NEW Lancôme Monsieur Big: Do You Really Need To Spend £20 On A Mascara?

Our eyes are the first thing people see; they have the ability to capture attention and are even known as the windows to our soul. Subconsciously we tend to find defined eyes (created via liner and mascara) attractive because they're a sign of vitality and youth, so when lining or enhancing your eyes it draws more attention to your limbal ring and therefore conveys the idea of youthful attractiveness. Similarly, our lashes tend to be thickest and healthiest during our younger years, so enhancing them with a slick or two of mascara helps to brighten the face and keep us looking fresh. And that's why a multi-million pound industry has been built off the back of creating darker, fuller and more voluminous lashes!

If I was asked to name the beauty items I couldn't live without, mascara would undoubtedly be top of that list. I could put down the popping colours of blush, leave behind the slick of liner and even scrape by without a touch of lipgloss, but for me mascara is absolutely non-negotiable. It's a fundamental part of my routine and I feel like it's the one product I'll continually swap in and out in the hunt for the holy grail that will change my life forever; although the reality is there's often a handful of wands you'll turn to for different reasons, different looks and different moods, we all seem to be on the same journey to mascara fulfilment!

Over the years I’ve tried probably hundreds of different wands, but I still get excited when I find a mascara that helps lift and fill out my lashes so they look as voluminous as possible. Once such moment of excitement recently came when I tried the new Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara, which claims to deliver ‘instant volume that lasts all through the night’ alongside bold black pigments for maximum definition. As mascaras go, there’s nothing revolutionary or particularly exciting about it: it’s in a plain black tube and the wand looks like the old school wands of my youth (that were all bristle to pick up maximum black stuff,) but for me the secret is in the fact its gone back to basics.

There’s no innovative shape or super moulded plastic wand to capture every lash, just a refreshingly standard looking package that picks up a tonne of product to effortlessly coat every lash while lifting the lash line simultaneously. I need very little of this to make an impact, something that's a bit of a novelty for someone who usually thinks nothing of applying ten coats. The big bristly wand captures all my individual lashes and helps to lift and create volume with very little effort, while my lower lashes have never looked better and keep my eyes youthfully vibrant. If you're a fan of tonnes of volume then I've no doubt you'll love this mascara - but if you're scared of clumping or have a tendency to get mascara all around your eyes, you may want to give it a miss. It can be easy to get into a pickle if you're not careful or well practiced in the art of application!

At £21.00 for a tube this isn't cheap though. I'm a firm believer in getting what you pay for a lot of the time, but when it comes to mascaras its a bit of a rogue category: sometimes you can find a blooming brilliant product for only a couple of quid, and others a horrifyingly awful one for £25.00! There's no set rule or way of knowing what you're getting until you've tried it, which does make navigating the mascara market somewhat tricky. My collection includes some bargain makeup gems and some of the most expensive mascaras ever created, because it's not always about the innovative texture or super fancy wand design - it's about what works for you and your lash line, because no two are the same. So do you need to spend £20.00 on a mascara? Absolutely not. But will you want to? Probably...

The Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara is available online and via Lancôme counters nationwide, priced £21.00.

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