the backstory: I had heard of Majolica Majorca (how can you forget such a quirky name?) but had no idea that it was under Shiseido nor that their Lash Expander Frame Plus was a worldwide, makeup phenomena that had been riding it's waves here on the internet.
I've bought these mascaras while out in Malaysia at Watsons. The Lash Enamel Volume On came in the Christmas gift set of the aforementioned, an eyelash curler and an eye pencil. I have yet to try the pencil but I can say that the eyelash curler is the best I've ever tried in my life and is my holy grail eyelash curler!
My first experience with the Volume On was poor, not only did I not know how to apply the double sided brush properly, but my limited japanese didn't help with the packaging instructions (assuming there was any at all).
I knew that there was one of the mascaras that was totally famous and was so desperate to erase my bad experience that I purchased the Gorgeous Wing Neo after seeing that it had a normal brush applicator. After using them for about a month, I feel comfortable to give a good review based on my experience.
First up, here's a picture of my eyelashes without product, just a light crimp with the eyelash curler:
As you can see my lashes aren't really the "typical" Asian lashes, which I would describe as straight, short, fine and point downwards. My lashes do have a natural curl and I wouldn't really describe them as that short, but the hairs are fine. Okay, ignore my creepy looking eye, lol. It wouldn't focus.
compare the pair:
firstly, here's the applicator of the Wing Neo. I assumed it was catered to the long, separated, natural effect because of the images in store.
The Brush is a very average typical bristled brush that does indeed prevent clumps. You can see the intense density of fibers in the product just by glimpsing at my horribly focused image of it (lol).
The product is dry and sometimes I can't even tell if there's any left or if I have any on the brush because it doesn't run and isn't wet. It's very unusual and interesting, but very easy to use.
Here's the Volume On wand. This one was pretty unusual to what I had seen before. It's a double sided comb with plastic teeth-like bristles. One side is more separated while the other has the teeth close together.
The formula is very wet, almost gel like and dries relatively slowly. The brush has an ability to pack on an unbelievable amount of product (the image is when the brush is "loaded", without- the teeth are about twice as long)
the effect:
Above is the Volume On, and below is the Wing Neo. Now to be completely honest, there isn't much of a difference when you apply the product the way I do.
For the Volume On, I find that I'm prone to clumpage as my lashes aren't as widely dispersed as typical Asian lashes and I have to run through one swipe with an extra bristle comb to separate my lashes for a natural effect. Sometimes I go for two coats if I'm careful. The effect is an exagerrated lash, with indeed nice volume that is suitable for Asian lashes (not too thick). You need to be careful not to get the spidery effect, you can see it forming on my swatch.
For the Wing Neo, I often coat around 3 times to achieve a long effect as it has minimum clumpage. The Wing Neo gives an elongated "my lashes but better" effect. The effect is build-able, a few coats is good for natural everyday look but you could go for more. I have never gotten clumpage and the formula is light and feels invisible on my lashes.
The effect really does enhance what I've got and most of the time I don't even need to curl my lashes if I'm on the go.
verdict: Both have good and bad points depending on what you're after in a mascara. To be honest, they are both still top products and I would buy both of them again (but I'm looking at trying the Holika Holika Magic Pole, and the MM Lash Expander Frame Plus before that). For the price, both of these perform exceptionally. They both have superb holding power, and they're both truly waterproof.
What I would say is that the 'Gorgeous Wing Neo' is great for people on the go or beginners to makeup. It's so simple and easy to use and if you're in a rush as I often am in the morning before school, you don't have to be afraid that if you blink it'll smudge before it's dry because it never does that.
I think the Gorgeous Wing Neo is a good starter into makeup and will perform great universally all across the board. This is great for short lashes as it adds so much length with the fibers and also the product is dry and you can comb it through many times to disengage clumps and really separate each hair.
The Volume On is a different story. If you are experienced or don't mind spending time and care for amazing lashes, then this is for you. The comb wand gives you a variety of effects and is in a sense more diverse as it can create different looks. It truly is volumizing, coating lashes thickly with product so it doesn't require further application after 1~2 coats.
What I would say is if you want the long, separated effect I wouldn't go for this one, especially if your lashes are very short. The product is wet, so thus has a longer drying time and a limit on coats before clumping occurs. If applied correctly, Volume On creates a sexy, smouldering effect with thick, dark lashes. It's just difficult until you get the hang of it, that's all.
to conclude: Both of these mascaras are amazing, more than good. I think the Wing Neo wins by just the tiniest margin for me because it is suited to my eyelash type more. That isn't to say that the Volume On is lacking in any way. The problem was more that I could not find a good technique to maximise the product's potential because I couldn't understand the instructions.
I'd give both mascaras 5/5. They are BOTH in my Holy Grail items :)
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