Isn’t it nice when a brilliant, universally-raved about beauty product also happens to be a total bargain?
It certainly puts a smile on our face to recommend a superior piece of makeup without caveating our hot tip with “it’s not exactly cheap, but…” apologist waffle.
The L’Oreal Paris Paradise Extatic Mascara, which rings in at a very agreeable R199,95, is one such product. In the interest of honesty we should say that this isn’t a new launch, it actually arrived in South Africa about a year or so ago, to a fair bit of fanfare. At that point it was already a huge seller in the States – and we mean one sold every 60 seconds huge – so of course our beauty editor couldn’t wait to get her hands on the stuff, and let us tell you, it did not disappoint!
The pigment is that sort of sooty, carbon hue that somehow makes lashes look bulked up as well as inky black. The fluffy, finely spaced bristles deposit just the right amount of formula then drag it up every individual lash, leaving them falsie-level long and fluttery, but without those annoying clumps so typical of mascara. Best of all, in our opinion, the formula seems entirely budge-proof!
So, why are we telling you about this now? Because, sometimes, given the ever-increasing speed of products launching to market and shiny new Insta-brands, it’s important to shine a light on something brilliant that’s been knocking around for long enough that you might just have forgotten about it. Well, it’s still selling one a minute, so has hardly been lost in the mists of time, but regardless, what we’re saying is whether you’ve tried it and loved it or it’s slipped under your radar, we highly recommend a visit to Paradise.
Words by Beauty Expert, Fiona Mckim
