When Kylie Jenner first launched her eponymous, mononymous label, the word viral just doesn’t cut it.
Back in 2015 with only lip kits in the line-up, she broke the internet and turned her plumped pout into a billion-dollar business. With just 5,000 released in its first run, it sold out in seven minutes with the three shades and were being resold on eBay with a markup of almost 800 per cent. Some opportunists were able to pull in $255 from the original $29 price point.
The brand has come a long way since this inital launch. Kylie Cosmetics expanded into Kylie Skin, Kylie Baby and even a brief foray into swimwear with Kylie Swim, although the latter has been quiet since its first announcement. But one makeup favourite that was noticeably missing was mascara. Until now.
The extensive 260-strong cosmetics offering includes the original lip kits that have been reformulated since their 2015 launch, eyeshadow palettes, highlighters, blush, liners, lip glosses, crayons and balms - yet not what many consider a desert island makeup product.
The Kylash Volume Mascara is a vegan formulation that was created to add volume, length and lock curls in place with a weightless fibre. The latter prevent clumping, smudging and flaking for a natural look that doesn’t weigh down the lashes.
“I’m so excited to launch Kylie Cosmetics’ first mascara”, Jenner explains. “We worked extremely hard and spent a lot of time developing and perfecting this formula. It was important to me that my mascara was clean and vegan while not compromising on the effects we wanted — instant lift, length, volume and definition. Kylash is the only mascara I’ve been wearing now for over a year, and I haven’t needed extensions or false lashes to get a beautiful full lash look. I can’t wait to share it with everyone!”
The product is enriched with grapeseed oil and pro-vitamin B5, active ingredients that have a strenghtening effect as well as rice bran wax, carnauba wax and synthetic beeswax that give it lasting power.
In consumer tests, 100 per cent of participants said it was featherlight on the lashes, is comfortable, didn’t clump and provided long-wearing definition. Additionally 95 per cent said it gave instant volume, immediately lift, enhanced and offered multi-dimension definition. The same amount said it provided the perfect full lash.
But does it live up to the ES Best test? Three of our team put the mascara through its paces to find out.
Buy now - £23 | Boots
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Ellie Davis - Shopping Editor
With an exterior resembling a cross between Glossier’s Lash Slick and Maybelline’s Sky High, I had high hopes for the first Kylie Cosmetics mascara - these are my two favourite eye products and boast lengthening and voluminising in spades.
Expectations were high and the Kylash did deliver in some points. The brush head is thick and yet it doesn’t impart much product onto the lashes. This means that it does require a few strokes until you can achieve a fanned out effect - this is a pro or con depending on how you look at it. I like that you have more control over the look that you are creating, whether it’s a subtle everyday two stroke or a high impact five or six strokes. While the product does look like it’s clumping, due to the minimal amount of product on the bristles, it combs this through the individual lashes to create a natural appearance. There is some fall out and a little ends up on the lids but all in all it stays in place throughout the day.
The £23 price point is on the upper end of the spectrum but not hugely dissimilar to the Glossier one mentioned above as well as the likes of benefit’s BADgal yet these are two products that have reached holy grail status whereas I’m not sure Kylie’s will follow suit.
Abha Shah - Deputy Shopping Editor
Full disclosure: I stopped wearing masacara a few years ago, pre-lockdown. As a contact lens wearer, I’m hyper conscious about putting things near my eyes, and after a full day of wearing mascara I noticed they felt more sore than usual. I still wear liquid liner above the lashline, but nothing that sits directly against the occular surface.
That said, I do have a couple of mascaras I reach for when the occasion calls. Too Faced’s Better Than Sex (£25) and Benefit BADgal Bang! (£25.50) are my favourites: they lengthen, darken and add volume to my lashes to such a degree I can feel them tickling my eyebrows. When Kylie Jenner’s new mascara crossed my desk, I wondered if it would be another to add to my concise collection.
The short answer is no. A modest wand means only a small amount of formula can be loaded on, and sweeping it over my lashes bolstered them only slightly, making a mockery of the “Bold Volume” claim stated on the back of the mascara’s box. I suppose it’s fine for everyday wear but as someone who only really cracks out the mascara for special occasions, Ky Lash doesn’t deliver on the drama. I’ll stick to my usual.
Saskia Kemsley - SEO Shopping Writer
I’m an avid mascara user. When in a rush in the morning, mascara is the first and often only item of makeup I reach for. As such, I’m also the type of mascara user who can’t stand gloopy product that never quite seems to settle. Indeed, most of us simply do not have the time or patience to fix those inevitable, dreadful smudges which appear on eyelids and somehow noses – nor do we have the time to wipe down a mascara wand on the side of its bottle until it is even remotely useable.
I was therefore delighted when I first cracked open the seal on the brand new Kylash. To my amazement, there were zero clumps attached to the fine bristles of the straight wand. If, like me, you cannot fathom why all mascaras don’t come ready to use at the first swipe without mess – this is the mascara for you.
I found that it not only darkened, lifted and fanned-out my eyelashes – but it didn’t separate them to the extent that they looked overdone and clumped together. This is certainly the kind of mascara to pop in your bag on the go, for you can apply it easily with no fuss and no mess. I’ll be keeping Kylash front and centre of my daily makeup arsenal.
Buy now £23.00, Boots
