Day 67. Le Volume De Chanel Mascara [Review]

Elle Italia had a 3gr sample of the La Volume De Chanel Mascara in the last issue so I grabbed the magazine at the end of February and I have been testing Le Volume de Chanel since then.

Review and pictures after the jump!

The Le Volume De Chanel Mascara sample comes in a black little tube that must not be too different from the full size mascara tube, judging from the advertising print.

The mascara wand is quite big, and has short, stubby but closely packed bristles. This kind of wand and the name ("Le Volume") suggest that the point of this mascara would be adding volume to the lashes.

The Chanel advert claims (translated from Italian):

The new mascara: Le Volume De Chanel - 

Shock Effect 

Intense - Immediate volume from first application: lashes are multiplied and become thicker

Visible - The revelation is instantaneous: the lashes, enhanced by a deep black, open up your eyes

 Irresistible - a wave of seduction spreads out: the gaze is imposing and eye-catching. 

Well, the mascara is very black, the formula is light and comfortable; it actually adds volume to the lashes but in the worst way possible, unfortunately.
I find that Le Volume De Chanel clumps the lashes together no matter how I apply it. I tried with a single, straight motion from the roots to the top of the lashes and with the classic zig-zag motion: no matter what, my lashes end up clumped together.



As you can see from the picture below, my lashes are in little clumps. For the picture, I used a zig-zag movement with the wand and I cleaned the excess product on the mascara tube opening before application. One coat of mascara only.

I let the mascara dry and then I combed and brushed my lashes with a lash&comb comb to get the more decent result you can see below. The lashes are slightly less clumpy.

As you can see in the picture below, I get slightly better results if I wipe most of the mascara off the wand with a tissue before application. Still got clumpy lashes, but less so and from the get go. The downside is that you lose lots of product on the tissue to clean up the wand, even if you wipe the excess on the the tube opening and do the rest with a tissue.

Here are my lashes without mascara on. The "Le Volume de Chanel" worked, it added volume to my lashes but did so by creating clumps. 

 Here's a side by side picture comparison of the two applications I just explained.

Left: Le Volume de Chanel applied with wand cleaned just on the tube;
Le Volume de Chanel applied with wand wiped off with a tissue. 

Even if the formula is light and comfortable, I do not think I would actually purchase this mascara. I would lose too much product to get it to work in a satisfying way. A mascara should not require for you to wipe off all the product off the wand before application!

Even if my final word is negative on the product itself I'd like to spend a word on the amazing job Chanel did for this Elle sample and advertising.

Elle looked supersize for this number:

But once you open the cover, you see it's just a sleeve, and that the actual magazine is in the normal size. The extra space is taken by a little black box that houses the mascara sample.

If you remove the magazine, you find the full Le Volume De Chanel advertising with the claim and all.

The little black box opens up and you find another black box covered by a sleeve. The inner box opens and you find the mascara sample and a small mirror on the back of the box.

 I find all this work amazing! and just to give a good presentation to a mascara sample!