Isn’t it nice when a brilliant, universally-raved about beauty product also happens to be a total bargain?
It certainly puts a smile on my face to recommend a superior piece of makeup without caveating my hot tip with “it’s not exactly cheap, but…” apologist waffle.
L’Oreal Paris Paradise Mascara, which rings in at a very agreeable £11.99, is one such product. In the interest of honesty I should say this isn’t a new launch, it actually arrived in the UK a year or so ago, to a fair bit of fanfare. At that point it was already a huge seller in the states – and I mean one sold every 60 seconds huge – so of course us beauty editors couldn’t wait to get our hands on the stuff, and let me tell you it did not disappoint.
The pigment is that sort of sooty carbon hue that somehow makes lashes look bulked up as well as inky black. The fluffy, finely spaced bristles deposit just the right amount of formula then drag it up every individual lash, leaving them falsie-level long and fluttery, but without those annoying clumps so typical of mascara this va-va-voom. Best of all, in my opinion, the formula seems nigh-on entirely budge-proof.
It’s a rare mascara that I can apply at 8am and isn’t dancing all over my lids by lunch, but this passed the smudge test and then some. I’ll add that I have oily skin, hooded lids and long lashes that constantly wiggle against my upper lids – surviving that is no mean feat.
So, why am I telling you about this now? Because, sometimes, given the ever-increasing speed of products launching to market and shiny new insta-brands, it’s important to shine a light on something brilliant that’s been knocking around for long enough that you might just have forgotten. Well, it’s still selling one a minute, so has hardly been lost in the mists of time, but regardless, what I’m saying is whether you’ve tried it and loved it or it’s slipped under your radar, I highly recommend a visit to Paradise.
Oh, and did I mention it costs less than a decent bottle of fizz from Waitrose? There’s barely an excuse not to.
