Product review: Charlotte Tilbury mascara promises fat, full lashes

When celebrity makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury announced that her makeup line would be landing stateside this past September, I jumped for joy.

With more than 20 years in the fashion and beauty industry behind her, Tilbury is a makeup legend with an impressive clientele that includes the likes of Kate Moss, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna and Penelope Cruz. If Tilbury’s résumé was any indication, I had no doubt that line would be fabulous.

Unfortunately for me, Tilbury’s makeup line is extensive (everything from brushes and foundations to primers and eye shadows) and my bank account prevents me from buying everything and trying it all out at once. So, I decided to start with the product I’d heard about the most from the Internet buzz.

Available for $29 at Nordstrom, Charlotte Tilbury’s Full Fat Lashes 5 Star Mascara promises to give users voluminous, lush eyelashes just like the ones we see on celebrities and models appearing on magazine covers and the red carpet.

Sound familiar? Sure.

Most mascaras make the claim that they’ll give users Hollywood-approved eyelashes, but this isn’t a regular, old drugstore brand. This is Charlotte Tilbury, which gave me high hopes that this mascara would be worth my time.

First impression

Anyone who wears mascara knows that the key to a great one depends largely on the type of brush that comes with it.

Two of my favorite mascaras (Dior’s Iconic Overcurl Mascara and Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara) have unique wand designs that stand out from those of other mascaras and are largely responsible for why I like them so much.

Because of this, I was surprised when I first saw the wand of the Full Fat Lashes 5 Star Mascara: It looked just like a basic mascara wand. On the Charlotte Tilbury website, the wand is described as a five-grooved brush with fine-tipped bristles designed to catch every lash in order to coat, curl and lengthen each one evenly. The website goes on to describe the wand as being able to give eyelashes a three-dimensional flutter effect.

That’s a lot of promises for a wand that looks so unassuming. Then again, I’ve sometimes found that the best makeup products are the ones without all the bells and whistles (or in this case, elaborate wand designs), so I remained hopeful.

Fab or flub?

Fab-ish. After wearing Charlotte Tilbury’s Full Fat Lashes mascara for a full month, I am happy to report that the product works great.

Just as claimed, the mascara dramatically enhanced my eyelashes, adding both volume and length. The glossy, black formula applied smoothly and didn’t clump after multiple coats (though you really only need one swipe for good coverage).

This mascara also does a really great job of giving eyelashes a natural look — or, at least, as natural a look as you can get while wearing mascara. I attribute this to the wand (yes, the wand I thought looked so basic), which seems to do a great job of separating eyelashes and coating them with mascara.

While I could continue to gush about how much I loved the mascara, I did have one small problem that is worth noting: It flaked occasionally throughout the day, leaving me with the annoyance of tiny black specks on my face.

Fortunately, I addressed this by applying a coat of mascara primer before applying the mascara, and that resolved the problem.

Overall, I have enjoyed using this mascara and look forward to trying more products from the Charlotte Tilbury line.

This story was originally published February 6, 2015 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Product review: Charlotte Tilbury mascara promises fat, full lashes."