Product:  Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara.  Lancôme mascaras have a cult following but I don’t know why anyone buys this one more than once.

Overall Rating = 2.13 Stars – Just Okay.

Cost:  $25.50 (.25 fl. oz.) ($102 per fluid ounce)  Price Category: Expensive

Sold By:  Lancôme USA; Dillard’s; Nordstrom; Sephora; Ulta; Major department stores everywhere.

Container:  Plastic tube with twist-off tapered S-shaped wand, outer carton.

Description:  Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara is a deep black water-based mascara.  You do not need to use an eye makeup remover with this mascara.

Formula:  This is a medium-wet, thick, creamy, fiber-free formula.  It is water resistant, not waterproof.

Sensitivity:  Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara is fragrance-free and I have not experienced any sensitivity issues personally or had any reported from testers or clients.  I have not used this on very many clients.  This is suitable those who wear contacts or have sensitive eyes.

Company Claims:

“Get instant lash drama in a single coat, no clumping or flaking.

• Intense black pigments
• Triple coating system delivers a fluid and creamy application to quickly and easily build big, battable lashes that won’t clump or flake throughout the day.

Benefits

• Unique, oversized brush provides full contact with lashes for ultimate volume
• Delivers maximum lash coating with immediate load gives lashes instant volume
• Fluid, creamy gliding formula evenly coats lashes from root to tip for buildable volume
• Promises intense, deep color
• Fragrance-Free. Ophthalmologist Tested. Allergy Tested. Safe for contact lens wearers.

Technology

• New oversized S-shaped curve full contact Convex Brush
• Texturizing Complex formula with highly saturated waxes
• Triple Coating System enriched with Pro Vitamin B5
• Deep Carbon Black Pigments”

Discussion:  I had to laugh.  I recently read a review for Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara.  The reviewer said, “I’ve tried a lot of mascaras in my lifetime (seven) and this one is my favorite.”  Really?  Seven in your lifetime?  I’ve tried more than seven in one day.  I’ve tried several hundred in my lifetime.  I would like to know what the other six were that led her to believe this one was good.

Lancôme’s primary marketing claims for Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara is that it does not clump.  I beg to differ.  I found this to be one of the worst clumping mascaras I have ever used.

Colors:  Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Full Body Volume Mascara comes in one color, Excessive Black.

Morning Review:  I tried this on its own and by putting it on top of Lancôme Cils Booster mascara primer.  With or without primer, it clumped.

My first impression of Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara is that I don’t like the brush that is on the wand.  The brush is oversized, thick and S-shaped.  It feels awkward to use.  The shape doesn’t correspond to the shape of your eye and doesn’t make sense to me.  The wand would only be appropriate for those with very large eyes.  It won’t work well at all for those with small or deep-set eyes and it is terrible for lower or under lashes.

There was a lot of excess formula on the tip, so I had to wipe off quite a bit on the rubber collar before working on the lower lashes.  (See photo of collar below)

As far as the formula goes, the mascara is a nice deep jet-black color and it does an excellent job of coating the lashes and adding volume with just one coat.  It also does a terrific job of clumping them together.  I had to work quite a bit to comb through the lashes to get the clumps out.  Once I worked on them, they looked good but it did require quite a bit of effort.

On a separate day I tried the mascara with a completely different dry mascara wand and it worked much better.  The problem with this mascara is not so much with the formula but with the delivery system and the wand.  The tube applies too much product to the weird wand.

Evening Review:  Lancôme Hypnose Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara stays on well.  After many hours there was no flaking or smudging of the mascara.  It came off easily with regular facial cleanser.

Overall Review:  Lancôme Hypnose Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara is not the worst mascara I have ever used, but it certainly is not among the best, either.  The formula itself does have good staying power if you have the patience to remove the clumps to get it looking good.  I would definitely use a different wand and not the one supplied with the mascara.  Since I only use disposable wands on clients, the wand is not an issue for me professionally.  Overall, this one just fell short for me and there are many others that produce better results.

Pros:

• Makes thin lashes look considerably thicker
• Stays on well without flaking
• Color is a nice deep black
• Comes off easily without the need for eye makeup remover

Cons:

• Tube applies too much mascara to the wand
• Wand is too large
• Wand shape is awkward to use
• Clumping occurs if you use the supplied wand.
• Price

Suitability:  Lancôme Hypnose Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara is suitable for the following users:

• All users (if you don’t mind working with it or using a separate wand)

RATINGS REPORT:

Morning Rating = 2 Stars;

Evening Rating = 2 Stars;

Average from Other Testers = 2.5 Stars;

Value Rating = 2 Stars;

Overall Rating = 2.13 Stars = Just Okay.

Would Buy Again?  No, I would not buy this one again.

(Please review the About 365 Cosmetic Reviews page for the rating info.)

Ingredients:  AQUA / WATER / EAU, PARAFFIN, POTASSIUM CETYL PHOSPHATE, CERA ALBA / BEESWAX / CIRE DABEILLE, CERA CARNAUBA / CARNAUBA WAX / CIRE DE CARNAUBA, ACACIA SENEGAL / ACACIA SENEGAL GUM, CETYL ALCOHOL, GLYCERIN, PEG/PPG-17/18 DIMETHICONE, STEARETH-20, SIMETHICONE, SODIUM POLYMETHACRYLATE, PHENETHYL ALCOHOL, DISODIUM EDTA, HYDROGENATED JOJOBA OIL, HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, HYDROXYETHYLCELLULOSE, PANTHENOL, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, PHENOXYETHANOL, [+/- MAY CONTAIN / PEUT CONTENIR, CI 77266 / BLACK 2, CI 77499 / IRON OXIDES]

Important:  Please read our full Disclaimer before using this or any product.