First Impressions: L'Oréal Lash Out Butterfly mascara

Most of us strive to make a good first impression when meeting people, but do our products? I thought it might be interesting to try a "first impressions" review theme; simply sharing my intial thoughts upon trying a product for the first time.

Meet L'Oréal's Lash Out Butterfly mascara

Ooh! Shiny!

First off, packaging. The silver and black packaging is simple and sleek. And it certainly is eye catching. I couldn't help but notice it in the store. However, I find the shape a little awkward in my hand. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is extremely difficult to hold. Just that its thicker handle and one flatten side make it more cumbersome. Though, with it being so large and shiny, it's hard to miss in the make-up bag.

Now to the applicator. It's quite unique, which is why I wanted to give it a try. It's a soft rubber wand, which I personally like better than traditional plastic bristles. Two of the rows of bristles on the wand are asymmetrical and extend outward. This is suppose to grab your outer lashes and give them even more length, winging them out. I have really short, stubby lashes naturally so I figured this might be just the right product for me. 

Thoughts after the first use: It does lengthen your lashes. After one application, my lashes looked as long as two or three heavy applications of my previous mascara. And those extra long bristles really do coat those outside lashes and give them a little more flight.

However, I got little to no volume out of this mascara. While I think this is marketed as just a lengthening mascara, it actually make my lashes look thinner and more sparse, which I don't quite understand. I think this was partly due to the amount of product that was on the brush on first application. I always have to wipe off a new mascara for the first few days to get rid of the excess and avoid the spider-eye look. But even after wiping it down, it still thinned out my lashes. Lengthened them, yes. But it also put them on a diet. And my lashes need all the calories they can get.

I ended up adding a layer of another mascara to fatten my lashes up and the end result was one I was happy with. 

Hmmm… My exposure is really red. I'll work on that.

I'll have to keep playing with this particular mascara to see if I can get it to do what I want. But, considering that it is a lengthening mascara, it did what it claims to do. So if you don't need the volume but want the length, I think this would be a great product for you. However if your lashes are a little on the short and skinny side, you may need to double up with a volumizing product.

***Update*** 

Novemeber 15th, 2013

Now that I've had the chance to play and finagle with this mascara and gotten to a point where I can bend it to my will, I quite like it. It dries a little stiffer than I would like which makes it a little hard to build up, but it is possible. I've noticed that if I use the shorter-bristled end of the the wand to build volume, I get quite a lot of va-voom. And holy length, Batman! My eyelashes have never seen such heights without the aid of falsies. I will for sure be  repurchasing. 

It might not look like much, but this is amazing for me.

*This post was not sponsored by L'Oréal or its affiliates in any way*