Lancome’s Oscillation Mascara ($34.00) was available for one-day for early purchase back in July. My curiousity was piqued enough for me to shell out the big bucks and pick one up from my local Lancome Boutique. I’ve been using it on and off since then, trying to decide whether I love it or just like it. Some days, I love it, and other days, it’s not a bad mascara, but it doesn’t give me the volume I want.

Here are the requirements in my holy grail mascara:

• Thickens lashes without clumping
• Lengthens lashes to false lashes’ length or BEYOND!
• Blackest of black color
• Doesn’t flake or smudge during the day
• Easy to use on both upper and lower lashes

How does Lancome’s Oscillation measure up?

Thickens lashes without clumping

This is where Oscillation doesn’t bring it home. For me, this is probably why I’m not head over heels in love with the mascara. It just doesn’t thicken all that much — at the same time, it doesn’t clump very much either, so at least it’s not clumpy thickening or just plain ol’ clumpy. I mean, clumpy lashes is a definite no-no for me.

Lengthens lashes to false lashes’ length or BEYOND!

Yes, Oscillation does a pretty good job of lengthening lashes to sky high lengths. I get some of the longest length from this mascara of the mascaras I’ve tried (and trust me, I’ve tried far too many!). I give Lancome an A for length.

Blackest of black color

It could be blacker. I have only found MAC’s Plushlash mascara to give me a super rich black. So while it isn’t the blackest of black, it is still black. It isn’t a faded black, which I hate, and it is definitely black enough that I’ll keep using it.

Doesn’t flake or smudge during the day

I was worried that this mascara would flake on me, because a lot of higher end mascaras do flake on me for some reason (I’m looking at YOU, DiorShow!). Thankfully, Oscillation hung onto my lashes throughout the day, leaving me carefree and happy to not have to worry about black flecks all over my face.

Easy to use on both upper and lower lashes

YES! The mascara wand for Oscillation is narrow and skinny, albeit a bit long. This makes it easier to grab the lower lashes! Many mascaras have been coming out with huge, hulking mascara wands that may work great on upper lashes, but I’ve always found they make coating the lower lashes an utter pain in the butt.

WHAT ABOUT THE VIBRATION?!!?

OK, so the whole draw of the mascara is that it vibrates, right? Yes, the vibration does allow you to better coat your lashes, and I think a lot of the lengthening power of the mascara comes from the oscillation mechanism. What I really liked about Lancome’s Oscillation is that there is a button on the wand handle that you press to start the vibration/oscillation. This means that you can keep it off whenever you desire. Estee Lauder’s TurboLash just goes and goes and goes, and it is a huge annoyance for me. I like that I can turn it on when I feel I’ve correctly positioned the wand, and I can turn it off if I just want an additional coat. The mascara does work better with the vibration than without it, though. It’s a very light sensation that you feel when the mascara goes to work–it’s not painful or anything, it’s sort of a “funny feeling” at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

Is it worth $34?

For me, no, I don’t think so. $34 is pretty steep for any mascara, and for that price, I’d want a dreamy, holy grail, the end-all-of-all-mascaras kind of mascara. This just isn’t it, mostly because my lashes don’t get super thick and voluminous with this mascara. I need volume and thickness, but not everybody does. Sometimes finding a mascara that doesn’t deliver on thickness but still gives length can be hard to find, so I’m sure this will get some die-hard fans!