As a raging Charlotte Tilbury fan I of course get giddy when anything new is released, and as a self-confessed mascara junkie, Tilbury’s latest release; Legendary Lashes in Black Vinyl got me reaching for my credit card in a flash, despite being on the wrong side of pay day. So imagine my total and utter disappointment upon discovering that this product is quite simply, awful…
My love affair with Tilbury started a few Christmases ago when I was given a lipstick in shade Velvet Underground. The gold packaging made promises of all kinds of luxury. I became that kid and Christmas, and I wasn’t disappointed. Those lipsticks are creamy, non-drying and last all day with minimal touch ups. I was sold. I went on to purchase the Cheek to Chic blusher in Love is the Drug which I still stand by as the best blusher I’ve ever used. Next came the Filmstar Bronze and Glow palette, among others. I became loyal.
I feel when you trust a brand, there’s no need to shop for reviews or even swatch in-store, and because I don’t have a local CT counter I had no hesitation in going online and adding to basket without a second thought. My mascara arrived a few days later, packaged wonderfully.
Things were looking good, and started out well; the formula was easy to apply, no double dipping to get it started – it’s a fairly liquid consistency so slicks onto lashes with minimal coaxing. However this is where our problems started. This stuff does not dry! I went through about 6 cotton buds cleaning up the fall out and smudges where it’s near-impossible to apply without your lashes touching your skin somehow. This is not a product for the time-sensitive, and God forbid you sneeze, or basically breathe – this stuff is gonna move, all down your face.
Once I’d sat for a good 5 minutes with squinting eyes waiting for it to dry, I needed to apply further coats as though the lashes were nicely black, I wasn’t happy with the thickness or volume after just one coat. Now, Charlotte says that after 3 coats you should have 13x more volume with this ‘miracle mascara’ and that the ‘elastic formula extends lashes out, doesn’t crack, clump, or drop.’ Well, I’m calling bulls**t on this one, Charlotte. I’ve never known such bad fall out, especially from a high-end £25 product – and I’ve tried some pretty cheap brands in my time!
Before I’d even left the house I had bad fall out under my eyes, giving me smudgey shadows. Before lunch it had got even worse, and despite rubbing away, it kept returning. By the end of the day I looked knackered thanks to a combination of smudgey black under my eyes and rubbing my make-up totally away! I emailed CT customer services, convinced that maybe I had a duff batch. They advised me that the mascara should be worn with loose powder under the eyes. Setting my concealer is already part of my routine, so nice try but that ain’t helping. I even tried it out again on multiple days, with more powder, no powder, no face make-up. It didn’t make a difference.
So what’s good about it? Do I have any positives? Well – it’s very, very easy to remove, but my suspicion is that’s down to the useless ingredients that make it so inept in the first place. I was super disappointed by this product and felt totally let down by a brand I was loyal too and that it would make me hesitate over blind buying any more of their products without testing them first.
Has anyone else tried this mascara before, how did you find it? Would love to hear of others had a similar experience in the comments below.