I Tried That Controversial L'Oreal Telescope Mascara — And It Actually Surprised Me

I've gotta say — I wasn't expecting this to work.

If you aren't all caught up with the beauty community drama, you may have missed the whole Mikayla Nogueira L’Oreal Telescopic Lift debacle.

@mikaylanogueira

THESE ARE THE LASHES OF MY DREAMS!! @lorealparisusa never lets me down 😭 #TelescopicLift #LorealParisPartner #LorealParis @zoehonsinger

♬ original sound - Mikayla Nogueira

The gist of it is that beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira put a review video up on TikTok 'testing' the mascara — and there's been some unconfirmed speculation about her putting on false eyelashes mid-review.

Now, while the controversy is definitely interesting (there are conspiracy theories and everything), I was mostly curious about how well the mascara would work sans false lashes.

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I'm Australian, where the new mascara hasn't dropped yet, but I just so happen to be in LA at the moment, so I was able to grab it at the shops with ease — despite reports that it's been out of stock in most US stores since the video went viral.

I have pretty tiny, sparse eyelashes — so I'm always on the hunt for easy ways to make them look more prominent than they are.

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I'm also super impatient when it comes to my makeup routine — so I don't like to bother with curling my lashes and I only really apply false lashes when I'm going out. Basically, I need a mascara that pulls its weight.

I'm a big fan of thinner wands, because they just feel easier to manoeuvre for me in comparison to fluffy brushes — so, if you're the same, you'll enjoy this one. And hey, I'm pretty impressed by the volume and lift that this mascara gave my lashes.

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See for yourself — you can see my lashes transforming with every stroke. I know it's not ~magical~, but there's no denying that this is a pretty good product.

I'm not sure if the mascara is available in stores in Australia yet, but you can grab it on Amazon if you're dying to try it yourself.

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Is it worth it? I mean, if you're in the market for a decent mascara, I would absolutely recommend it — but I'm sure it does just about what every other drugstore brand would do. 

But what do you reckon? Would you try this or do you have another go-to you think we should know about? Let us know in the comments!

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