Mascara is one of the most transformative make-up products, with the ability to give you long, voluminous and thicker lashes that can make your eyes look bigger and brighter.

There’s also little need to splurge to find a good one, with brands such as Rimmel London, Maybelline and L’Oreal offering plenty of mascaras that are budget-friendly. In fact, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to finding one for less than a tenner.

Over the past four weeks, we’ve been puting the Rimmel London scandaleyes reloaded (£8.49, Boots.com) to the test, in a bid to see if it beats out our usual favourite, the much pricier Bobbi Brown no smudge mascara (£26, Bobbibrown.co.uk).

Replacing our usual mascara in our make-up bag, the Rimmel became a part of our daily routine. We wore it during sudden downpours, from day to evening, including commuting into an office and when working from home.

We closely examined it during wear to see if it smudged, clumped or flaked, as well as how easy it was to apply, the style of brush and of course, how easy it is to remove – which is also one of Rimmel London’s biggest selling points of this mascara.

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Read on for our in-depth review and our verdict on whether this is a bargain must-have or better off being left on the shop shelf.

It has a pretty straightforward brush, with evenly spaced bristles in a conical shape, getting narrower in shape towards the tip. As a result, it’s very easy to glide through lashes and give a uniform coating from the outer to the inner corner of your eye. It grips onto the hairs easily and doesn’t smear on the eyelid, despite us applying multiple coats.

What it doesn’t provide in thickness, it makes up for in length, delivering a natural-looking lash extension that looks neat and polished, also allowing for eyeshadow on our reviewers’ hooded eyes to be seen.

Read more: 25 best mascaras for every look

The formula isn’t overly wet or dry either, striking the perfect balance to allow you to build product without it smudging onto eyelids or under your eye – something, which we can say from experience, can ruin a carefully applied foundation.

It’s brilliantly buildable, we applied coat after coat with no clumpiness at all, and while it takes a few coats to get the defined, lengthened look we were aiming for, we have no complaints considering the affordable price tag.

One thing we loved about this mascara was how soft it kept our lashes, even hours after application, without the stiffness that can often happen with other products we’ve tried.

We wore this for eight hours at a time over a number of weeks and one day, we were caught in a deluge of rain that left us drenched. Despite this, our lashes remained intact, still voluminous and lengthened, with not a single hair out of place. There was not a scrap of smeared black under our eye, and we experienced no flaking or crumbling, leaving us extremely impressed.

On the side of the bright orange tube alongside the name, is the branding which reads “extreme volume and wear. Easy removal.” It’s a bold claim that we were keen to put through its paces, as there’s nothing worse than a brilliant mascara that’s a pain to remove.

Read more: 11 best eye make-up removers that are gentle on the skin

We were pleased to report that with the use of La Roche-Posay make-up removal micellar water gel (£9.75, Feelunique.com), massaged into a damp face, and rinsed off with a lukewarm flannel, it came off within seconds. There was no need to tug on the delicate eye area for ages, nor did we wake up the next morning with panda eyes.

While we need no telling that there are a number of excellent high-street mascara available, Rimmel London’s scandaleyes has outdone them all and has definitely replaced our usual Bobbi Brown option.

We loved how buildable the mascara was, allowing us to layer coat after coat until we had a lengthened, eye-opening result. It was very long-wearing and we were especially impressed that it didn’t budge when we were caught in a thunderstorm. There are not many mascaras we can say that about.

The cherry on top was how swiftly it could be removed, with a decent cleanser and a wet flannel, it couldn’t have been quicker, and overall, it goes to show you don’t need to splash the cash to find a mascara worth a spot in your make-up bag.

IndyBest product reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products, but we never allow this to bias our coverage. The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testing.