Lotus Herbals Mascara - Review

Today seems like a Mascara Day. This is my second review of the day on another Mascara. Fed-up with the non-performance of my earlier Streetwear Mascara, I set out to get another one.

Lotus Herbals has recently launched their range of herbal cosmetics which is 100% vegetarian & natural. (A claim I am highly skeptical about - I always thought make-up has to have some chemicals in the form of preservatives & colors at the least, but moving on), so on a whim I bought their black mascara. This is a review of the same

 The company claims that the volumising mascara has botanical extracts from the symphytum officinale leaf & anugustifolia which renders lashes thicker and healthier (?? what does a healthy lash look like??).

I have no idea what these herbs are & what they are supposed to do. The Symphytum Officinale on a google search shows up as Comfrey on Wikipedia  which is supposed to cause liver damage when consumed internally. The anugustifolia is a mystery to me even after googling.

Pros: 
1. Available in Black & Dark Brown (I really like dark brown mascara for daily office wear, it looks more softer & natural.. But this purchase/review is of their black mascara)
2. Water Proof although there is some mild flaking.
3. The mascara brush is well designed & facilitates application on the smallest of lashes.

4. Affordable at some 250 Rs.
5. The packaging is nice. 

Cons: 
1. Does not volumise as promised. What this does instead is glue the lashes together so that they appear thicker but more sparse. Kind of like spider legs. Gives a very artificial look where you appear to have even lesser, sparser lashes than you began with but slightly thicker. (which is not good) Neither does this lengthen.
2. Tends to clump within 2 weeks of opening and gets goopy over time.
3. Am not sure the botanical extracts are anything more than a marketing gimmick. There is no mention of the percentage constituents of these extracts in the product. Plus there is no information given on the common names of these herbs, their mode of action  that leads to improved lash "health" as well as safety to be included in cosmetics.

Price: Some 250 odd Rupees.

Will I buy again: This mascara is just so-so. While it is way better than the Streetwear Mascara, it is no great shakes, plus there is the safety angle of unknown herbs & their mysterious effect. So no, I will not buy the black shade.

I may buy the brown one simply because no other Indian brand offers Brown Water-proof mascara as of now, (Jordana has a lovely brown mascara at Rs. 149/- but it ain't water - proof) but the black one is a no go for me.