It’s time for another mascara review, as I hunt for the perfect lash perfector. I’m going to try and alternate between makeup counter options and bargain alternatives, because I truly believe there are some £5 mascaras out there that really do the job.

Today, however, is the turn of the pricey ‘Sumptuous’ from Estee Lauder, a £17+ treat in a swish gold tube that promises bold volume and lift.

Now I like drama, and when I was buying this, that was what I was promised. Well, actually I was told I should try the TurboLash with its vibrating brush, but the idea of putting something that vibrates so close to my eyes freaks me out, as does the £27.40 price tag. So Sumptuous it was.

All in all, this does the job. It’s a proper old-school mascara, with a classic mid-sized bristle brush and quite a thick, dense creamy texture. Where it really impressed me was that it just doesn’t clump. Cheaper mascaras of a similar thickness (Rimmel Volume Flash, for example) give bold results but need loads of combing through to separate the lashes after application. With this, I only needed a couple of coats for a daytime lash, but I found I could keep on adding it without any clumping.

However, it takes quite a lot of coats for anything resembling the false lash look I like, but I do have high hopes when it comes to that. As a does-it-all daytime mascara, it looks the part, stays on all day, and doesn’t weigh down the lashes. Whether it’s worth £17 I’m not sure, but the lack of clumps definitely makes it a cut above many rivals.

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Mascara £17.13

Before: Maybelline Stiletto Lash
Next: Rimmel Glam’Eyes

Last night I was supposed to go to a burlesque class with the lovely Zara. Unfortunately, I’ve come down with a weird cold / cough bug that’s rendered me grumpy and sofa-ridden when I should have been prancing about with a feather boa.

So in an attempt to cheer myself up late last night, I attempted my own little burlesque / pin-up girl homage in the privacy of my own bathroom. I never really wear my hair up, and you can probably see why. These are the kind of ridiculous photos that will a) come back to haunt me in a few years time and b) not be possible when I move in with the boy later this Summer. So enjoy while you can!

I’d like to tell you how I did the hair, but I really can’t. It’s neat in the front, but at the back there’s all kinds of partying going on. It involved masses of dry shampoo, a lot of kirby grips and a dozen of those annoying metal sectioning clips that either slide out or get ridiculously tangled up. I really don’t know how Bernie Dexter does it.