Mascara will always be the most transformative make-up item, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always loved how layers of black mascara sweep my lashes into an upwards curl and have the ability to make me look fresh, awake and just feel that little bit more ‘done’. In fact, when posed with the question, “What’s your desert island beauty item?” I promptly responded: “Mascara. Without it, I look like an egghead.”

But for all the curling, lengthening and definition they bring, the one thing I don’t love? The amount of time it takes me to put on. I like my lashes to look super-fluttery and long, which means I often apply layer upon layer to get my desired result. For some reason, I’ve always hated the process of meticulously trying to catch every lash without smudging my eyeshadow and eyeliner underneath. Cue good ol’ open-mouthed ‘mascara face’ and lots of impatience.

Which is why I was pretty excited to hear about Huda Beauty’s latest mascara innovation, One Coat Wow Mascara, £20. Already a huge fan of the brand’s double-ended Legit Lashes Mascara, One Coat Wow differs as it promises to deliver longer, defined lashes in just one coating of mascara. Yep, one coat. Meaning my daily quest for fluttery lashes could now potentially be achieved in a matter of seconds.

Alongside its claims, the mascara is pretty special. It comes as the brand celebrates its 10-year anniversary and seems a fitting launch considering its first product all those years ago was false lashes. “I loved lashes. People were asking me about them, and in the beginning, it was me packaging the lashes that people were getting – it was very bootstrapped,” says brand founder Huda Kattan.

At the time of launching her brand, Kattan was a blogger, but back then, “bloggers weren’t taken seriously”, she says. She felt lashes were an area she could go after “hard” and launched the falsies in 2013. Capturing the attention of the likes of Kim Kardashian, things blew up, and by 2016, she launched a more extensive make-up brand. In 2018, Forbes stated the company was worth over $1 billion (£769 million), making Kattan one of America’s richest self-made women.

Fangirling aside, when I got my hands on the hot pink tube, I put it straight to work. Of course, mascara formulas are only as good as the mascara brush they come with: this product’s description states that the brush has both short and long bristles on it to separate your lashes, while the curved concave side provides volume. As somebody with very straight lashes, this was music to my ears. Here’s the before:

… I told you my lashes were super straight.

To make the test as fair as possible, I took the thick silicone brush and ran it over both my bottom and upper lashes. And, at the risk of sounding very dramatic, I did a literal gasp. On that one side, my eyelashes were swept up into a C-shape curl and each lash hair looked a lot more defined.

After marvelling at the difference between my two eyes, I quickly applied the mascara to my other eye and assessed the finished result. 

Interestingly, though, Kattan admits that “it’s not for everyone”. She explains: “It’s for long lashes. If you have short lashes, too, but want volume then it’ll be fine but if you’re looking for straight-up length alone and don’t want volume, as some people prefer that, you might not like this mascara.” Refreshingly honest from a brand founder, I have to say. She continues: “This is one coat of the most amazing, most impactful volume you’re ever going to get. It’s volume in a bottle.”

After inspecting my face, my lashes certainly looked longer and they had the perfect level of drama for everyday wear. Even better, if I wanted to go beyond the one coat, the formula doesn’t go crispy so it’s easy to layer if you want to.

And the best part of all? It took me seconds. Not even long enough to do ‘mascara face’. Thank you, Huda.

In the market for a new mascara? Here are some other favourite formulas, picked by the Stylist beauty team:

Images: Huda Beauty/Hanna Ibraheem