By Chrissy Iley
I was doing duty free shopping at Heathrow – I never want to arrive at an airport with too much time to shop – it’s lethal. But I’d obviously done some kind of a bonanza because they offered me a free teddy bear. The teddy bear was cute, but I had nobody to give him to on a short trip to LA. I thought would my cats enjoy cuddling a little bear and I thought no they will pull him to pieces. Sad not to get my free gift. The cashier felt sorry for me and said “What about a free mascara instead?”
Initially I thought this was a bad deal as my recent Holy Grail of mascara trips means I could redefine the lashes of every Barbie in the world. Bear, mascara, bear, mascara. The mascara was called Monsieur Big (£21) and out of loyalty to my now departed cat Monsieur Amore and because who doesn’t have a soft spot for Sex and the City, I said OK.
While on the flight bored, I tried the new Lancome mascara. It went on juicy, it went on large, it went on fat, it went on black and no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, drifted in and out of sleep while watching Big Little Lies marathon, the mascara stayed. I then watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s. ‘Cat! Cat!’ I cried. The mascara stayed. How can it have lasted twelve hours through sleep and tears? A fluke I thought.
The next day, looking pale and grey I had an event so I lashed on Monsieur Big and I instantly felt, and more to the point looked awake. I looked awake all night and the next morning It doesn’t flake, it doesn’t smudge, it’s a one coat only, super creamy and glides on and makes lashes look bigger, longer, thicker. It more than works. It’s my new addiction.