Tried and tested: the Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Mascara

By Holly O'Neill
28th Jan 2020

Tried and tested: the Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Mascara

Rihanna gave me lashes.

Just launched last week, Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Volume, Lift and Curl Mascara, €24, is already the most talked-about beauty launch of the year. Fenty Beauty’s first mascara comes along with the news of two more incredible Fenty eye products – the Fly Pencil range of coloured eyeliners and selection of custom eyeshadow palettes, but the Full Frontal Mascara is the launch making the most noise.

So what was RiRi’s brief for creating great mascara? “I like to get every single little lash to expose them all,” she said. “I wanted to make sure this mascara lets you do that. You get volume, lift, and curl all with one product and this amazing brush.”

Having tried it since the day it launched, here’s what I can tell you. The formula is a true, jet black. It’s also very, very wet, which is good, as it gives you time to play around and layer, define separate and get your lashes just right. It’s long-wearing and doesn’t cake or flake, and I got to test it’s “waterproof” claims today when I got hit by strong, cold wind on the morning commute. My eyes streamed all morning, but my mascara didn’t budge. It doesn’t feel crumbly on the lashes either – it’s creamy and hydrating.

The brush, though, is where the real magic happens. It’s double-sided, with a fat side and a flat side. Use the fat side to load and lift the lashes, wiggling from the base of your eyelashes to coat every single lash. Then use the flat side to push the lashes up – it defines, combs and separates the lashes. If you’re really precise, turn the tip inward to pinpoint tricky-to-reach inner eyelashes to get exact application right in there, and get the lash ends coated too.

Look, I don’t want to be faffing around with my mascara in the morning. I don’t remember anything that happens before 10am and I’m in no position to be sticking things into my eye on the train. I need beauty things to happen quickly and easily for me in the morning, so if a double-sided mascara sounds like too much faff to you, I hear you, and I promise, it’s not too much faff. For the past week, my lashes have been fanned out, full-on, lengthy and curled, but more importantly, it hasn’t taken me more than 30 seconds to apply mascara each morning and still get a great result. Anything that requires over 30 seconds of concentration in the morning is too much for me. There is coffee to be drunk. There are emails to be ignored.

The only gripe I have with the Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Volume, Lift and Curl Mascara is the slight undereye smudging, but to be honest, the pros mentioned outweigh this one con. I just swipe under my eye with my finger when I spot a little smudge dot in a mirror and move on, but if smudging is a big issue for you, you should know this one is a smudger. Aside from that, the formula is wonderful, the brush is excellent, it lasts all day and my lashes are lifted, lengthened and volumised – it’s just the kind of eye-opening, faff-free power you need if you’re still finding the early, cold January mornings a struggle.