I’ve Never Liked False Lashes, so I’ve Used This Mascara for 12 Years Instead

Growing up, I had an obsession with beauty and fashion magazines. I would read every glossy word from start to finish and back again, and I dedicated my weekly babysitting and retail job earnings to trying all of the most enticing and award-winning formulas inhabiting every write-up. Year after year, Dior’s forever-iconic mascara, Diorshow, was front and center, and obviously, I got my hands on the stuff as soon as I could scrimp enough money together. Diorshow quickly became one of my mom’s all-time favorite mascaras, but as someone who had very long, albeit stick-straight, lashes, it was just too heavy for me. I’ve always prioritized curl and length, and I found the bushy brush too big and imprecise for the highly defined, separated, and false lash–effect lift I was after. So after doing a little more research, I landed on a different, slightly less well-known Dior formula, the Diorshow Iconic Mascara ($30), and it quickly became my ride-or-die wand for creating the lifted, super-curled doe-eyed lashes of my dreams. (To this day, people mistake my Dior-lacquered lashes for falsies.)