This Underrated Mascara Is Our New Favourite

Mascara is one makeup product that people love to rave about. “This one seriously makes your lashes twice as long!” your favourite beauty vlogger might insist in one of her YouTube videos; or “It’s super waterproof, I can’t live without it,” your friend might repeatedly tell you.
It’s probably due to how so many of us struggle with our lashes, especially here in Asia, where for some of us, genetics dictate that our lashes are stubbornly short and stick-straight, requiring several pumps of an eyelash curler and multiple lashings of a lash primer before they resemble anything close to va-va-voom. That’s why when we find a mascara that actually works well, we feel so compelled to share it with everyone else.
So here’s our latest, and rather unexpected, find: the Anna Sui Curl & Volume Mascara. The beauty arm of the Anna Sui brand doesn’t get a lot of exposure online, but it’s been around since 1999, and is known and loved for its princessy packaging, ethereal colours, and that signature rose scent. The brand has quite a number of quality products to pick from, and as we discovered, this mascara, launched relatively recently in early 2015, is one of them.

anna-sui

Main reasons: It separates and lifts our lashes better than most other mascaras we own, coating them with jet black pigments that also happen to be very waterproof. These benefits come courtesy of the dual-sided brush, with a wide side to pick up more product, and a narrow side to brush through the lashes and separate them. An ingredient called the Lash Maximizer covers lashes with a film that lifts them from the roots, while the Volume-Up Powder is a smooth-textured silicone powder that makes lash hairs look denser.
One swipe of the brush will already significantly thicken your lashes, so we wouldn’t call the Curl & Volume Mascara one for a “natural” look – reach for it when you’re serious about boosting your lashes. The formula also has a rose scent, which is strange for a mascara, but totally expected from an Anna Sui product – the shiny black tube is also seriously intricate. Give it a try, and then don’t forget to tell all your friends about it.
 
Anna Sui Curl & Volume Mascara, $46. Available at Anna Sui counters. annasui.com
Main image: Anna Sui Facebook page