I've been on the luxury mascara bandwagon for a little while now, and so I thought it might be time to put another good old drugstore find to the test. If you've read GLG for a while now, you'll know I was a big fan of the L'Oreal Butterfly Mascara, and an even bigger fan of Butterfly Intenza. Now L'Oreal has launched Voluminous Butterfly Sculpt, which has possibly the most bizarre wand yet, and aims to give the lashes a tightline effect at the roots and fanned out volume volume at the tips. So, did it deliver?
First and foremost I'll say this: the idea of using a mascara wand to actually 'tightline' along the roots sounded both terrifying and painful to me. I mean, short spiky synthetic bristles instantly say "ouchie" to me, so I was really surprised to see that L'Oreal designed this wand to be super flexible and incredible soft. In fact, you can see by the close up shot, there aren't really even that many bristles with the design of this wand. Rather than the product gathering all around the wand, it is gathered into a reservoir between two rows of bristles that then comb through eyelashes, depositing the most at the base/root and then pulling up through to the tips.
Like the previous two 'Butterfly' versions before this, the formula of Voluminous Butterfly Sculpt is incredibly black and wetter in texture which dries to a firm finish. Because of this, you really have to work one eye at a time - continuously applying until you're happy with the results. If you switch back and forth between eyes in between coats, the mascara dries much too fast, making it next to impossible to coat more on. This is pretty standard for formulas that are applied with silicone/plastic wands I've found.
While I think the claim of a tightline effect at the roots is a stretch, I did find I could get incredibly close to the lash line (possibly more so than any other wand I've tried) so I think it is really unique in that sense. I found the finish very similar to the Intenza, giving me really black lashes that looked quite dramatic, but didn't fan them out in the corners like the original Butterfly formula (which did more for me for length than volume). As far as performance, I found it was more similar to the original formula and held up all day without flaking or smudging (Intenza sometimes leaves the odd smudge on my brow bone). Since I was trying out the waterproof formula, I also paid attention to how hard it was to remove, and found that my regular cleansing oil and balms broke it down relatively swift.
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| LEFT: Curled, base lashes. RIGHT: After ONE (!!) coat of mascara |
Overall, I continue to be impressed with L'Oreal's offerings in the mascara department, and would venture to say they are the best mascaras on the drugstore market (a title I previously used to bestore on Maybelline, but have found their formulas have taken a turn for the worse in the last two years). Whilst the original L'Oreal Voluminous classic formula in the charcoal tube has a cult following, I could never get on with it due to the ridiculous amount of flaking I had with it - I'm thrilled to see the additions of the Butterfly range have all improved upon that, if not surprised that I like them more given the unconventional and straight up bizarre wands to them all. I think the thing I appreciate the most is how truly black the "Blackest Black" shades are - I'm all about that lash drama and L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Sculpt definitely delivers!
What is your favourite mascara, and what should I try next?
