Aisling on Beauty: Ireland’s favourite mascaras

Ask most women, even those who do not normally wear much make-up, what their must-have cosmetic is and many will answer “mascara”. It is usually the first proper cosmetic that girls use, often as young as the pre-teen stage. In fact, I remember myself at age 11 slicking Vaseline on my lashes to get that “mascara look”.

It is considered a make-up bag essential, and about 200 new mascaras are released each year. Most makeup-wearing women will spend thousands on them over their lifetimes, and they are so important to the cosmetics industry that the fight for market share leads to ever more ridiculous claims and brush types. L’Oréal employs someone whose sole job is to develop mascara brushes (they call him the “wand wizard”), and there is a special name in the industry for women who crave extreme lash thickening: “volume seekers”. While the average woman will swipe the wand five or six times over her lashes, volume seekers will not be satisfied with fewer than 30 or 40 coats.

Along with that all-important volume, Irish consumers are now seeking mascaras that improve lash condition and encourage growth too. Rimmel tells me that, although its extreme-volume mascaras with big brushes such as Scandal'Eyes and Big Bold Mascara are perennial favourites, Wonder'Full with Argan Oil has been its top seller in the past year. Clarins agrees: its best-selling Irish mascara, Be Long, contains added ingredients that strengthen lashes and stimulate growth.

Lancôme is famous for having some of the best mascaras: Hypnôse Classic and Hypnôse Drama are its Irish bestsellers. YSL reports that Irish women love Volume Effect Cils. Giorgio Armani cites Eyes to Kill. Boots says that among its many No7 mascaras, Midnight Lash is the bestseller, while in the Seventeen range Falsifeye outperforms the others.

Urban Decay Perversion is that brand's top seller in Ireland. I use it with the Subversion Primer so that I can add to it with more coats during the day, thus avoiding that unattractive clumped effect that occurs when you try to top up most dry mascara.

Clinique sells two mascaras that go head to head in the Irish market. Lash Power is long-lasting and was originally developed in Asia to withstand humidity, sweat, tears and anything else you might throw at it. The other, High Impact, delivers volume and drama in just a couple of coats.

• amcdermott@irishtimes.com 

• Twitter @aismcdermott