L'Oreal PRO XXL VOLUME MASCARA

I was very disappointed in this mascara! I have straight lashes so was hoping this would add some volume and length. I tried various ways of using including not using the primer and just seeing the difference with/without it. I alternated between letting the primer (step 1) dry and leaving it wet before applying the black (step 2). Didn't make a difference. Did leave some smudging under my eyes later in the day. Made my lashes clumpy so in a sense yes added volume but looked like spaced out spider legs. Didn't add length. If anything i found swapping between the 2 ends between primer (?) and black annoying and i tended to naturally go to hold the wrong end each times. I'm not sure how they got the % saying 77% lengthening and 12% volume. The lengthening did NOT happen and the volume was not enough I wouldn't buy. I am a lover of L'Oreal skincare but sadly not for this mascara. I also tried curling my lashes both at the start of the mascara layering process and other times after mascara was on (when had dried) but the curl didn't hold. Had to soak my cotton pads in micellar water to cleanse off later as difficult to remove

L'Oreal's Pro XXL Volume mascara claims that it provides an instant 3D volume effect with black booster technology for an intense look. I hoped it would be true …

First step, coat lashes evenly with the white volumising mascara primer to add volume.

Next step, intensify lashes with the black booster technology mascara. The application was simple enough, wiggle the straight wand marked 1 into lashes to build volume. The white primer coats lashes, giving length and volume. Repeat with the curved mascara wand. The shape of this wand gives good coverage and makes it easier to get into the corners.

Did it work? No. The primer didn't give much volume at all, but it did add length. If I waited for the primer to dry before adding mascara, the mascara wand tugged at my lashes and pulled a few of them out. The mascara also took ages to dry, often leaving me with 'spider tracks' under my eyes and panda eyes later on in the day. My first use of the wands made me feel like the tube should have been designed the opposite way around, with the wands in the lids and the product in the body.

Overall, I'm not impressed with this mascara and won't be purchasing any, or recommending it. I dislike having panda eyes, especially when I'm seeing clients all day. I get more volume and staying power from a cheap brand of mascara just by adding extra coats. This primer did nothing for volume but definitely added length, and the awkward tube shape isn't comfortable to use. Unfortunately, this is a no from me.

I was very excited to try this mascara. It looks very attractive with its shape and size, draws your eyes to it. Unfortunately, every time I put it on, I would find it smudging down my eyes everyday. I have never had this issue with any other mascara i have previously used.

I tried it both with and without the primer to see what kind of a difference it made, and didn’t feel the primer added much of a difference to the effect the mascara had other than slightly filling them out.

It gave a nice fullness and length, but not what it advertised.

I sometimes have sensitive eyes and this didn’t give me any irritation which is good.

Although this mascara was lovely to apply and looked great, it all ended up under my eyes after a few hours. Most mascaras don’t do this when using a primer so not sure why this one did. It was convenient having a primer and mascara in the same package but also the labelling could be improved as without my glasses on it was difficult to see which end was 1or 2. I wouldn’t use this product again as I have used far better primers/mascara before.

I was looking forward to trialling a new mascara as lately the ones I've used haven't worked well. This one disappointed in the fact that it didn't do anything exciting. The primer didn't seem to serve a purpose apart from colouring my lashes white and in doing so made me use the other end to colour over it with the black end. I found it difficult to see which end was which without my glasses on. I found that if I did my bottom lashes that I ended up with panda eyes a few hours later. My eyes didn't look spectacular after this mascara and wouldn't use again.

Arriving with no packaging and instructions, I wasn't sure if the primer was supposed to be left to dry or the mascara was to follow straight away so I tried both. Personally, I found once the primer dried fully it became very stiff and made it difficult for the mascara to glide over the top particularly well so I went with applying the primer and then following straight on with the mascara. This way it covers the lashes much easier, but I am unsure if in doing this if I am diluting the volumising quality of the primer if it was intended to dry first?...

