Review: L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara

So when I saw this display at Rite-Aid, and then I saw Shakeup*your*Makeup's review, I knew I had to try it for myself. As you can see in the pic above, my lashes are pretty much non-existent without mascara. Volume is a real concern for me (even more so than length) so if a mascara has the word "volume" in it I am all over it (especially since my beloved Max Factor Volume Couture Mascara is about to become unavailable here in the US).

L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara is available at Ulta and just about every major US retail outlet where L'Oreal products are sold. The retail price is around $7.99 (but it's on sale right now at Ulta for $5.99). Since I'm not a fan of WP mascaras (just because I simply don't care for using eye makeup remover) I purchased Washable Blackest Black.

The first thing I noticed about this mascara is how lovely the packaging is--it's a black tube encased in clear lucite. So sleek! Also, the brush is a traditional bristle brush (nice and big but not ridiculously humongous, and it has an hourglass shape), as opposed to a rubber brush. Something I like very much is that when you pull the brush out of the tube, it barely touches the inside of the tube. I like this because you're not wiping most of the product off the wand before you use it, and I also like how smooth the motion is when you're removing and replacing the wand.

Surprisingly, even though the wand is not a tight fit on the opening of the tube, you're not left with a lot of extra gunk on the bristles. I've found that I'm left with the perfect amount of product for building nice volume without clumping. The "after" pics above were taken after two coats, but I would like to note that I tried three coats and it was even better. I had really thick, dramatic, deep black lashes and the lengthening property was good as well. So yes, clumping is not an issue, but I'm afraid there are some other issues I must tell you about.

I tried to capture this in the photos so I hope you can see it: This mascara gathers at the ends of your lashes, leaving a glob of product on each individual lash. You can easily remove these little globs by just pinching them with your fingers, but who wants to have to do that? Now, I don't really consider this a clumping issue because, for me, clumping is when the product encases several lashes together in a heavy amount of product. Lash separation was not an issue; just the little ball-like globs on the tips of my lashes.

Another problem for me was flaking. This didn't happen instantly, but I found that throughout the course of the day, my eyes felt a little itchy and, sure enough, it was due to flakes. Also, as is the problem with several other L'Oreal mascaras I've used over the years, this one tends to smear under my lower lashes after about four hours (I blame that more on my oily skin than the product itself).

Final Analysis: If I'm going out for a night on the town, this is going to be my go-to mascara because I love the volume it gives my lashes. When I'm getting ready to go out at night I have extra time to remove the "globs" on the tips of my lashes, as opposed to getting ready in the morning when I barely have enough time to put on mascara at all. Also, since my nights on the town consist of about 4 hours these days, I won't have to worry about the flaking or smearing. As for using this as my daily mascara, no way. I just simply don't have the time to fuss with this and worry about flaking and smearing throughout the day. This product has great volume and impact but, for me, it's strictly for nighttime use.

If you've tried L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara, I'd love to know your personal experience--is it similar to mine?