Lancome Definicils vs Lancome Hypnose Mascara Review (plus, What are parabens doing in Lancome?)

I have reviewed Lancome Hypnose Mascara (this is the regular Hypnose) but I thought some readers might be interested in how it compares to Lancome Definicils Mascara, especially if you are loyal to the Lancome brand.  Personally, I am a brand hopper.

Spoiler Alert:  Lancome Hypnose (the regular one) is better than both Lancome Definicils and Lancome Hypnose Drama (which I did a comparison to in another post).  Despite me not being able to recommend any of them to you at their high price, I still find myself reaching for Lancome Hypnose (regular) quite often when I am in a rush because of how easily and quickly it applies.

Here is a basic breakdown of each mascara, starting with their formula and wand traits, moving on to how they apply, and then how they wear throughout the day.

Lancome Definicils:

Tube Facts: Price is $27.50 and Lancome advertises this mascara as their #1 mascara and one that gives "natural yet noticeable lashes".  Wand brush is straight and tapered.  Formula is creamy wet.  Hair-like bristles spiral around the brush.

Application:  Goes on smoothly with almost no clumping of the formula, yet eye lashes grouped together instantly.  The creamy wet formula and my tendency to make application mistakes made application time longer than desired (I <3 Q-tips), making lashes look sparse, spacey, yet defined.  It did lengthen lashes quite well.

Wear:  Lash curl diminished within minutes with Lancome Definicils yet the mascara had little fall-out throughout the day.

BOTTOM-LINE:  Lancome Definicils and there tendency to instantly group lashes together for a spacey sparse look do not stand a chance next to Lancome Hypnose.  If this mascara were inexpensive, I still would not buy it.  Sorry Definicils!

Lancome Hypnose:

Tube Facts:  Price is $27.50  and Lancome advertises this mascara as "buildable volume for custom lash results".  The wand brush is straight and the hair-like bristles spiral around it.

Application:  Applying this mascara is easy and fast.  The formula is thick but does not clump upon application.  It goes on smoothly for both top and bottom lashes, and layers without getting clumpy.  It looks gorgeous and very natural upon application.

Wear:  There is very little fall-out with Hypnose.  But it cannot hold curl (must be a Lancome universality).  I applied the mascara quickly after curling but the curl quickly fizzled out.  It also made my eye lashes group together a little.

BOTTOM-LINE:  Lancome Hypnose is better than Lancome Definicils.  It goes on so easy for a feathered gorgeous look.  It wears well but cannot maintain lash curl, and lashed have a tendency to gravitate toward one another with this mascara.  With its high price, I cannot recommend this mascara.

On a side note, I just assumed that since Lancome was high-end, that it was free of parabens, but that isn't the case.  Lancome mascaras have parabens.  So why are we spending more money on them if they have just as bad ingredients as the drug store mascara?  I don't know either.  I mean, so far cosmetics that touch a small portion of my body have escaped my "paraben radar".  But I expect more from high-end companies.  The EU has already banned 5 parabens, so I just assumed that high-end cosmetics in the USA would follow suit.