New £14 L'Oreal Extensionist is the perfect grown-up mascara

A marble backdrop with an image of loreal extensionist mascara on a wooden desk, beside an image of beauty editor Fiona McKim smiling with blonde hair

(Image credit: Future / Fiona McKim)

Makeup brands and their marketing departments seem to think that when it comes to eyelashes, more is more.

The assumption is that the best mascaras are the ones that create the chunkiest, darkest look possible, and have names like "X-Treme Drama Skyscraper Everest Lash." But is drama what we truly want? I'm not sure.

Why this elegant, lengthening mascara is my beauty buy of the week

I've got my issues with the 'clean girl' aesthetic that's dominated the last few years. But one thing it gets right is that, day to day, a lot of us aren't trying to make an impact with our makeup; we just want to look fresh, wide awake, and a bit more groomed.

Also, anyone with hooded lids, or who is menopausal or peri, will take one look at those spidery, sooty formulas and think, that'll be all over my eyelids in a hot second.

The rise and rise of tubing mascaras backs me up on this - these formulas are subtle, and built to be completely smudge-proof. But even as a tubing loyalist, I'll admit I sometimes want a bit more oomph than they can offer. Hence, my giving the latest L'Oreal launch a whirl...

L'oréal Paris

Extensionist Telescopic Mascara

If you know a thing or two about mascara wands, you'll look at this one and know it's all about length. If you didn't realise that's what skinny curved combs did, now you do! The one loads on small amounts of pigment and fibres via teeny-tiny channels between hundreds of short, flexible bristles. These then gently pull lashes up and out as you comb through them, so the finished look is very defined, unclumpy, lifted, and long. The clue's in the product name, I guess, but don't take my technical spiel's word for it - I've got photographic evidence.

An image of beauty editor Fiona McKim smiling with blonde hair, a grey jumper and no mascara on, next to an image of the same setup but with the loreal extensionist mascara on — My lashes before (l) and after (r) applying L'Oreal Extentionist mascara

Because it's 2026 and every makeup launch must boast a novel claim (72-hour wear is always a fun one), this says it gets your lashes 5mm closer to your eyebrows.

I believe it, while simultaneously having no idea how I'd check. To add my own statistics into the mix, I will say the curl and lift on this makes my face look one hour better slept and undoes 2.5 years of child-rearing from my eyes.

The fact that this mascara rings in under £15 - £11.20 at the time of writing on LookFantastic - is a bonus. It also adds weight to my theory that, just like underwear and chocolate bars, unfancy high street mascaras are often superior to overdesigned expensive ones. Sounds good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.

As woman&home's Beauty Channel Editor, Fiona Mckim loves to share her 15+ years of industry intel on womanandhome.com and Instagram (@fionamckim if you like hair experiments and cute shih-tzus). After interning at ELLE, Fiona joined woman&home as Assistant Beauty Editor in 2013 under industry legend Jo GB, who taught her to understand ingredients and take a cynical approach to marketing claims. She has since covered every corner of the industry, interviewing dermatologists and celebrities from Davina McCall to Dame Joan Collins, reporting backstage at London Fashion Week and judging the w&h Beauty Awards.

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