Eyes: Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara in "Blackest Black"

Hi everyone. This is the second of the two mascara reviews I spoke about before, and it's another Maybelline mascara: the Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara. I purchased the regular formula in the color "Blackest Black."

To be honest, I wasn't anticipating purchasing this mascara. There was a BOGO1/2 at my local Duane Reade and it turned out the LE colorful Great Lash mascaras were not included in the deal so, in my panic to find a replacement product quick, I plucked this off its nearby "new product" display. I care more about volume than length, as I might have stated in my previous review. But that doesn't mean I can't review this based on its claims as a lengthening mascara.

Its main claim is that it has a "fiber-fix" brush that, in combination with its formula, adds up to 4mm in length with fiber extensions. Hence the name Illegal Length.

I do know there was a previous Illegal Length mascara that got pretty decent ratings, but I want to clarify that this is a new release that has an emphasis on the 4mm claim. Now, onto my experience with this mascara.




THE BASICS:

Color: "Blackest Black" (J300)
Net wt.: 0.22 fl. oz./6.5 mL
Price: ~$8-9

The Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara comes in a square silver tube with a matching cap and pink lettering. The bottom of the tube has the color name and number.

The brush is thin and a bit longer than usual. It's on the rectangular side with short bristles that appear evenly distanced from each other.

Here is a closeup of the brush. On the top-left side of it, you may be able to notice the fiber extensions that are supposed to add the 4mm of length. It looks like a strand of hair. Also, the fibers seem to gather at the top of the brush, also evident in this closeup, which makes it hard to coat lashes close to my nose without getting mascara on it.

WEAR/ON MY EYES:

There is some lengthening with this mascara, but not dramatic enough to really 'wow' me. It's mostly noticeable on the bottom lashes. Like my other Maybelline mascara, the Full 'N Soft one, it makes my lashes look sparser than normal by binding some of them together. I don't know if I'm not applying my mascara properly or if the two I own just have brushes that don't separate while coating.

Because the mascara is only meant to lengthen, it almost gives that 'spider' look that I don't really care for. The formula does help to lift and preserve the small curl in my lashes from my eyelash curler and, to be honest, if it wasn't for that I would actually prefer my lashes bare to how they look with this mascara. They look fuller bare.

The following are pictures of my curled eyelashes before and after applying the Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara:

Before applying the Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara. Sad how little a difference my eyelash curler makes...my eyelashes don't even appear to be curling upwards a little.

After applying the mascara.

LEFT: Right eye with curled eyelashes before applying the mascara.
RIGHT: Right eye with curled eyelashes after applying the mascara.

LEFT: Left eye with curled eyelashes before applying the mascara.
RIGHT: Left eye with curled eyelashes after applying the mascara.

As you can see, the mascara does help to lift my lashes and noticeably lengthens my lower lashes.

LEFT: Right eye with curled eyelashes before applying the mascara.
RIGHT: Right eye with curled eyelashes after applying the mascara.

LEFT: Left eye with curled eyelashes before applying the mascara.
RIGHT: Left eye with curled eyelashes after applying the mascara.

Here, you can see in both eyes that after applying the mascara, my lashes look sparser. The tips tend to fuse with the mascara on both the top and bottom lashes, causing my bare lashes to appear fuller than my coated ones. I do have an eyelash comb to combat this problem, but I wish my mascara brush would separate the lashes itself.

LEFT: Curled eyelashes before applying the mascara.
RIGHT: Curled eyelashes after applying the mascara.

Finally, here is the true test of length, as the curl does not interfere from this view of my eye. Clearly, it is nothing dramatic. There is noticeable lengthening but not a crazy amount. And, again, my bottom lashes give better results than my top lashes. So perhaps this is a good mascara solely for the bottom lashes? I know some people use different mascaras for their top and bottom lashes but I personally want a mascara that works for both, so that's not really a benefit for me.


OVERALL:

I feel like the claims for the Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara are exaggerated: while it does give some length, I do not notice anything incredible on behalf of the fiber extensions. Even though I purchased this by accident, I still feel like it is, if anything, mediocre. And at up to $9, overpriced. The difference in length from my $7 Full 'N Soft mascara is, again, nothing to write home about.

Ideally, the one way I could give this mascara true purpose in my makeup routine is if I owned a mascara that added purely volume, because I do feel it may be useful in layering for length. Otherwise, I'll just be applying this for the sake of finishing it with average results.

I recommend this mascara to someone that is only interested in some additional length, or perhaps someone in need of a lengthening mascara for the bottom lashes. As for anyone expecting the illusion of falsies or some kind of length so incredible it's illegal...look elsewhere.

As always, I hope this review proved to be helpful in either saving you money or helping you to find the product you've been looking for. :) Thank you for stopping by!

'Til next time, ('<>')>

~nikki

What mascaras do you turn to for lengthening your lashes? Is the Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara (still) on your "to buy" list?


!!UPDATE!!: So, one of the YouTubers that I'm subscribed to and adore - gossmakeupartist - recently published a "5 Amazing (Makeup) Products Under $20" video (that you can watch here) that featured this mascara. In the video, he stated that the mascara would clump (that whole binding issue I mentioned having when I used the product) when applied traditionally - that is, when applied while wiggling the brush through one's eyelashes. As such, he advised his viewers to simply apply the mascara by bringing the brush straight up from the root of the lashes to the tip without any wiggling motion. I decided to test this tip and the results were as follows:

One coat of the mascara applied to the top lashes only.

And a closeup:

As you can tell from the pictures, he was correct - applying the mascara straight from the root to the tip of the lashes helped prevent clumping. Seeing the mascara working in this way gave me a better appreciation for it, though I must note that the formula just doesn't hold any kind of curl in my already-hard-to-curl lashes. Additionally, I've purchased and have been using a new mascara that both blows this one out of the water and is actually one that satisfies my expectations (stay tuned for a review on it soon!), so I still don't care much for this mascara. It is nice to know that I can apply it in a way that looks alright for two hours or so, though. :) Thought I'd give you all the heads up!