Le Volume de Chanel

I always have at least one book on the go - I'll read before I go to bed, before I get up in the morning, on the train/tube to work, on the tube/train home from work - you name it, it'll be tucked into my bag. Last week, though, it ceremoniously got left behind so to fill the void, I picked up the go-to Stylist and flipped through onto the Chanel mascara giveaway. The first 30,000 people to respond would be sent a sample of the new Le Volume de Chanel*, so I gave it a shot and found it sitting on the doormat early Saturday morning.

Predictably, the packaging is top-notch simplicity, sleek and monochrome. A generous sample size, the wand is on the larger end of the scale, described as a 'snowflake' brush with alternate longer and shorter bristles. Application is quick, easy and rewarding - giving me length I'd forgotten I had, with a dark colour pay-off. I applied two coats just to be sure and was pleased with the result - for someone who's been wearing false eyelashes everyday for the past six months, this was a pleasant surprise.

There's no fragrance which I was slightly disappointed with (I love YSL's Effet Faux Cils Shocking and Lancome's Hypnose mascaras for their fragrance) and the staying power is average - doesn't rub off too easily but it's a lot easier to remove than Benefit's They're Real! (another long standing favourite).

Having not forayed much into the Chanel make up range, I was pleased that the mascara lives up to the brand's hype. Of course, Chanel's high-end reputation means prices are higher than your average drugstore brand - but of course, for those saving the pennies, there's Chanel-owned Bourjois - mid-range products at drugstore prices.