Getting this mascara was a real mission, Boots launched it online, then it was out of stock, stores had empty stands for it, but the stores I’d spoken to said that they hadn’t even had the stock yet and had no idea when it was coming in, and after a walk around a sleepy market town in Norfolk who maybe had no idea over the hype about the L’Oreal Lash Extatic/Lash Paradise mascara I finally managed to find it.
So why the hype? Lash Paradise (or as it’s been horribly named in the UK Paradise Extatic – euch that spelling!), is being hailed as the drugstores answer to Too Faced’s Better Than Sex Mascara aka one of my favourite mascaras of all time. Too Faced was recently bought out and I had to double check as to whether it was either L’Oreal and Estee Lauder’s ownership, but falling under EL’s portfolio of brands this is more of a direct competitor rather than the ‘passing down’ of information from high end to high street that we can often see with popular products.
The mascara has not only been renamed but also repackaged for the UK Market, the US version is the same baby pink tone, and similar serif font to Too Faced Better Than Sex, and I can see why immediately you might draw similarities between the two. The UK one is a Rose Gold tone, with a mixture of a matte tube with a slightly different colour rose gold chrome lid – with a more modern dotted font and doesn’t immediately draw any associations, personally I’m not a fan of the packing and prefer the pink version of the US’s it also feels quite light and almost cheap to hold.
Whilst I was tempted to purchase Better Than Sex to directly compare I have so many mascaras in waiting to be used that I could use a new mascara every month for the next year and still have spares, so it felt unjustifiable at the moment to get it, however as soon as I pulled out the wand I could see why the comparisons were coming from. It’s been around 6 months since I last had BTS, and the wand from memory looks almost identical, thick dense hair bristles shaped like a hourglass shape, it’s big, but not huge or clunky or chunky to use, I think on the original the BTS is more of an accentuated hourglass but only slightly so.
One thing I hate with mascaras is when they’re wet, I find them impossible to build volume with them and find that they just tend to gently stroke the lashes, great for if you want a natural look, but I want it all – especially volume, and one thing this mascara can not be classed as is wet. It’s bordering on the brink of feeling like a dry two month old mascara from the moment you open it, something that’s also familiar to Too Faced’s but maybe not quite as extreme, and this won’t be for everybody, however this type of ‘worn in’ formula is what tends to work best for me, however I do wonder how well this is going to fair once it does get to the two-three month old mark, although this feels so light I wonder whether it’s got enough product in it to make it to that point!
I find this builds volume whilst keeping the lashes separated and not clumpy, I find it a little more work than my beloved from Too Faced needing a couple of strokes through the lashes due to it’s dryness I find it has a little tendency to need building up to the tips as it’s dry-ish there’s not a lot of product that grabs onto the brush and it needs working up to the tip in a couple of coats. However, the overall effect is very similar, with no smudging at all through the day for me, it gets a big thumbs up.
L’Oreal Lash Paradise / Lash Extatic Eye Look with the Mascara
This won’t take a place in my top favourites which are ultimately all high end ones, call me a mascara snob but they do just work better for me, but this is a really good drugstore alternative, and if you’ve been dying to try the £22 high end alternative but haven’t wanted to splash the cash this might be a good place to start if it’s something you enjoy using.
Have you tried the hyped up Lash Paradise mascara yet?
You can find this on Boots website here and Superdrug here.
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This mascara sounds really interesting! I still haven’t tried BTS and I love a ‘worn in’ mascara so you’ve reminded me to pick that up next time I’m in Sephora!! Thanks lovely x
No problem! Better Than Sex has that worn in feeling from the start, you’ll probably like it!
This mascara sounds good, I’ve heard a lot of reviews about these.
Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
Yep, it’s had a lot of hype!
I enjoyed your review. And the wand looks amazing. I heard a lot of good stuff about this mascara. Hope soon to come in Croatia so I can try it 🙂
Fingers crossed it’s not that long!
Yeah nice one
I prefer mascara when it dries out a bit. I don’t think this has launched in NZ yet but if/when it does and depending on how much it costs I might consider trying it. I don’t think I’ve ever used a mascara that wasn’t drugstore 😛
Me too, a wet mascara is horrible to use, Give me dry one over that any day!
I’m a high end mascara lover, I try to find a drugstore one I love as much! At the moment most of what I have is through beauty boxes so have a mix of brands and price points to try and impress me!
I have never understood why US companies like to rename stuff for the UK market. I mean I understand if it just doesn’t translate well, but most of the time, doesn’t it?! (I was recently looking up some old-school My Little Ponies – don’t laugh – and saw that there were some with seemingly unnecessarily different names in the UK. So weird.)
I do like a drier mascara, too. Hope this one works out better after a month or so.
