As a red-head I have very fair lashes. Add to that the fact that what I do have are also quite short, fairly straight and reasonably sparse and you will realise why I depend on my mascara to make me look human!

I have tried various mascaras over the years but I have never found anything that I think is so wonderful that it has made me brand loyal. I tend to buy whatever I fancy and hope for the best. I had used No7 mascaras of varying types for years but after a disaster with their Extravagant lash product about 18 months ago I have been using other brands ever since. However finding myself in Boots with a £5 voucher in my hand for No7 and a dried up mascara at home I decided to give the brand another try.

The No7 stand had several mascaras to choose from but my eyes were immediately drawn to the Exquisite Curl product. The word Curl will always attract me due to the pathetic straightness of my own lashes and my sheer laziness in not being bothered with digging out my eyelash curlers except for special occasions. The product is supplied in an attractive grey/purple metallic looking tube and promises "beautiful curve and volume". Sounding like my perfect product it was soon in my shopping basket on the way to the till. There were two shades to choose from, either black or brown/black. I opted for the brown/black shade as the black is a little too harsh with my colouring.

The next morning I was looking forward to trying my new product. I am easily pleased and can get quite excited about trying out any new cosmetic that comes my way. I had read the information on the back of the tube and it mentions coaxing my lashes to look curved and volumised and promised I would be left with a long lasting curl. The product is hypo-allergenic and should be discarded 6 months after opening because of the risk of contamination which in an eye-product can lead to nasty infections.

As I extracted the wand from the tube the first thing that I noticed was that the brush did not seem a tight fit as it came out of the neck of the tube. The last couple of mascaras that I have used need more of a yank to get them out of the tube but it does result in less excess mascara on the brush however I was surprised to find that even though this came out easily there did not seem to be too much product on the wand.
The brush itself is curved with many short, flexible bristles. I wasn't quite sure how well this would work but set about the application. I was immediately impressed that the wand seemed to deliver just the right amount of mascara to my lashes and although I thought it might be a bit cumbersome it was actually really easy to use. It got right to the base of the lashes without depositing extra mascara in the wrong places and it even reached the shorter lashes in the inner corners without any problem. In fact I think this brush enabled me to apply my mascara quicker than ever and in the mornings in my house every second counts!

Having quickly applied to the product it was time to evaluate the results. For day-time wear I often only apply one coat as I really don't have time to bother with a second coat. With just the one coat I was very pleased with the distribution. My lashes all appeared to be evenly coated with a nice colour and a very slight sheen which I liked. I also felt that they did, indeed, look slightly thicker which considering the little stragglers that I start out with is very important to me. Assessing the curl was a little more difficult. I did feel that there was definitely a slight degree of curling but certainly nothing very dramatic, I do wonder if your lashes already have a certain amount of natural curl whether this product would actually work better.

When going out in the evening I have used two coats and found that my lashes look really quite thick and healthy but probably without much extra curl. One of the other things I have noticed about this mascara that I like is that it doesn't make my lashes feel dry or stiff, if I am going out in the evening and I haven't removed my day make-up I can easily just pop on another coat and my lashes still feel flexible and the second coat doesn't flake off the base coat.

By the end of the day I was still very pleased with this Exquisite Curl mascara. It stayed on really well, there was no flaking or smudging and my lashes still looked good. The one advantage of virtually transparent lashes is that you soon notice when mascara doesn't stay put! Removal was easy enough with a make-up remover wipe, it came off without the need to scrub. The product is not waterproof and I have not tried it out when swimming or at the gym but I presume it would not stand up to these tests quite so well.

At full price this mascara is £13 but I purchased it with my £5 voucher and collected advantage card points so I didn't think it was bad value. I have been really pleased with the performance. It gives me nice, healthy looking lashes that look great all day. The curl may not be fantastic but I love everything about this one so I do hope Boots don't discontinue it any day soon as I think I have just become brand loyal!