RockEye: Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Mascara Review

The more accents circonflexes the better, right? This little sample tube of Lancôme Hypnôse Drama was included in the Parisian Sultry set with the Coral Crush palette I reviewed a while ago, and I decided to crack it open just in time for the Holiday travelling.

Here's what it promises to do:
'Get instant lash drama in a single coat with this ultra volume-boosting mascara that’ll take lashes from so-so to show-stopping. The full contact brush, with its S-shaped curve, grasps and loads lashes for a fanned out, full body fringe. Lancôme’s luxe Texturizing Complex features highly saturated waxes and intense black pigments for maximum lash volume. The triple coating system delivers a fluid and creamy application to quickly and easily build big, battable lashes that won’t clump or flake.' (from Lancôme's website)

The mascara retails for $25. As you can hopefully see in the photos, the brush indeed has an interesting shape - it's curved and the bristles are a bit longer on the sides, making for a more challenging application; in fact, almost every time I manage to smear some on my lids, which is easily remedied by a quick swipe of a q-tip. Here are the pros and cons:

What I like:
- the black shade is definitely black enough
- I can get long, full and defined lashes with one coat
- the brush design makes it possible to reach the outer corner lashes
- it holds the curl nicely
- it's quite easy to remove at the end of the day
- it has that mascara scent which I remember Bourjois mascaras used to have and yes, that's a plus for me :)

What I dislike:
- it does flake on me; you can even see it in the photos, which were taken 5 minutes after application
- it also does start to clump after more than 1 coat
- the stopper on the tube is quite loose so that the brush gets overloaded with mascara and the excess needs to be wiped off
- the formula is quite wet, which makes it easier to smear
- it tends to stick to the very tips of my lashes, which makes for a 'spidery' look
- the writing on the sample tube wears off very easily (not sure if the same issue applies to the full-sized tube)
- a word about the marketing blurb: why on Earth is this shade of black 'excessive' and the volume you get with it 'indecent'? It's a freakin' MASCARA, not striptease.

Will I repurchase? Unlikely. Overall, I think it's a decent enough mascara; I especially like that it makes my lashes nice and full and holds the curl very well. However, I'm not impressed with the flakies, and wielding that brush is a bit of a challenge. Well, onto the next one...

Have you ever tried Lancôme Hypnôse Drama? What is your favorite Lancôme mascara?