Review: Clarins Wonder Perfect mascara

This is yet another post from my vault, I've given up calling it the draft "file" because blue moons show up more frequently than my draft posts.  Do take this into consideration when reading as I've probably made points which are now, no longer contemporary and have either gone down in history or passed by unnoticed by everyone bar me.

Here we go..

I was on my computer a good few Fridays ago "working from home" (read: trying to win a Giles Deacon scarf from the Nibbles Boutique..which has now already been worn by me for about a million years) and Charlotte twittered about Clarins giving away some free mascara and, well.. it doesn't take a genius to figure out what a mascara fiend would do having heard this news. I emailed Clarins on the Friday afternoon and my mascara made an appearance on Tuesday.  That's pretty speedy for a freebie.

Clarins claim it is "A high-glamour mascara which gives lashes incredible volume, length and curl! They are perfectly coated and intensely coloured from the first brushstrokes." 


They go on to say that "lashes are coated in an ultra-flexible film which thickens them from root to tip. They are visibly longer and curled while remaining light and supple. A high concentration of pigments creates an intense colour effect, from the base of lashes, to give a beautiful eyeliner effect. For a flawless make-up result from morning to night."

VOLUME. LENGTH AND CURL. AND CURL. I know I'm not the only one who wants a mascara to thicken and lengthen adequately.  Curl has never really been high up on my list of what a mascara should do but I think maybe now I should think twice..


Practically every mascara out there claims it will give you natural looking fake lashes (if ever there was such a thing) and a lot of them fall flat on their behinds.  My most notorious "false lash giver" is  Benefit's BadGal mascara which did nothing apart from smear everywhere.

So, let's see how we got on with Clarins, which by the way is my first high end mascara (I discount Benefit as being high end for some reason..)

The mascara:

The packaging isn't too standout and almost looks a bit dated.  However, this is only a sample and I saw the full sized product in Debenhams and it is packaged in a rather futuristic and sleek silver packaging with red writing..see it here.

The brush:

It doesn't look like any of the bigger brushes that I've had success with so I wasn't sure it would do anything..however, the coating of the brush didn't go unnoticed by me. It was covered just enough for me, notice how none of the bristles look clumpy yet are still covered enough. I loved the way it was coated properly but so that you could also see the bristles you were working with.

I wasn't holding out much hope for this little beauty at all..I tried it on yesterday and was pretty impressed by how well it performed after one coat.  I tried it out again and I'm still impressed.

Clarins have hit the nail on the head re. mascara consistency if you ask me.  I've always had mascaras which I felt were too clumpy when they came out on the brush so I'd have to be careful when putting it on my lashes, then I'd have mascara which was far too runny and would need a million coats before it showed.  The consistency of this mascara is great, it coats the brush but you can't see any clumps, no clumps on brush means no clumps on eyes.

After applying I did my usual mirror/glasses test and was majorly impressed.  This mascara has managed to lengthen my lashes which is no mean feat as they are pretty long already, thicken them at the base AND give them a killer curl.  I never realised before what a curl could do, my eyes look like little almonds..well chuffed, is I.  I've been using this mascara practically every day since I recieved it and it's nearly finished because the results I get now aren't the same as I got when it was brand spanking new. The eyeliner effect has disappeared slightly but that's my own fault really for using it so much.

I also noticed that it made me look as if I had put eyeliner on too which was great; a time saving mascara.  In my experience, mascaras which claim to thicken and lengthen always make your lashes rock hard so that if you accidentally rub your eye, you take half your lashes away.  This is not the case with this mascara, my lashes were soft and human like all day..

This is how it looked, glasses test has been included as I felt it illustrated the point (and it helps us specky four eyes see what it will look like on a day to day basis)

See, pretty impressive under glasses.  Excuse the mess on the lens, that is NOT lash dandruff (honest!)

 

This is just to show the length you get with the mascara, you can't see the curl too well here but I wanted to show that it holds up to all it promises, hence the million and one shots.

 

There is a minor curl here but that's because the mascara is running out (it took me that long to get a shot). I rambled on about the curl and the eyeliner effect but trust me, it is there. I've never lied to you lovelies before and I don't see what I'd have to gain from lying about this.  You get a mean curl from this mascara before it starts running out.

When I came to take it off I realised just how pigmented it was, I had to use two wipes on each eye to get it all off.  I have never ever had a mascara as pigmented as this one.

There is only ONE drawback to this mascara, I didn't notice it so much yesterday but noticed today that there is a fair bit of transeference onto your under eye area if your eyes get a tiny bit watery.  Most mascaras just flake off but this hangs around, not sure if that's a good or bad thing though.. Also, if you don't let it dry and close your eyes, you get the same thing. However, it was really easy to remove with a damp cloth.  Plus, if you poke yourself in the eye, your eye doesn't sting and go red which is also nice.  Clarins DO make a waterproof version of this mascara but I would like to get a sample of it first methinks just in case they have changed the formula.

Purchase?
Affirmative, chief. I would purchase the full size of this in a heartbeat.  In fact, once I've gotten through my remaining mascaras I think I will purchase this beauty because one coat gives you everyday stunning lashes and more than one gives you night time lashes. RESULT.  I'm super chuffed that for once, a mascara has written a cheque its arse can cash.  The mascara does have an ultra flexible film (no hardness) which thickens lashes, it does make lashes longer and curlier, the lashes are light and supple, there is a high pigmentation and you get the liner effect.    

Clarins, you have done me proud.

Wonder Perfect mascara from Clarins retails at £17.00 and is available in black, brown and blue.  That's quite reasonable for a high end mascara seeing as Maybelline currently have their Pulse Perfection mascara on sale for £14.67...well, it WAS £14.67 but now the PP is priced at "under £10".