ModelCo Fibre Lash brush on lash extension mascara kit

ModelCo's new Fibre Lash mascara kit, €39, is currently being wildly raved about in the press and across the beauty blogosphere, but I've got to be honest with you: it's not something I was wildly excited about myself.

That was perhaps due to the fibrous nature of its name, which immediately put me in mind of things like All Bran and Senokot but strangely failed to ignite any great product lust in me. It might also have had something to do with the fact that the last mascara I tried with a roughage-inspired name (d.j.v. beautenizer Fiberwig LX, a tubing mascara I bought in Sephora) was only alright.

What did get me thoroughly excited about the new ModelCo offering was how my lashes actually looked when I got the chance to try it on my own peepers. They were noticeably longer, thicker, and lifted - even though I hadn't bothered my arse to use a curlers on them beforehand. No word of a lie: it really did look like I was wearing falsies.

You could have knocked me down with a Shu Uemura feathered lash.

There are two products in the Fibre Lash kit which work together to provide the false lash effect, and the application process is a three-step affair:

1. Apply a coat of Extension mascara to clean, dry lashes, ensuring that all lashes are coated from base to tip.
2. Brush on a coat of Lash Fibres while looking downwards to avoid any stray strands making their way into your eyes. The lash fibres are white nylon-based particles that cling to the mascara and can be applied all along the lash for volume or to ends alone for length, and they  look, for all the world, like the contents of a (very clean) hoover have been collected in a mascara tube.I can't use it without hearing Marjorie Dawes saying "Anybody? No? Dust" over and over again on a loop in my head.
3. Apply a final coat of Extension mascara to secure the fibres in place. You need to really work the mascara through the lashes in a zig-zag motion at this stage to ensure separation and prevent the dreaded spider legs effect.

Now, before you all rush out to plonk down your Eurobux for this magic-sounding mascara, there are a few things to be aware of. Although the kits are good for 12 months after opening, each one only contains enough mascara and Lash Fibres for 40 applications. That's grand for occasional use, but makes it very spendy if you want to use it everyday. And I really do; my poor little heart hit the floor when I heard about this 40 applications business.

There's a definite knack in applying it, too: I can't stress enough that it's imperative to separate the lashes using the mascara wand in the final step, as trying to use a lash comb or even a pin to get rid of clumps really causes more problems than it solves. In addition, I wouldn't bother using this on the lower lashes, because (a) for the price, I'd rather save it to give my uppers oomph and (b) I found my eyelids tended to stick together when I did.

Despite all those niggly issues and my initial misgivings, Fibre Lash has shot straight into holy grail, must have, can't live without territory for me. I'll just have to wean myself off the daily dose...