There are times in every beauty lover's life when a product comes along that makes you wonder how you ever survived with the poor [wo]man's substitute you'd previously been making do with. Fairydrops Waterproof Mascara is a prime example of one such makeup bag/life brightening cosmetic.
This lash lengthening wonder is the brainchild of Japanese celebrity Aya Yasuda. The story goes that the TV personality longed for a mascara that would make her eyelashes stand out on screen, and so one day, while sitting at her kitchen table, she set to work snipping away at a regular wand to come up with the now patented and pleasingly different ‘bobble’ brush.
Curved in three places to deposit mascara in those hard to reach corners, it achieves just the kind of 'baby doll effect' she was aiming for.
Genuinely, this mascara lengthens like nothing else. It's the closest of I've ever come to a falsies effect with the help of mascara alone, and it's better than the likes of Benefit's They're Real in terms of volume, lift and staying power.
There is a non-waterproof Fairydrops equivalent, but I went for this version to avoid the unfortunate black marks you're often left with after wearing mascara all day. And it really does work - it stays put without any smudges. Even better, despite this effective waterproof formula, it's a breeze to remove with normal makeup remover.
Plus, call me shallow, but part of the magic when it comes to makeup undoubtedly lies in choosing products that are not only effective, but mighty easy on the eye too. Yep - while some people squeal over kittens, for me, it's all about the cosmetics. Japanese cosmetics usually pack a punch when it comes to packaging, and this one’s certainly no exception with its distinctive pink and silver design.
I picked mine up at a BeautyMART pop up I was very pleased to stumble upon in Shoreditch, but UK dwellers can also pick it up online here, or I'm told, in certain Topshop stores (the Stratford Westfield seems a good bet).