The Mascara I Swore Not To Buy: Lancome Monsieur Big review

When shopping for beauty products, you know the excitement of seeing something beautiful, new and shiny? Well, I got exactly the opposite feeling when I saw the name of Lancome's new mascara, the Monsieur Big. I get the similar sense of second-hand embarrassment when I see Too Faced's Better Than Sex, Urban Decay's Perversion or the "sex-proof" Troublemaker mascara. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a puritan, but why would I want to associate my mascara with sex? It's not an adult toy, it's something you rub in your eyelashes.

Anyway, after watching hours and hours of Allana Davison's YouTube channel and how she raves about Monsieur Big while looking like a bombshell .. I finally gave in and picked up this mascara on sale. Let's see if it's worth the hype!

Lancome Monsieur Big

This mascara is described as volumizing and obviously giving you "big" lashes while being long-lasting (24h long wear and looking good the morning after). Available in black. Retails for $25/29€, I got mine on sale for 14€. L'oreal (Lancome's parent company) is famous for its good quality mascaras from all price ranges. I think the name of Monsieur Big is inspired by the character from romantic comedy-drama Sex and The City, but changed a bit for copyright reasons.

Packaging and brush

The tube is simple, sleek and dare I say it.. "big". I'm used to see Lancome having very simple yet luxurious, sophisticated mascara tubes, but Monsieur Big gives me a vibe it's aimed at more younger customers (who probably haven't seen Sex and The City??). The logo is in pink, but fortunately not too bright. I like how the packaging has a small but satisfying closing click when you roll the wand back into the tube. It also gives me comfort that the mascara probably won't dry out prematurely.

The brush is also on the thicker side with densely packed bristles. I'd say the brush looks fairly generic, which is not a bad thing as long as it performs. I feel many modern wand designs have gone unnecessarily crazy, I don't need a robot hand to comb my lashes! Despite the large size of Monsieur Big's wand and brush it applies on my shortest lashes, inner and outer corners without a problem. My biggest 1st World problem is when a mascara wand hits my upper lid (especially with cone shaped wands), but I've rarely done that with Monsieur Big.

Wear

I never use falsies, but I still want my lashes to be va-va-voom. I want length, volume, lots of more volume and some definition. In other words: I want it all. Monsieur Big does live up to the hype and give very big, full, fluttery and voluminous lashes. The ends of the lashes are also fat vs elongated, but I like little "spider legs" here and there. I prefer to comb the product in the lengths and tips of my lashes instead of wiggling between the roots to give my lashes lots of volume and drama.

If a mascara smudges during the day we're breaking up instantly. I can take some setbacks like endless layering, hard-to-remove formulas, even some flaking from a tubing mascara, but smudging is an instant turn-off. I do not wear contact lenses, but I take naps and in the cold weather I might shed a tear, which are true tests for a mascara. Monsieur Big is not waterproof, but I'd say it's mildly water-resistant as it hasn't bled all over my when I've teared up a little. I expected panda eyes with such a big lashes and wet formula, but I've only needed to touch up my lower lash line a tiny bit. The 24-hour and "day after" lasting power are false claims though, the mascara flakes a bit if I take a nap. If you want truly a water-resistant or waterproof mascara go for Japanese drugstore ones. Monsieur Big removes easily with a regular cleansing oil.

Comparison

I have okay, mediocre lashes. Without giving them a good curl they look like nothing at all. In the 1st image I've curled my lashes with the Surratt eyelash curlers (review here) and in the 2nd I've applied what I call one coat of Monsieur Big mascara to my lashes. Normally I would apply a second layer to build more drama, maybe comb my lashes a bit to make them more separated, but I skipped these steps for the demo. I'm quite liking it!

Final thoughts

Guess what.. I would repurchase this mascara in a blink. Not for the outrageous price in Finland 29€ (~$36)! Mascara should be replaced every 3 months and I've never tried a mascara that was worthy of spending 20€. But I'd pick up Monsieur Big in tax free or on sale. I'd purchase a backup. It's a very nice mascara if you're satisfied with the length of your natural lashes but want to add more drama and volume.

What's your current favorite mascara? Do you ever get tired of silly marketing or product names?

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