Tried twice so far, two days in a row. That's usually enough for me to deliberate on a mascara; if any significant changes appear i'll update this review accordingly.
What made me get this product was the hype surrounding the wand-several reviewers and blogs compared it to Chanel Inimitable or Diorshow Iconic. I personally believe the comparison is not far fetched at all:
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| L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes |
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| L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes |
The brushes are fairly similar except for the fact that Dior's bristles are shorter and a little zigzagged.
The L'Oreal Million Lashes has a fairly creamy texture but it is a little liquid, like all L'Oreal mascaras. With a bit of air exposure it gets perfectly creamy and then follows its natural drying cycle (unfortunately). I don't know if it takes a short while to get dried in the tube or if it lasts a long time; i was mostly interested in the effect.
The first couple of application it can be watery, as i said, so careful with brushing your lashes beforehand and curling them; you have to have a very light hand because it tends to accumulate- not to clump, but get thick on the lashes. If you brush them once the mascara is tacky, then wait for it to get 80% dry and apply a second coat, the problem is solved. I am surprised by this mascara because i never expected it to be so easy to work with.
It gives much more definition and separation than anything L'Oreal i have tried before and paradoxically enough, it isn't as clumping as i would have expected. The color is a real dramatic black which gives a sort of 'vinyl' kind of finish to the lashes, making them really stand out. It isn't porny-black as many other 'dramatic black' mascaras, which is a plus for me (i hate blue-black mascaras, they give an overdone and synthetic appearance).
The brush is soft yet resistant enough to be maneuvered accordingly, it catches all the tiny lashes as well as the longer one and coats them evenly; you can feel it working its way through the lashes, the bristles massaging the roots of the hairs. I wouldn't say it's a tricky wand you must be careful with as many reviewers suggest, claiming they poked their eyeballs more than once; it's a large brush with 'spikes' therefore the usual attention must be paid as with everything that comes in contact with the eyes or the surrounding area. The brush is easy to work with because of the 'aerodynamic' shape and even if the product accumulation on the top and the base of the wand looks a bit scary, it's just the usual little product top that will eventually get creamy as the mascara gets exposed to oxygen.
This is what one coat looks like:
And two coats:
It tends to go a bit thick on the lashes as you can see, so careful with that. The best thing to do is apply it in thin coats and wait a little in between applications or carefully brush the lashes afterwards; separating them won't solve the 'problem' because they don't stick together but have too much product on.
Therefore...: I am about to say 'i want to repurchase this product today, get a back up in case they discontinue it overnight'. It is a very good mascara that delivers a lot of volume but isn't that strong in the lengthening department- Lash Architect is still my nr. 1 for that purpose. It holds the curl of the lashes and doesn't weigh them down, it doesn't smudge and doesn't smell/look funky after a certain number of hours. I definitely recommend this for everyone, especially those who have long but thin lashes. However, remember to be patient with this mascara, at least in the beginning, and cut it some slack for the first two-three applications. It looks good, you only need a coat or two and you get truly dramatic lashes without having to fight with the wand and your lashes or scoop inside the tube fifty times.
