2014/03/10

Opinion: Miss Manga Mascara by L'Oreal



The reason why I'm saying opinion is that I haven't bought it and I won't buy it (mainly because I already have enough mascaras), but I wanted to write an article about the image and marketing of this product. If you're interested in reviews, here is one by ChinaDolly and another by Beckii. What I've picked up from reviews on boots.ie: it is pretty OK, but it lengthens more than gives volume and clumps like crazy if you use more layers (suggested even by the non-photoshopped picture on L'Oreal's website):


It comes in black, purple and turquoise, Beckii is showing all three colours. It sells for 13.5 Euros in boots, which, in my opinion, is pretty expensive since I got my Lancome mascara for around the same price on sale (which, as opposed to the Manga one, I plan to review).

Though both girls whose reviews I linked above like the image of the mascara, to me it looks like a pretty poor attempt to bring the manga feeling to the product. They did try - even the tutorial on how to use the mascara is in the form of a comics and you can edit your pictures online to add some cute stickers, I presume. And the mascot is quite cute.



For me, I'm not very sure who is the target market. For fans of Japanese beauty styles and Japanese pop culture in general, this will hardly impress in comparison with actual Japanese brands, which are nowadays pretty easy to get online for comparable or lower prices. The look of the campaign looks more like a westernization of the "manga" idea for masses, yet I'm not that sure masses are interested in getting "the manga look", especially given the mascara's performance, which is actually not exceptional in any regard. My Lancome may clump a little if you put more layers too (like 3-4), but it gives a lot more volume AND length and there are tons of other mascaras that can do the same. 
And on a personal note, I'm not a big fan of the styling of the model. In the video, she looks pretty creepy and overall looks kind of fake, sort of like when they put the bunch of Australia's Next Top Model girls in BTSSB (or Angelic Pretty, I don't remember precisely) and they looked really forced in the clothes. The model is pretty, but they could have chosen somebody who would match the image more.
And lastly, the slogans give me the creeps. "Open your eyes manga"? Wut? Even the Miss Manga name sounds  a bit off... 

(All pictures until here are screenshots of the L'Oreal Paris website)

What is a lot more interesting for me is actual Japanese brands getting featured in Glamour UK version:



Yours truly underimpressed
Vita

2 comments:

  1. Taky mi přijde že strašně slepuje a k její koupi se nechystám.. Japonské věci zbožňuju a mangu taky, ale tohle je opravdu jen velký marketingový tah, kterým se snaží zachránit příšernou řasenku :D

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