For most stages in my beauty routine, I’m loyal to one brand. If I mix up my serum and moisturiser too much, I’ll break out, and once I find a foundation that gives me glow without looking heavy, I’ll stick to it. But when it comes to mascara? I’m pretty happy to test my way through a multitude of new releases. As long as I’m wearing something. And until recently, as long as it’s black.
Hailey Bieber I am not – TBH, I just look a little bit strange without a slick of whatever my mascara-of-choice at the time may be – so even if I’m working from home and wearing nothing else on my face, I’ll apply it before I reply to my first email.
Of course, just because I’m happy to mix things up, it doesn’t mean I’m impressed by every mascara I try. Since I started working at GLAMOUR almost six years ago, I’ve tried hundreds – and I’ve learned two things. One, you’d be surprised at how many rubbish mascaras there are out there (not every formula serves the volume and pigment I like – even if they say they do), and two, some of the best mascaras I’ve tried are under £15.
For the sake of transparency, the mascara I return to the most is Charlotte Tilbury’s Exagger-Eyes mascara, but I like to have one of these budget buys on the back-burner for when it dries up. Maybelline’s Sky High Mascara has, for obvious reasons, always been a strong contender, and my colleague Ali loves the L’Oreal Volume Million Lashes mascara. More recently, though, Rimmel’s Thrill Seeker Mascara in Cappuccino (yes, a brown mascara) has stolen my heart.
Rimmel Thrill Seeker Mascara at a glance:
- Price: £12.99.
- Colours: Black and Cappuccino.
- Offers: 3 for 2 on selected Rimmel London products right now at Superdrug.
- Brush type: Tapered.
- Claims: To deliver 5x more volume, intense colour pay-off and long-lasting hold.
My honest Rimmel Thrill Seeker Mascara review:
I first saw the Thrill Seeker mascara doing the rounds on TikTok when it launched earlier in the year, and knew I had to try it. “If you want your lashes to transform up to five times more volume, then you will love this,” creator Atifa Aarshad said in her post. “It is an ultra volumising mascara, with an up-to-24-hour wear – and what I love the most is that the formula is smudge-proof, as well as clump and flake free.
“It’s incredible,” she said. “You must try.” She didn’t need to tell me twice.
First impressions? The packaging is fun – I love the red – and the tapered, soft-bristle wand is exactly what I’d normally go for. It’s a similar-looking wand to the one my beloved CT mascara has; I always find I can achieve greater volume and oomph with soft bristles over plastic. A good start.