L'Oreal PRO XXL VOLUME MASCARA

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.

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.

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