Last week I wrote about my non-surgical eye lift revelation which was, probably to many people’s disappointment, simply the power of a good mascara. No trickery, no miracle-promising skincare ingredients, just simple lash definition and a bit of lift at the roots to send things skywards rather than letting them droop.

I won’t repeat myself; I’m merely here again to tell you about the mascara I was wearing in the photographs, which was the amazing Standout Volume Buildable Mascara from KIKO. In a neat, squarish tube which reminded me (very fondly, I should say) of Guerlain’s Maxi Lash mascara, it didn’t really scream anything special – no crazy tube shapes (MAC) or Batman-esque rubberised finish (Dior) or separate fibres to brush on (L’Oreal).
What the KIKO Standout Volume Buildable Mascara* did have was a slightly odd-shaped brush head at the top of the wand, which almost put me off trying it. I’m no good with odd-shaped brush heads (if that’s even what the top bits of mascara wands are called) – I can deal with a bit of tapering, I can cope with a slight curve, but start throwing in balls and knobbly bits and separate combs and I get a bit wary. I don’t want my mascara wand to surprise me – it’s just not something I look for. Surprise is the least appealing word I can think of when it comes to the eye area – I don’t want to be caught out by a weird “separating” brus...