A Christmas or so ago, I got my pal Fran a tube of Chanel Inimitable mascara as her Christmas gift. She'd mentioned how wonderful it was in passing one afternoon while we were talking about girlie-type stuff like make up and hair products, and I decided that I'd surprise her with it for Christmas.

She soon after raved about it and then - because she liked it so very much - I decided to splurge a little bit and bought a tube for myself. And I do mean splurge: the stuff is $27 a tube!! ACK. (Hey, I never said the things I loved were cheap. Sadly, I usually cannot afford my taste in most things! Sigh...) I've always used the cheapo mascara in the past - primarily because you're supposed to replace it so often - but I'm now convinced: this stuff is The Shit. Capital T. Capital S.

I think its wonder is largely due to the brush that's included with it; regardless, the fact that it is so easy to control the thickness of your application and to define all your lashes very easily makes me happy when I use it. The only negative to it was that it didn't come in a waterproof formulation when I first purchased it. I have a habit of sticking my finger in my eye (often related to my contact lenses, though not always :) so I usually prefer a waterproof variety of mascara to reduce the likelihood that I'll have black streaks all over my face. The good news is, Chanel just introduced a waterproof version; I may need to give that a try!

I've never used any other Chanel make up products (or their perfume, for that matter) but as soon as I am out of debt, I may give myself permission to splurge a little bit and try some more of them. :)