DARLINGS!!! Charlotte Tilbury is a woman famed for her all-caps exhortations, and her makeup is every bit as dramatic as she is. The latest addition to her fabulous, look-at-me glam is Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara, a falsies-inspired formula currently parked on the face of Charlotte’s long-term muse, Kate Moss. The catwalk icon has been unveiled as the star of a new Tilbury campaign, which reinvents her (again) as a Hollywood film noir siren, with eyelashes to die for.
Reformed(ish) party girl she may be, but Kate has evidently gone the extra mile to test out her BFF’s new formula, channeling her hedonistic 1990s supermodel era. “When Charlotte told me that the volume and curl lasts for 28 hours, I didn’t believe her, but we went out dancing after the [campaign] shoot and it didn’t budge, smudge or flake!” she reveals. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of that nightclub…
Sadly, the GH beauty team’s testing regimen doesn’t include late-night shenanigans at Chiltern Firehouse, but nevertheless we were keen to put the product through its paces ourselves, particularly after hearing Ms Tilbury’s uber-excitable spiel:
“Bigger! Thicker! Longer! Darlings, it’s what everyone wants for their lashes! My new Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara has been my backstage secret for months and people could not get enough of it!”
Phew! Here’s what GH senior beauty editor Lynne thought when she tested out this new magic wand, available now for £28.
Exagger-Eyes review: the GH verdict
Well now, here’s a mascara that sets out its stall before you’ve applied your first coat. With its big-talking name, voluptuous bottle and curvy wand, everything about it says full-fat and fabulous old-school Hollywood glamour.
With all that brag in a bottle, it would have been a let-down to find a shy and retiring ‘no makeup makeup’ formula within, but I’m happy to report that this mascara strokes on with sass, amply delivering on both lash length and girth. Three coats in, my lashes were volumised, dramatic and upward bound, practically having a meet-and-greet with my eyebrows.
It’s certainly an in-your-face flutter. If Charlotte’s Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes! was the balconette bra of mascara, this is the full Hello Boys: a Wonderbra with the straps pulled extra tight.
Charlotte promises it adds oomph to all lash lengths and types, and based on the campaign pictures of Kate’s fellow sirens – supermodel Jourdan Dunn and Charlotte’s own niece, Bella Broekman-Tilbury – you won’t hear any quibbling from me.
There’s some decent pigment in there, too. An ultra-dark lash look often comes with the trade-off of mid-afternoon flaking, but even by bedtime I didn’t see any sign of crumbling or smudging.
Obviously, my observations are based on GH life, which isn’t Moss-level rock ’n roll (it’s tea rather than G&T here), but I’d be prepared to step up the testing regimen if called upon. So, Charlotte, if you ever need a new wing(ed) liner woman for Kate’s night off, I’m available, DARLING.
Get the look
If you want to be a copy Kat(e), these are the secrets behind the shoot.
“For the look, we added some smokey, matte definition on the lids with The Sophisticate Luxury Palette, before creating a black wing using the black end of Charlotte’s Hollywood Exagger-Eyes Liner Duo, starting from the very inner corner of her eyes, drawing along the upper lash line and extending out to create an iconic feline flick.”
“We also lined along the lower lash line, blending it into the wing at the end and then smoking it out using Charlotte’s Eye Smudger Brush for smokey, sultry definition. Then for our star product: Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara! It instantly brought the eyes to life with exaggerated volume, length and curl!”
