Glossier Lash Slick review: can a millennial mascara cross the generation gap?

Glossier Lash Slick is an everyday mascara that promises it isn't just for the Millennials who already adore it. It’s this brand’s answer to elegant and effortlessly beautiful lashes at any age. 

From her blog In To The Gloss, Emily Weiss’ beauty brand Glossier was born. The baby-pink-hued brand promised, "products designed with your real beauty routine in mind" with Glossier Lash Slick mascara being no exception. Rather than masking imperfections, Glossier is all about enhancing your natural self. 

This attempt at creating the best mascara took 248 tries and 18 months to reach the perfect formula - that’s a lot of trial and error. The result? A flexible, plastic-bristle wand, tubing formula with jet-black pigment. It's also rumored to be Holly Willoughbys mascara of choice for lash-enhancing definition. With this in mind, I put Glossier lash slick, the brand’s only mascara, to the test. 

First impressions

The soft-pink, minimalist Glossier Lash Slick design emulates millennial chic and feels strangely light in the palm of your hand. If you’re used to the weightiness and chunkiness of higher-end tubes, you may be surprised. Its simple design seemingly lets the formula inside speak for itself and makes no outward claims. 

Upon opening, the first thing you notice is the small amount of product that actually comes out on the rubber bristles. The tube does a great job (maybe too good a job) of scraping off excess product. There’s nothing worse than waste. Do you know the feeling when mascaras feel too wet, or there’s too much product to work with on such a small area of your face? This is the complete antithesis of that. 

VIEW NOW: Glossier Lash Slick, £14, Glossier.com

Formula and ingredients

As mascara formulas tend to be similar, it’s no surprise that this one contains the usual pigment, polymers, and wax. It is also one of the best oil-free mascaras on the market, making it particularly suitable for sensitive eyes. But, what makes it worthy of boasting conditioning properties, is the added ingredients Provitamin B5 and Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1. 

These additions mean your lashes are getting a dose of nourishment and hydration while you coat them in eye-defining, inky-black. 

Unusually, rather than shout about the fact Glossier Lash Slick contains a tubing formula, the product description states it’s simply a smudge-free mascara that comes off easily with warm water. 

"What is a tubing mascara," you ask? Well, in basic terms, a tubing mascara contains certain polymers that envelope each eyelash, forming a cylinder or ‘tube’ around the length of the lash. When it’s time to remove, the tubes slide off lashes with just warm water. Some women swear by them, some despise them. 

The tubing nature of the product means that smudging is simply not an issue, and the mascara is easily removed without the use of heavy makeup removers. The finished look that tubing and non-tubing mascaras give is pretty much indistinguishable so, it’s really a matter of personal preference.

What's it like to wear?

I’m going to be honest, as far as mascaras go (and I’ve tested a lot), this wasn't up there with my personal favorites. It’s brilliantly separating, coating individual lashes rather than clumping them together but, I prefer a little more drama. 

As an extremely short and straight-lashed individual, I need volume. I need oomph. I need pizazz. Perhaps my hopes were misplaced for a brand that focuses on minimalism rather than bold and brash beauty standards. Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that this was designed to be an everyday mascara that enhances natural lashes, and it certainly delivers the "baby extensions effect" that’s promised. But, in all honesty, if I’m going to wear mascara, I want it to be more noticeable than this. 

That said, you will love this product if you prefer a natural-looking mascara and only need a light coating of black pigment and a decent comb-through. If you already have long, thick lashes, you may find this is your go-to mascara, but Glossier Lash Slick just didn’t cut the mustard for my dramatic volume needs.  

VIEW NOW: Glossier Lash Slick, £14, Glossier.com