EYEING THE COMPETITION
Like you, I always considered a new tube of mascara to be about as exciting as a new set of shoelaces--a utility rather than a fashion statement. I’d gotten along since high school with a pink-and-green tube of Maybelline Great Lash, supplemented by giveaway samples from department stores. But even I have to admit that times have changed, and so has mascara. And now that I have seriously taken up the wand, I’m hooked on the magic of the blackest of makeup arts.
First, be warned: Even a great mascara doesn’t look all that different from a mediocre mascara. Trust me--you could emerge from your boudoir wearing a coating of tungsten or kryptonite on your feathered friends, and the chances are good that no one in your day-to-day life would notice. But then again, most people who have nose jobs report that the most common response to that change is, “Wow, you look great! Have you lost weight?” So, even though no one may ever consciously recognize that you’re wearing mink on your lashes instead of fun fur, it’s absolutely essential that you do.
Why? Because when it comes to beauty, it’s the subtleties that separate the women from the girls. From theatrical to nudist, there are many different looks with modern mascara. In the latter category, L’Oreal’s new Feather Lash provides the thinnest coating of pure color available--its packaging lists jojoba oil before beeswax, a main thickening ingredient in most mascara. Why bother, one might be tempted to ask--unless one is blond and wants the option of looking more like Eva Marie Saint than Edgar Winter, without appearing made-up. An invisible product, this mascara is a tool for accomplished liars--and I wouldn’t be without it.
A notch up is Clinique’s Naturally Glossy Mascara, which adds a little thickness and very little length, making your lashes a lot like the full-bodied ones your husband, son or boyfriend was naturally blessed with (it’s so unfair). At almost half the price, Almay’s Amazing Lash will do much the same. For Great Lash veterans, this is a good category of mascara to have in a pinch--a little cashmere cardigan to supplement your elemental parka, let’s say.
For evening, when one wants to achieve a luxurious furry coat-- dense and feral--Lorac’s Lashes enriched mascara makes for a thick, minky fringe, and it even comes in an auburn shade that looks dark but not overly black on lighter complexions. This product does seem to want to shed over a long day’s night, however, so it wouldn’t hurt to add a shiny, clear dash of Triumph! lash topcoat from Ramy. For thin lashes, Origins’ Underwear for Lashes acts as a pliant base coat, making for a neater look than can be had from caking on too many coats of color (it’s especially good at magnifying lower lashes a la Liza Minnelli).
But gimmicks in general don’t seem to work well when it comes to mascara. L’Oreal’s Voluminous has a patented brush whose uniqueness remains a mystery, and curling mascaras, well, they don’t curl. Waterproof mascara runs all over in the pool, yet won’t come off when you want it to, even when attacked with everything short of dynamite. Blinc cosmetics’ Kiss Me mascara attempts a high-tech approach by using a substance that dries to form a continuous tube around each lash, instead of painting them with wax and pigment. Because of its tubularity, Kiss Me won’t flake or rub off, but I found it to be a little harsh-looking in practice. It would be a terrific choice for anyone with allergies or contacts. For that matter, the tender-eyed could just buy Wet ‘n’ Wild at $1.99 a pop, cracking open a fresh one every week instead of the recommended three months, and have lashes clean enough to eat with (and why not, since they’ll be stiff as forks).
It’s best to stick to the basics, and that means black, or brown if you’re fair. Colored mascara is about as trendy as toe socks, and has always been a poor idea. That said, several subtle shades out there can add a bit of flash to this generally inky proposition. For those occasions when you wish you had an iridescent Buick Riviera lowrider to take you to the prom, you might want to try Smashbox’s excellent-wearing mascara in a deep yet pearly maroon called Smashing Legend. For a blue so dark it would go with a business suit, try Estee Lauder’s More Than Mascara in Rich Navy. And Pretty Pretty makes two bewitching shades, the plum-brown Morgana and the deep violet-indigo Suspiria, though the texture of their product leaves something to be desired. Last and best, Nars makes a color called Bamboo, which is not, as one might think, light green. Rather, it is the most exquisitely pitched black-brown on the market. If Dutch master Vermeer had mixed up a special shade just to paint eyelashes, it would look something like this. Stick with the drugstore palette, and you’re more likely to look like a dog who has played too much poker on a greenish-black velvet canvas.
Is there an ideal mascara? Such a thing seems far from possible, given the different requirements of night and day, business and pleasure. Or is it? At the 2001 Detroit Auto Show, Cadillac unveiled its first pickup truck, evidence that such luxuriously all-purpose products are indeed within reality’s grasp. But is it even a good idea? For strictly Coupe de Ville elegance and style, Lancome’s Definicils is the cult classic. A mascara with a die-hard following, this stuff is indeed luxurious and posh, served up in a black tube long enough to wield like a scepter, which actually helps when applying the product. I put it on, walked out the door in broad daylight, and my neighbor said, “Hey, you look great. Did you lose weight?” Bingo. Clean-lined enough for day-wear, yet dramatic enough for evening, Definicils could well be the perfect all-around mascara. Except that, lo and behold, Maybelline’s Illegal Lengths is just as good, if not a lash better! This modest product, stumbled upon entirely by accident, has turned out to be the mainstay of my mascara wardrobe. Makes me think that when the Caddy pickup truck comes out, I’m going to have to wax up my stretch baby blues and take one of those bad boys out for a test drive.
