes

WEEK #1

This past week, I've been using L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara. This mascara is pretty neat. It's a dual-ended mascara; the first wand is a primer, while the second is the actual mascara. L'Oreal claims that using the two formulas in tandem extends the body of your lashes. Not only are you supposedly going to get super long lashes, but the other super neat thing about this mascara is that to take it off at the end of the day, you just hold a warm water soaked compress to your eyes and the mascara just slides off in 'tubes' - hence the "beauty tubes" aspect of this mascara. 

wand #1 - the lash primer

wand #2 - the mascara

no mascara!

According to the packaging, this mascara claims to give "80% visibly longer lashes." On the packaging, it also promises that the benefits of tube mascara is that it's long wearing, smudge proof, flake proof, and clump-free. Let's test those claims...

one coat step #1 - the primer

one coat step #2 - the mascara

I have to admit, this masacara wears really well throughout the whole day. I didn't have any problems whatsoever with smudging or flaking. However, I did notice that on a couple days, this mascara applied a little clumpy, which I do not like at all! It also looks really hard and spikey AND it does not hold a curl very well at all. In fact, I noticed that after applying the primer, I still had a semblance of a curl to my lashes, but after applying the second step to the mascara, the curl was completely gone. I don't know if this mascara formula is heavier because of the "beauty tube" aspect but it definitely didn't hold a curl and that is something that I'm looking for in my perfect mascara. 

The wand itself was okay - it was a on the big-ish side, and awkward to get to the lashes in the inner corner but it wasn't overly difficult to use. It's your basic typical, spooley mascara wand. 

People may think that the dual-ended primer + mascara aspect of this product is probably just a gimmick. I honestly think that using the mascara in conjunction with the primer did add a bit of length to my lashes. And the primer also plays a role in the ease of taking the mascara off. Other primers may be a waste of time and packaging, but in this case, it's the purpose of this product.

after being removed with water - the mascara comes off in "tubes"

I'm going to rate the mascara now based on the categories initially mapped out in my "How I'll Conduct a Mascara Review" post

1. Lash separation: 4 out of 5
2. Lash volume: 3 out of 5

3. Lash length: 4 out of 5
4. Holds curl: 1 out of 5 
5. Staying power: 5 out of 5
6. Mascara wand: 3 out of 5
7. Taking it off: 5 out of 5

8. Overall appearance: 3 out of 5

9. Overall score 28 out of 40

I think this mascara is really good if you need a mascara that you know will last throughout the whole day without flaking or smudging. For staying power alone I would repurchase this mascara. The fact that it doesn't move until you soak your eye with water is also a plus. It's a tried and true stay put mascara, but the hard, spiky appearance and its poor performance in holding a curl is a big disappointment. For a night out or a long day, I would wear this, but it's not a go-to everyday favourite.

The search continues...

xoxoDarlingBuds