Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes mascara, my review

The definition of Legendary: remarkable enough to be famous, very well known. Well, it looks like Charlotte Tilbury really wants to make a mark on everyone‘s minds with her new mascara, the Legendary Lashes…

And obviously, like with every Charlotte Tilbury new release, all the international beauty blogosphere is literally swooning, describing this mascara as a miracle product for your lashes. Even the Queen Kim Kardashian herself claims that she stopped wearing false eyelashes because she uses the Legendary Lashes mascara instead. You can hardly do better in terms of a good advertising campaign for a beauty product, clearly…

But hey, you know me now. Always skeptical. And especially when the entire world agrees on a product, I take great delight in looking very closely at the product to make sure it’s good for real. I’ve always had a very sharp critical mind, what can I say!
However, if the product is good, it’s good. I have no problem recognizing it! I’m not perfect, but I’m not really stubborn (except when I’m right, of course :P). And I love a good miracle product!

So when the Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes mascara was released, the buzz started. All beauty bloggers talked about it, they adored it, or absolutely wanted to try it… In short, a very successful advertising campaign, as it often is with Charlotte Tilbury.
In fact, I challenge you to look at her YouTube channel without wanting to buy everything, full of “Amaaazing! Goooorgeous! Extraordinary! Woooow!”. I assure you, she really is the makeup hypnotiser wizard! wink

I really wanted to put this mascara to the test so I ordered it a few weeks ago. Charlotte Tilbury promises nothing less than a volume multiplied by 13 with 3 coats of this mascara and a real transformation of your eyelashes. Let’s discover if this Legendary Lashes mascara is really legendary! smile

Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes mascara, presentation:

What the brands says about it:

“The longer, thicker and more lush the lashes, the more flattering the look, says Charlotte Tilbury. Developed for the most dramatic effect, this mascara is enhanced with lengthening and conditioning ingredients to extend, hold and separate. The multi-bristle brush ensures an even, clump-free finish. The fine-tipped bristles catch even the smallest lashes.
Classic Glossy Black shade. “

Charlotte Tilbury claims a very flexible formula on the eyelashes, which allows to layer 2 to 3 coats easily without clumpiness. Indeed, the brand recommends applying three coats to get 13 times more volume than the initial volume of your lashes.

The brand describes also a long-lasting formula, a lengthening effect and also a strengthening action on the eyelashes, through some key ingredients in the formula:
– marine glycogen, to help the eyelashes to growth faster,
– tamanu oil which regenerates and nourish the eyelashes.

In this mascara, the innovation is clearly in the formula with an exclusive mix of waxes which gives a flexible and elastic texture on the eyelashes, and allows you to layer the coats without being clumpy.
But of course, the brush is also important. This is a classic, rather than a large brush, with different lengths of bristles in order to catch all the eyelashes, including the short and fine ones.

Charlotte Tilbury’s Legendary Lashes mascara, my test and thoughts:

A legendary mascara? Well, I’m not so sure…

– Formula:

The formula is creamy, not very liquid and quite easy to apply. It covers the lashes without being clumpy. As announced, it remains quite flexible and you can layer it easily. It doesn’t flake during the day.
However, it’s not a waterproof formula and it smudges A LOT on me. After 1-2 hours, I have black all around the eye. Great… uneasy

– Application/ Brush:

It’s a classic “natural” bristles brush, rather large but you can still manage to apply your mascara without making a mess. It has sets of different bristle sizes to catch all the lashes, including the shorter ones.
I found it quite easy to use.
For more volume, I do the zigzag technique when I apply my mascara (I swing my brush during application) and this technique allows me to really cover all the surface of the lashes very well, even from the roots of the lashes.

– Lashes separation:

For a volumizing mascara, I find that it wasn’t clumpy at all and it really helps to separate the lashes. This is probably thanks to the “elastic” formula. wink

– Lengthening effect:

Oddly enough, while the brand speaks mostly of a volumizing effect, I found that on me, this mascara is mostly lengthening my lashes. Knowing that my eyelashes are already quite long, with this mascara, they touch my upper eyelid (probably explains why I end up with black all over it, I guess -_-)

– Curling effect:

It’s not a waterproof formula and the curl doesn’t hold as much as a long-lasting or waterproof mascara. Such a shame…

– Volumizing effect:

To be honest, I wasn’t impressed with its volumizing effect. (And just to be precise, I apply 3 layers of the Legendary Lashes mascara, and I do zigzags as advised by Charlotte Tilbury.)
Yes, you get a little bit more volume on your lashes, but nothing crazy. Clearly, it’s not as impressive as my fave Le Volume de CHANEL Waterproof. For now, nothing is better than the CHANEL mascara for volumizing my eyelashes…

– Color:

An amazing very intense black.

– Lasting Power:

Clearly its major weakness. The Legendary Lashes smudges like crazy and very quickly, I have some mascara traces all around my eyes. And honestly, it’s so frustrating! With the arrival of the super hot and humid Dubai weather, it will probably last on my eyelids less than 5 minutes…

The only way I found to keep it in place, is to use a waterproof top coat mascara. Someone recommend it to me on Twitter and it’s a pretty good product. It has significantly improved the lasting power of my smudgy Legendary Lashes mascara, although I still have some slight black traces at the end of the day.
This is the Double Fix ‘Mascara by Clarins, which I must admit it, is quite handy. I apply it after my Legendary Lashes mascara, it’s transparent and it doesn’t really change the texture of my eyelashes. I can barely feel it but it allows my makeup to stay in place much longer.

– Value for money:

$32 for a mascara, so smudgy that I was forced to buy a waterproof top coat mascara (around $20) to apply on top, and which is not very volumizing when it’s supposed to be, I think we can all agree on the fact that it’s not really good value for money, clearly… uneasy

And on my lashes?

As usual, I first used my eyelash curler, I applied 3 coats of the Legendary Lashes mascara and I add the waterproof top-coat mascara by Clarins on top. I only use the Legendary Lashes mascara on my top lashes, not on my bottom lashes (mine are too long and looks weird if I apply this type of mascara to the bottom lashes).

– Front view (before and after):

– Closed eyes and profile view:

– The entire look:

For those of you who’re wondering, it’s the very pretty Crush liquid lipstick by Anastasia Beverly Hills on my lips! wink

In summary:

[wprs-pros][wprs-cons]

As you probably understood, I’m not convinced by the Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes mascara.
Even if I like the fact that it’s not clumpy and the separation it gives to my lashes, I’m really not blown away by its volumizing effect and its smudginess is a big no-no for me…

The Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes mascara is available on Net-A-Porter for $32 and also on Charlotte Tilbury website.

And you, have you tried the Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes mascara? Do you like it?

Photo credit: bonnie-garner.com