Sleep and rest are the quickest route to looking more awake. For everything else, there’s mascara. And whether you like your lashes Bambi-thick or Man Ray-spidery, spring’s new formulae and ever-funkier wands provide tempting options, even for those who have long sworn allegiance to perennial best-sellers such as Lancôme’s Hypnôse or Dior’s Diorshow.
Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension mascara, £28
Prada Pradascope Lash Extending Volume mascara, £35, available exclusively at Harrods
First up: a much-hyped launch from Too Faced, the playful PETA-approved brand that aims to replicate the extraordinary success of its 2013 Better Than Sex mascara (the number one selling prestige mascara in the US as of 2024, according to data from Circana, with three selling every minute between March 2024 and February 2025 according to the brand) with Ribbon Wrapped Lash Mascara. Granted, the name isn’t as snappy. And the wand doesn’t have the romance of Better Than Sex’s hourglass-shaped applicator, which was said to be modelled on the proportions of Marilyn Monroe. Plus, there’s the tubing formula, which I usually find too fast-drying for the three-coat buildability I prefer in mascaras. (Tubing mascaras are lengthening, containing tube-like polymers that wrap around individual lashes and wash off easily with warm water.) But early reports are positive, praising the product’s “next-level length”.
L’Oréal Paris Paradise Big Deal mascara, £12.99, boots.com
Gucci Le Magnétisme mascara, £32, harrods.com
Equally exciting in beauty land: Prada’s first mascara. The Pradoscope Lash Extending Volume mascara’s black and silver packaging is inspired by its Re-nylon bag line. I liked the unusual half-bristle wand, which allowed me to get right to the roots, but found it a little smudgy.
No such issues with Benefit’s Badgal Bounce mascara, which claims to add 242 per cent more volume to lashes. A follow-up to the brand’s Badgal Bang! Mascara, the number one prestige mascara brand in the UK, according to Circana, Bounce has a suitably inflatable-looking tube casing. Once I got the hang of the two-in-one wand, which is fluffy on one side and rake-straight on the other, I found it provided good volume and excellent staying power, though it made my lashes feel quite hard, and there were some flakes by the end of the day.
Charlotte Tilbury Exagger-Eyes Volume mascara, £28
Benefit Badgal Bounce mascara, £27
If you’re going all out, Haus Labs by Lady Gaga’s B Structural mascara – its first mascara, winning plaudits on TikTok – added impressive length to my lashes while somehow making them feel a little silky (perhaps that’s down to the B-silk and rice protein ingredients more commonly found in haircare products). And for a good everyday option, try Isamaya Ffrench’s Core Collection mascara. Billed as “growth-boosting and clump-free”, my colleague reports it provided structure to lashes, leaving them feeling soft and looking natural.