She may be a polished megastar, but that doesn’t mean Gillian Anderson isn’t partial to a shortcut when it comes to her beauty regime. Top of the not-to-do list? Her lashes. On a recent press day, the X Files star has revealed that she instructed her makeup squad to skip the falsies, thanks to a bargain high-street mascara costing £12.99.
‘My favourite, favourite of all time is the L’Oréal Paris Volume Million Lashes Panorama Mascara,’ she said. ‘It’s supposed to go corner to corner, and it actually does. Today, I was going to wear individual lashes, but didn’t need to, because this just covers everything and makes the whole eye look bigger. I don’t feel like I actually have eyes until I have mascara on.’
For transparency, we should mention that Gillian is the latest celebrity to take the ‘I’m Worth It’ pledge and sign up to L’Oréal’s official spokesmodel squad. (Sidenote: there’s a new documentary about that iconic strapline and the woman behind it, which is well worth a watch.)
However, she’s the sort of celebrity who we kind of rate in terms of being honest and even going slightly off script with beauty chats. (‘I’ve gone to bed with mascara on for most of my life!’ she also confessed, although she hastily noted that she’s a reformed character these days and has belatedly adopted a proper cleanse and moisturise regime.)
But because we never just take a (lucratively paid) ambassador’s word for it, we thought we’d cast a full critical eye over the mascara, in the sort of rigorous manner Dana Scully would be proud of. Does it stand out as one of the best mascaras and really give a faux-lash effect? Read on, the truth is out there…
Testing Volume Million Lashes Panorama Mascara
GH beauty director Lynne tries it out
L’Oréal promises that its latest mascara catches every lash to the inner and outer corners, making eyes look 1.4 times bigger. Now, that’s a pretty hard stat to quantify objectively, but as I’m testing on a bleary-eyed morning after about four hours of sleep, I’ll happily settle for ‘makes exhausted eyes look a bit wider awake’.
Immediately, I like the formula. It’s got that easy-on, stretchy quality, which makes me think of my few, precious pairs of leggings where the Lycra isn’t shot to hell. My lashes are instantly hugged in form-fitting jet-back pigment and pushed up in the right direction. There’s no laborious re-plunging of the wand, trying to coax out a rather dry formula, but neither is it too wet and thus splodge-prone – it’s on, and it stays there. Smudging isn’t a problem, either immediately or throughout the day.
There’s certainly a very good lengthening and fanned-out quality to my lashes. I wouldn’t say it’s the most fattening, but I’m with Gillian on the comparison to individual lashes. It’s excellent for definition, catching all the little lashes and just bringing eyes into sharper focus.
I can’t give an exact answer on the level of magnification, but I can definitely say my eyes look bigger – and better.
