Review - Boots 17 Falsifeye mascara (and free gel eyeliner)

It may look like a big, tasty crabstick, but in fact this chunky rectangular object in bright 80s Barbie pink is actually the latest volumising mascara from 17, Falsifeye. (Got to love a good pun in a product name).

It belongs to that "big tube, big brush, big lashes" genre of mascaras.  I've never really understood how big brushes are meant to create big lashes, but there must be something in it based on the amount of brands that go for this strategy. (Or maybe it's just a psychological device.)

Falsifeye comes with a GWP at the moment - a pot of gel eyeliner with a miniature brush. I didn't realise this was a GWP at first, thinking it was a new part of the permanent range. I'm surprised that 17 would go to the trouble of producing a new product format just as a one-off GWP. Perhaps this is a harbinger of a permanent range of gel eyeliners in the future?

The liner is not particularly pigmented, but it glides onto the eye more smoothly than the swatch here suggests. It also doesn't set, which makes it a bad choice for precise cat-eye looks. However, it works much better as a smudgy kohl.

Back to the mascara... like most of 17's mascaras, the formula is on the dry, siliconey side. Their mascaras never err on the side of splodgy or goopy, so they avoid the sticky, clumpy problems that wetter formulas can sometimes create on the lashes. On the downside, they tend to dry out faster, although if you throw away your mascara after a few months like we're apparently supposed to, this won't be a problem.

The results are excellent in terms of volume. This is two coats. The picture also shows the gel eyeliner on the upper lid, worn smudged.

I did find it difficult to apply this precisely, because of the giant brush. You can see here that despite my best efforts, quite a few speckles of black ended up on my lids. This could be a real pain if you've carefully applied eyeshadow beforehand, so it's worth being aware of this tendency before you apply it.

Falsifeye is available now from Boots, costing £6.49 for 9ml