The primer is a luminous white and very thick. There is so much product on the straight shaped wand when you open it, I would wipe off the excess but it still seemed very goopy to apply. The Mascara brush is curved and good to follow the lash line with. The product is an intense jet black colour, it went on smoothly and provided good coverage. Ends of the wand are numbered with a 1 for Primer and 2 for Mascara which helps to identify what end of the product you're aiming to use.

Volume - I found nothing especially XXL about it. The coating of primer followed by mascara seemed similar to simply applying two coats of most mascaras I have ever tried.  I found the application of primer and mascara lasted the whole day though, and was easily removed at the end of the day.

Personal preference, but I found the very long wand with pointed rounded ends less user friendly - I like to put my mascara tube down while applying the mascara and found this less easy to do as it could not stand upright on its uneven surface. I also found the wand & unopened tube just a bit too long for me liking while applying the product. 

So overall I found the product itself suitable enough, but personally I would not rush to purchase again as the cons of the primer thickness, stiffness once dried, and wand length and shape, outweigh the pros of an intense black mascara which provides good coverage and lasts the day through. It just wasn't the 'XXL volume' I was hoping for in this product,

I wanted to love this product but I was left just a little underwhelmed :(

I have quite long lashes to start with (Thanks Flash Lash) but adding more volume is always welcome. The first day I tried this I used as recommended and added the step 1 - base coat (a white type of thick mascara) then followed by step 2 - standard Mascara. I found it left my eyelashes quite clumpy and I felt like I was straight back in the year 2000! Maybe I had applied it wrong I thought however rocked the clumpy lashes for the day... by the end of the day I had quite bad transfer under my eyes.

The next day I made sure to use oil free products on my face (I thought this may help with transfer) It helped a little however still had a little amount of transfer. I applied less of the base coat and waited for it to dry before adding the mascara, was better but still a bit too clumpy for my liking.

I have since just used step 2. the Mascara and have quite enjoyed it by itself.

This may work well on shorter lashes however I wouldn't recommend for longer lashes unless you like the clumpy look.

I had such high hopes for this Mascara for it matching up to the volume of one of the best Mascaras I ever used but is no longer available! It looks pretty glam with it's silver casing. This came uncarded, with no instructions, so if you've never used a two-step mascara before, you're on your own figuring out how long to wait between applying the primer and mascara itself. I took a gamble. At least there is a 1 and a 2 on the wand covers. 1.Primer has a straight brush wand. For those never using a lash primer before, this is white and thick, however too thick to get evenly on the brush, which made it hard to apply evenly on lashes. After several goes at gently moving the brush inside so as not to get clumps, application was sort of even, and did build a good volume base. 2. Mascara, has a curved brush wand, and the black is brilliant, which I assume is the 'black booster' technology. The curve brush helps define the primed lashes into a really good shape and separate. Together, once all the primer is covered, my lashes definitely looked much longer, thicker, and more glamourous than I've had in ages using other mascaras. I got several compliments within a short space of time on how amazing my eyes looked. However. This is not smudge proof, and I found out the hard way. About two hours after applying, I left a lunch with a charming person who usually makes lots of eye contact with me, but hadn't. I felt miffed, put my sunglasses on, and left. but then ... Upon getting in the car and removing my sunglasses, I was horrified to look in the rear view mirror to see lines and lines of black mascara above my eyes/under my eyebrows on both sides. EEEEEK. SMUDGE PROOF SHE IS NOT.

Yes, that's how long my lashes had become, but oh no, it will not work as a mascara in summer.

Bonus points: I have found many volume mascara's cause me to feel like I've got weights on my eye lashes, flake into my eyes, and leave my eyeballs irritated. This did none of that!

Overall, I absolutely love the aesthetic, the intense, glam black volume is what I have been looking for! But this was let down by hard to apply primer, and smudging. I will wear again, but not in warm, sunny or humid environments.

So I have tried this mascara out everyday and I'm just meh about it. It's ok and it makes my lashes blacker and slightly longer but it flakes and It feels heavy. The volumizer is annoying and too thick. It take way too long to dry. The formula is too thick and I really don't like it. The smell is off putting as well.