If I find myself talking about A Product at a dinner party, then I know it’s good fodder for my fruits. And so, last week, as I was joyously slurping on some soup (Thai-style pumpkin featuring more Chili than TLC) I found myself discussing the merits of finding insect legs in your sink.

Explanation: Clinique’s new-ish Lash Power mascara.

It was made for humid climates, you know, those places where your mascara runs all by itself, with no assistant from tears, sweat or flecks of rogue paper bark in your eye. Hot. Muggier than south central LA. Stickier than…. sticky tape.

Anyway: The mascara doesn’t move. It won’t smudge. Won’t run. But
unlike waterproof formulas, it’s easy, so easy to get off. Doesn’t need
minutes of rubbing with cotton pads and eye makeup remover. Doesn’t
need makeup remover at all. And that’s the whole beautiful point: it’s
only removed with hot water and your little fingers. Perfect if you
find your mascara always ends up somewhere near your chin. Or, you got
looong lashes and your mascara always imprints on your eyelids.

See, the formula looks and goes on like a normal mascara (nice tidy
brush for getting every single lash, not terribly lengthening or
volume-building, just natural-looking, right) but it comes off in
little tubes. Little tubes that have lovingly cuddled each lash all day
until you, the Lash Boss, decide to remove them with some warm water
and a wiggle of the fingers down the lashes.

Where the insect legs come in: The little black tubes you take off
look like little insect legs in your sink. And it’s not even gross.
It’s just cool. Insects are underrated. I would never pull their legs
off.