Product review: Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara part 1

You know me, I like a good tried-and-tested, especially when it comes to makeup that you can buy from your friendly local high street chemist. Here’s a mid-trial review of a new mascara that claims to have a long term effect on the size of your eyelashes.

After all the fuss that followed the release of a certain eyelash-enhancing serum which retails at around £40, I was very interested to hear that Rimmel were launching a mascara that also contained what they described as ‘Grow-lash complex’ or a ‘lash conditioning serum’, for well under £10. They claim that clinical tests suggest it causes a significant change in the length of your lashes within 30 days of regular use.

Well, if this stuff from Rimmel really works, that’s quite a serious bargain as far as I’m concerned. However, with many products, especially beauty products, you wish so hard for them to work that you get a sort of placebo effect and you can start to imagine improvements that aren’t really there.

That’s why I’m testing this product on only one eye for a whole month. My left eye’s lashes are being slathered in the Rimmel, and my right eye’s lashes are either being left bare or covered in non-lengthening mascara. Then after 30 days we can compare and contrast the treated side with the untreated side. I even took baseline photos as part of the experiment. OK, I’m aware that it’s a sample size of one, and there are a few things to remember about using half of your own body as an experimental control, but it’s still going to be interesting.

(Picture copyright Joseph Connor and www.bite.ca)

I’m only a few days into this test, so I cannot comment on whether the serum works or not, but I am really quite pleased with the general performance of this product as a simple mascara. It does have an impressive immediate cosmetic effect, and performs slightly better than all the other lengthening mascaras I tested it against, from the Miss Sporty price bracket up to the Estee Lauder price range. Lashes look significantly longer with just one coat (compared against bare eyelashes on the other eye), the brush works well, definition is good and the product is not prone to smudging, clumping or flaking. It’s also buildable, and removes easily with standard formula cleansers.

The only real minus point of this mascara so far is that it takes quite a long time to dry. That’s fine if you’re taking your time getting ready for a night out, but could be a pain if you were rushing around getting ready in the morning. Of course, if the lash-growing promise turns out to be true then it’s quite possible that some consumers would forgive the long drying time.

So, that’s the first half of the review. I’ll be back with the second half at the end of September. If it works, it works, but if it doesn’t then I’m going to tell you about it too. And yes, I am aware that if it does work then I’m going to look really, really silly for a while before the other side catches up.

Golightly, walking around like something out of A Clockwork Orange, so you don’t have to.

P xx

EDITED TO SAY: The results are now in! You can read Part 2 of this Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara review here.

Full disclosure: this mascara test sample has kindly been provided by Superdrug. This is NOT a paid post or advertorial, or anything similar – it contains only my own findings and opinions.