2017 Was a good mascara year for me. I fell in love with the Givenchy Noir Couture Volume Waterproof mascara and the L’Oréal Miss Baby Roll Mega Volume Mascara before stumbling onto this beauty, the L’Oréal Paradise Extatic mascara. Prior to its release, this mascara had been making pretty big waves across the pond as the ‘L’Oréal Voluminous Lash Paradise mascara’ and was often called a dupe for the popular Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara. Even though I haven’t tried this cult favourite, I must admit I was intrigued when pretty much every ‘favourites’ video on YouTube talked about this. Usually too much hype puts me off but given my good experience with the L’Oréal Miss Baby Roll Mega Volume Mascara, I was prepared to overlook the hype and find out for myself.
First of all, let me just start with the packaging of the Paradise Extatic: it’s rose gold! Need I say more? It’s absolutely gorgeous and unlike any (budget) mascara I’ve tried. I would’ve been fine with the pink packaging of the US version too though, not sure why they changed it.
When you first have a look at the wand, you’ll immediately see why so many people compare this to the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara. Its supple soft bristles and hourglass shape are very similar and are designed to follow the natural curves of the lashes. This allows you to coat all of your lashes in one go, giving them more body and length. Usually I will build up and add more coats, but for the Paradise Extatic mascara I find that the rule of thumb is ‘less is more’.
In terms of lengthening, I think the other two mascaras I mentioned did a better job, but the Paradise Extatic mascara does a marvelous job at giving the lashes volume and separation (in just one coat). Even though this isn’t a waterproof mascara, it hardly leaves smudges on my face which is a miracle. One final thing you have to take into account in case you’re thinking about making a purchase is that even though the formula nourishes the lashes with castor oil, the formula itself is drier than most mascaras and will dry out much quicker too.
To conclude, the Paradise Extatic mascara is not my holy grail mascara, but definitely one I’ve been enjoying and I’m very much looking forward to try the waterproof version which will be launching in Spring!
L’Oréal Paradise Extatic / Lash Paradise Mascara – € 14 / $ 10 / £ 9
Available at the drugstore and supermarket.
Disclaimer: PR sample sent for consideration.