By Joy Kraft
The Cincinnati Enquirer

We're sending our volunteer Fashion Panel members to the shelves from time to time to test whether advertised beauty products live up to their promises. Here are the results of Jeni Schoenfeld and L'Oreal's two-step Double Extend Lash Fortifier and Extender.

Product: L'Oreal Double Extend Lash Fortifier and Extender, a two-in-one mascara that combines a fortifying primer with lash-extending color.

Promise: Ads say "Lashes are stronger, look 60 percent longer."

Tester: Jeni Schoenfeld of Westwood.

The Search: Easy. Bought it at Target and later saw it at Kroger.

Cost: "I bought it for $8.84. The next day it was on sale for a little more than $7."

Ease of use: "When closed, the white conditioner side looks too much like the mascara side - they are both white - so I would often open the wrong side first." (L'Oreal has since changed the packaging. One end has a gold cap, the other a white cap, so it's easier to tell the difference.)

Product performance: "It takes longer to apply since there are two steps. It did not smudge or smear throughout the day and was easy to remove with water."

Results: "It may have made my eyelashes look a little bit longer, but not fuller."

Rank: A 6, "because it was really kind of average."

Repeat customer: "Probably not. When I'm in a hurry in the early morning, it just wasn't worth the time. It just wasn't worth the trouble. I will probably purchase another L'Oreal mascara though."

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E-mail jkraft@enquirer.com