I bought the waterproof Lash Paradise but have yet to bust it open. The waterproof ones are usually nothing like the regular versions :/
We don’t even have the waterproof one – our waterproof selection here is seriously limited for mascaras, no idea why – maybe it’s because it’s not hot enough, but it rains enough to make up for it!
And that’s weird as I was showing Ben pictures of the My Little Ponies I used to have just last week hahah!
LOL! I could have sworn I only had three MLPs as a kid, but then I started looking through ebay and that MLP wiki, and it was like….”holy crap I had that one, too!” 😂 I then ordered a couple off ebay/etsy…
Why did they change the name! Lash Paradise just sounds nicer☺ I used to like L’Oreal mascaras but I am a snob now. I like Tarte and Lancome mascaras and Benefits Roller Lash best x
Didn’t get on with Roller lash but love Tarte and Lancome!
Aaw that’s a shame. I’m not sure if they’ve changed the RL formula but it’s got harder to remove! Almost like a waterproof mascara now. Grr! Btw have you seen the Tili updates? Xx
Yes not sure on this one, it’s a bit too skincare for me so far! Wish they’d include some more tarte in there it’s such a popular brand for them they’re missing a trick!
I was hoping this box would be good but it’s all skincare brands I’ve tried before. Since more people have caught on to the Tili box thing the quality is worse xx
Yeah they’ve not even sold out of this edition yet – you’d have thought they might have cottoned on that people aren’t enjoying it!
Exactly! The first couple of boxes were great value for money with Tarte mascaras etc. Not loads of mini skincare items x
I bet you were so “Extatic” when you got your hands on this mascara! 😆
I’m wearing the Too Face Better Than Sex Mascara again today and it’s good but not WOW, for me. I find it a bit clumpy and doesn’t build as much length as other mascaras. I do like that it’s a drier formula, and it doesn’t smudge on me. I’m looking forward to trying out the L’Oreal version to compare – I’ve seen several reviews where they prefer the L’Oreal over TF! I’m so not a mascara snob – will always love my CoverGirl mascaras!
See Maxfactor mascaras are about £12, may as well spend the extra £4 on BTS!
I already have a lot of length so only want to add volume really, any length is a bonus but less essential for me – but I can understand that BTS might not be great for someone who’s looking to add length primarily!
Speaking of Max Factor, that’s the other mascara that I have opened currently – it’s the Masterpiece MAX mascara and I LOVE the formula, but the wand – not so much. It has that floppy / bendy brush head that makes applying the mascara a pain in the butt! I’m now tempted to place an online order for MF 2000 Calorie mascara – my long time favourite!
This one worked really well for us! It doesn’t clump up at all. But it does flake throughout the day! xx, Britta & Carli from http://twinspiration.co/
Ahh no flaking for me, literally doesn’t budge at all! I actually find it quite stubborn to remove if anything!
I have read a lot about this mascara! I am so tempted to try it out once I finish my current product! Wonderful review!
That packaging and name is so strange! I love this mascara though. Great post!
It is a weird one, don’t know who in marketing thought that name was good! x
I recently compared this mascara to the Too Faced BTS mascara on my blog! You can see the post here.
Surprisingly, I like the L’Oreal one a lot more than I liked the Too Faced one. It seems to lift and curl my lashes better than the Too Faced one does. And I’ll definitely be buying it again! x
Valerie
Ahh they look so different on you – comparing my Too Faced Shots (which I didn’t include in here as they were about 2 years old and not as good quality as I like to put out), I definitely prefer the way BTS looks on me, but I naturally have long lashes so only want to build up some volume, I’m not too bothered about length! x
Glad to see a post about it with pics — I have been wanting to try this mascara! LOTS of hype.
Thank you! Personally can’t stand a review without any pics don’t find them helpful in the slightest! It’s very hyped up!
Love the review girl, I’m so tempted to try this mascara! xx
I didn’t mind this, wasn’t exactly enamoured with it but I think it’s better than the majority of high street mascara for volume. I’m totally distracted by your eyeshadow though!! It’s so sparkly what is that??? 😍😂
It’s the stila magnificent metals in smouldering satin! X
It’s so pretty! 😍 def investing in some of these… after pay day.
they are incredible, you won’t be disappointed x
Wait no it’s not smouldering satin, it’s gold goddess! X
I was dying to try this mascara then when it eventually released in the UK and I got it I just didn’t understand the hype – I think its okay but nothing special. The brow pomade from the Paradise collection deserves way more love though!!
I’ve seen it and it looks really good! I have so many brow pomades I never reach for! X
I just got my hands on the Lash Paradise (I’m in Canada) and I chose the waterproof one. Looking forward to trying it out. I’m in the same boat as you. I review mascaras on Mondays #MascaraMonday and they are piling up quickly!! I wonder why they had to change the name?