Mascara is a dark cream or paste you put on your eyelashes to make them look darker, longer, and thicker. It usually lives in a slim tube with a little brush, the wand, which you sweep through the lashes. Black and brown are the everyday colours; blue or purple mascara exists, but that is dressing up. People of any gender can wear it, though in many places it is still sold and talked about as makeup for women. It is not eyeliner (the line drawn along the edge of the eyelid) and not eyeshadow (colour on the lid). Waterproof mascara is made to stay on in rain or tears; ordinary mascara comes off more easily with makeup remover. You can also meet a verb, to mascara your lashes, but the noun is the one that matters. The word comes from Italian maschera, “mask” — the old idea of putting a covering on the face — which is a nicer origin story than it first sounds, because mascara does not hide you; it only paints the lashes. In Taiwan the product name everyone actually uses is 睫毛膏.