Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE AS OF 2/23/17: I am STILL using this stuff and have gotten several friends and family members to switch, including my sister who has incredibly sensitive eyes! This stuff is amazing! ***ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 2014*** I must admit I've been a bit high maintenance regarding my mascara in the past. I've tried drugstore brands here and there, only to be disappointed that I look like a crack whore with spidery eyelashes after two swipes of the wand. Not quite the look I'm going for. For the past 15 years, I've been looking for the perfect mascara that will give me DEFINED, BEAUTIFUL, VOLUMINOUS lashes. I did find several that I liked, but the problem was they were all $25-35. It gets quite expensive after a while! Lancome Definicils was one of my go-to favorite mascaras (also have tried many variations of Lancome Hypnose, Dior Extase, Dior Blackout, YSL, Estee Lauder, MUFE, Benefit, etc). After running out of my last tube and needing another mascara on a whim, I did EXTENSIVE research to figure out what mascaras were most popular and what those people liked/did not like about each of those mascaras. I probably did research for a few hours a week over two months. Ridiculous, I know, but I'm super research-oriented and do this on most of my purchases to get a great cost/benefit analysis to make sure the product will meet my needs. I found a problem withe the reviews. Drugstore mascaras that had good reviews (4+ out of 5 stars) were rated by people who WANTED a natural mascara look that just enhances what you already have. I wanted volume, length, and whatever, so essentially, those "highly rated" drug store mascaras DID NOT WORK for me at all. I have blue eyes, fair complexion, freckles, and medium brown hair, and need all the help I can get to emphasize my eyes. I really like the L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara (in Carbon Black!) because of a few things: 1) THE WAND! You can really get in there and grab whatever lashes you want to with this wand. Do another coat and you can easily get extra volume and definition. Don't apply too many coats or else you may need to get a spooly to separate your lashes a bit. 2) THE FORMULA! I've been wearing this stuff for about a year and it does not flake, smear, or give me raccoon eyes. I have hooded lids and don't have any issues with this mascara at all. It's fantastic, I promise! 3) IT LASTS A WHILE! I don't think this mascara dries out very quickly, so you can use it for more than a month or two without it drying out too badly. Much longer shelf life than the more expensive brands. 4) THE PRICE! Think about this: if you're paying $30 (with tax, let's assume) for a more expensive mascara, and let's say you can get by with using each tube for two months, you're spending $180 on mascara for the year. Compare that price to this tube... let's say you get this mascara for about $8 with tax and use each tube for two months, that's $48 for the year. FORTY-EIGHT DOLLARS. That's a savings of $132. Or, another way to look at this: one year of expensive mascara can buy you about 3.75 years of this L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara! That's an awesome cost/benefit analysis if you tell me. Hope this review helped you! Try it out, I really think you'll like it. I won't switch back.