testdrive: talika lipocils

IF YOU dream of Bambi eyelashes but can't make yours look more enticing than a couple of sticky-legged spiders trapped in a letterbox, don't despair. Wipe your eyes - using a quality cleanser, of course - and attend to the gospel according to Talika.

The story begins in 1948, when a young doctor, Danielle Roches, discovered that an anti-bacteria cream she had devised for the war wounded could be put to much worthier effect; that of growing eyelashes. This coincided with the birth of ski-slope eyelash chic, prompting Roches to launch her concoction under the brand name Talika.

Lipocils, as the plant-based cream was called, applies like a mascara and is the only brand authorised by the French Advertising Bureau to claim: "makes eyelashes grow". It has even been tested and approved by the Salpetiere Hospitals of Paris.

Initially I thought it improbable that this ordinary looking substance could possibly tease my stubby little lashes into luxuriant silky fans, even if it did contain such exotica as nettle and horse- chestnut. But it did leave them looking more lustrous immediately.

After a week's dedicated application I began to detect improvement, not just in terms of length but also in texture. Like children, you just don't know how much fun silky lashes can be until you have your own.

However, my frantic eye-fluttering demonstrations merely provoked inquiries after my contact lenses rather than the swoons of desire I had anticipated. I have now conceded that, if you want people to love you with the passion they loved Bambi, you actually have to be a baby deer. Still, the eyelashes look a treat.

Talika Lipocils, #20, from Space NK Apothecary, Princes Square, Glasgow, 0141 248 7931

Copyright 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.