Yesterday Girl Reviews: No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara

I was a lucky girl this week and was sent the new No.7 Mascara from boots to try. Exquisite Curl is beautifully packaged in a curvacious shimmering purple steel coloured tube. Underneath the name it says 'For beautiful curve and volume'. Well I don't know about you, but I can never get enough curve or volume in all areas of styling.

I am very sceptical about new beauty products. As women we are constantly promised that these products are going to change the way we apply our lipstick/nail varnish/deodorant/hairspray etc, etc etc....but let's be honest, they rarely live up to their promise.

Mascara is one of the more expensive cosmetic products, and one I unashamedly tend to buy whatever is on promotion. I've yet to find my perfect mascara, and have found a few that I hate. For example, remember a few years back when someone thought they were being clever by designing a mascara wand that had a comb on the end instead of a brush?? A truly terrible idea.

How successful a mascara is really depends on the length, shape and thickness of your lashes. I would give my natural lashes a 7/10. They are relatively long and sit upright without having to use a lash curler on a daily basis (although they benefit from a good curling on a night out). The only draw back and what is a real annoyance to me, is that on my right eye, at the outer corner of the top lashes, where they are supposed to be longer and fan outwards, they are actually shorter than the middle. Ok, so no one else will probably notice, but I do!! I normally try to layer on the mascara in this area, which can obviously lead to crumbling or clumps.

Giving it a try

The wand itself is curved in shape. The brush is nice and thick and the big sturdy lid/handle makes it feel solid in your hand. I found that the shape of the brush was just the right length to fit across my top lashes in one sweep, and the brush really seemed to grip the lashes. As I swept upwards  immediately noticed that the lashes were being seperated and pulled upwards in a nice natural 'curve'. I gave a couple more sweeps of the brush in the corners and another layer over the main lash area. I know everyone differs in their opinion of whether or not to apply mascara to their bottom  lashes, but I do with the very end of the brush, and very lightly.

The overall effect is very impressive. I really like the brush and the shape of the 'curl' that this successfully gives to my lashes. I definitely think that they look like they have been shaped with an eye lash curler and look alot longer than usual. This is not a mascara that creates a dramatic effect in terms of big, black lashes for a heavy evening look, (although I haven't applied with my eyeliner, which may change the look) but a really pretty look, similar to that achieved by a pair of really good long, natural looking false lashes. Of course, you may find that the effect of the curl looks even more dramatic on you if you have naturally more droopy lashes. The curl effect serves to open up the eye, which can only be a good thing, the packaging is nice and understated and the price is about average. I do recommend this product if you haven't yet found 'your mascara' and would like to try something new that actually does what it promises to do.

My rating: 9/10

Boots No 7 Exquisite Curl Mascara
Introductory price £10.50 will be £13.50


On the No7 facebook fan page there is a competition where you can win lots of amazing prizes including a pampering weekend. Exquisite Curl creates curvaceous, flirty lashes, so in order to win you have to upload your best wink. Take a peek.....