I just revisited a beauty product from over a decade ago and it's the answer to long, natural-looking lashes

I have a little confession to make. Purple mascara was my first ever make-up love. Yep, before the days of foundation and lipstick, mascara was the one beauty indulgence my mum deemed ‘youthful’ enough for me to try out, aged 13. Specifically: a neon purple-hued formula she had picked up from the Superdrug on Camden high street. I was obsessed with this mascara and wore it every day. 

Understandably, I became known as Purple Mascara Girl at school—and I wasn’t too mad about it. There’s something about the fun, friendly hue that I still gravitate towards today (and the fact that the colour is trending for Spring/Summer 24 fashion definitely helps). So when Executive Beauty Editor, Shannon Lawlor, asked me to try out the new Maybelline Sky High Lash Sensational mascara in Burgundy Haze, I was embarrassingly fast in my response: a resounding yes.

This mascara has gone viral on TikTok recently, and the term ‘Maybelline Sky High burgundy’ currently has 89.3 million views on the app—and counting. In fact, Boots has sold one of them every 3 minutes since Maybelline launched the colourful shades of the mascara in January—so it's clearly a winner. I’m also a huge fan of the original Sky High mascara, (and trying out mascara formulas in general—from lengthening mascaras to volumising formulas) so I was excited to try this new colourful iteration out for myself. I only saw good things from this trial—at the very least, a nostalgic foray into the make-up of my youth, and at best a new experimental look to spice up my make-up repertoire.

So what did I actually think of this new purple mascara? Read on for my honest review (and where to find the best purple mascaras currently on the market)...

My review of the Maybelline Sky High burgundy mascara

Let me first start by saying that this mascara definitely isn’t as intense as the neon-hued formula of my youth. As the name suggests, it looks like a straight up burgundy in the tube, but when applied to the lashes, it's more of a delicious deep brown with a tinge of reddish purple. Surprisingly natural-looking.

The red and purple tones aren’t really obvious in pictures, in fact, it looks like a softer black, but in real life they really enhance the blue tones in my grey eyes. And according to TikTok, it really enhances the colour of brown and green eyes too!

I would wear this mascara in a similar way to how I’d wear a brown mascara—when I’m after a softer eye look. Similar to my favourite brown formula (Eyeko’s Limitless Lengthening mascara, in case you were wondering) it would offset a warm-toned eye make-up look beautifully, making it the perfect everyday alternative to a more intense black.

When it comes to the formula and brush, it feels exactly the same as the original Maybelline Sky High mascara, which is one of my favourites, so of course, I’m a fan. It’s lengthening and volumising in equal measure. The cleverly designed brush allows you to pack on the product and lift and separate the lashes in one easy swipe.

Overall: I’m a huge fan. This is a purple mascara for even those who aren’t a fan of purple mascaras (or brightly-coloured make-up in general) in fact, it actually compliments a neutral-toned eye look perfectly.

The best purple mascaras to shop:

Aside from my new favourite, there are plenty of other beautiful purple mascara formulas to shop online - from neon purple to almost-black hues, and no matter what your budget, here are the best we found…