Finding the right best mascara is a highly personal experience. After all, there are other factors to consider, including the shape of your eyes, the quality of your lashes, the appearance you want to create, the best mascara formula, and the type of wand you like. And, believe it or not, we keep seeing the same best mascaras in beauty experts’ cosmetic bags and best mascara compilations. Having said that, we uncovered the mascaras that truly deliver. Mascaras don’t have to be expensive, with selections ranging from high-end to low-cost. All you want them to do is make your lashes seem as good as possible without requiring you to reach for the falsies.
The best mascara is such a transformational cosmetic necessity that even the most low-maintenance among us have one on hand. A decent mascara will darken and define your lashes, but a fantastic mascara will open your eyes and make them appear larger and brighter.
Top 20 Best Mascaras For Long Lashes With Volume
Mascara was one of the first cosmetics I was permitted to use. I’d watch my mother and grandma get dressed, inching my grimy little hands towards the frosty eyeshadows that were popular in the early 2000s. When I finally got my hands on a tube of best mascara, kindly provided by my grandma, I jabbed myself in the eye almost immediately—but my passion for best mascara never faded. Whether you’re a cosmetic aficionado or new to the game, mascara is a must-have for every beauty look. It’s the icing on the cake; it links everything together.
1. Best mascara for length: Kiss Me Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara Waterproof
This Japanese best mascara keeps curling all day, lengthens, separates, and coats lashes in the darkest black we’ve ever seen from a mascara. It’s also waterproof, so you can anticipate the formula to stay in place all day, no matter what the weather is like. No, seriously—actually it’s remarkable how little this mascara moves once applied. Prepare to be blown away.
2. Best mascara Maybelline: Maybelline New York Great Lash Mascara
Since its introduction 45 years ago, this identifiable (and iconic) pink-and-green tube has been a cosmetic classic (yep, you read that right). It thickens lashes and helps to define the eyes with the Very Black hue. It’s also reasonably priced.
3. Best Budget, Runner-Up: Essence Cosmetics Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara
This best-selling mascara provides a lot of volume at a low price. The cone-shaped fiber brush aids in the development of thickness and length for all-day wear—no flaking or fading here. It’s also ophthalmologist-tested and cruelty-free.
4. Best mascara drugstore: L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Lash Paradise Washable Mascara
While somewhat more expensive than comparable budget mascaras, this one from L’Oreal is rather good. This mascara volumizes and lengthens your lashes, leaving you with feathery, long lashes. It doesn’t flake or clump, but you may apply many layers if you desire spidery lashes. Though not technically waterproof, the mascara is typically considered to be long-lasting. This well-formulated mascara comes in a shiny pink container and competes with higher-end mascaras.
5. Best mascara drugstore, Runner-Up: L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Original Volume Building Mascara
We’d be negligent if we didn’t also highlight this tried-and-true volume-boosting alternative from L’Oreal Paris. This solution contains panthenol and ceramide-R to preserve and condition lashes, while its brush separates lashes to increase volume evenly (and sans any clumping).
6. Best mascara for short lashes: Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Lengthening Mascara
7. Best Lengthening, Runner-Up: Revlon Super Length Mascara
Whether you have naturally long lashes or battle with short ones, this inexpensive best mascara lengthens and separates in only a few swipes. It coats lashes in pure black without weighing them down, resulting in a fluttery fringe that does not flake or clump. Furthermore, the very portable pill-shaped container withstands being tossed about in your suitcase, making this an excellent choice for travelers or gym-goers.
8. Best for Sensitive Eyes: Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara
If you have sensitive eyes, this well-known vegan best mascara is an excellent choice. It has been examined by ophthalmologists and dermatologists, and it is hypoallergenic. It is also devoid of mineral oil, parabens, and phthalates, and it is suitable for contact lens wearers. However, it isn’t the only reason it has nearly 4K five-star ratings on Sephora: Its product curls, lengthens, volumizes, and conditions the lashes, and its 360-degree wand facilitates application (no flaking or clumping, here).
9. Best mascara waterproof: Lancôme Hypnôse Drama Waterproof Mascara
Lancome’s best mascara combines the long-wearing benefits of waterproof mascara with the volumizing and lengthening capabilities of conventional formulations. The curving wand thickens eyelashes with one swipe, but you may double up on coatings for even thicker lashes. This mascara, according to reviewers, helps their eyelashes stay curled without spreading onto their skin.
10. Best Natural: Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extensions Mascara
This cult-favorite best mascara, free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and scent, gives your lashes the length and curl of falsies—but with all-natural ingredients. Buildable fibers create volume, while Korean floral extracts fortify, vitamin B5 and sodium hyaluronate hydrate, and castor seed oil and shea butter condition. This formula is also vegan and cruelty-free, as are all Thrive Causemetics products.
11. Best Volumizing: Pat McGrath Labs FetishEyes Mascara
The first best mascara by makeup artist Pat McGrath is essentially lash extensions in a container. Hallie Gould, the senior editor at Byrdie, fell in love with it the moment she tasted it. “While the brush is firmly packed with strong bristles (and delivers a punch in terms of volume), it nevertheless lengthens really, very well,” she said in her product review. “I wore it all night and it never smudged, flaked, or ran.”
12. Best Volumizing, Runner-Up: Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara
This is a serious collagen-enriched lash-boosting best mascara. One coat will give you volume and length, and three coats will give you the appearance of wearing fake lashes. Seriously.
13. Best Curling: Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara
Try Clinique’s curl-forming mascara for long-lasting tilted lashes. The arched form of the wand, as the name indicates, helps you to produce your boldest, most fluttery lashes without pinching, straining, or ripping. The curved wand lifts each lash, leaving a beautiful onyx-colored product that is smudge-, flake-, and smear-resistant and lasts up to 24 hours.
14. Best Curling, Runner-Up: Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Volume, Lift & Curl Mascara
Rihanna is quietly but steadily taking over the beauty industry, one lash at a time. This multi-tasking mascara creates completely exposed lashes by lifting, lengthening, volumizing, and curling. The brush features a distinctive flat-to-fat brush that creates an eye-opening effect on the lashes.
15. Best Wand: IT Cosmetics Lash Blowout Mascara
When Byrdie associate editor Holly Rhue first wore this mascara out in public, a complete stranger inquired whether she had lash extensions. What’s the reason? This mascara is the result of a collaboration between IT Cosmetics and the blowout salon company Drybar. In fact, the applicator is created with the same technology as a barrel brush (Drybar’s Half Pint brush, to be specific) to generate lift, separation, and long-lasting volume for your lashes, much like a round brush would for your hair. Furthermore, the recipe contains hair-friendly components such as vitamin E, jojoba oil, and biotin, which assist in conditioning and thickening lashes over time.
16. Best Clean: Jones Road The Mascara
Then there’s Bobbi Brown’s The Mascara, which has elements like vitamin E, hydrating vitamin B, and sodium hyaluronate (a moisture-boosting humectant). As a result, our recipe is clean, cruelty-free, and vegan. Aside from the formula, the brand swears by the curved wand, which collects every baby lash from the inner to the outside corner.
17. Best Cruelty-Free: ILIA Beauty Limitless Lash Mascara
Rebecca Dancer had no idea her new holy grail mascara would be cruelty-free (and 99 percent natural), but that’s exactly what occurred. In her detailed assessment, she praises the dual-sided brush—one side for building, the other for separating lashes—for assisting her in achieving a flawless, clump-free finish. The formula is also not a slouch: It’s lightweight and provides just the perfect amount of volume and lift thanks to the use of beeswax and shea butter for flexibility and hold. Oh, and the before and after photographs are self-explanatory.
18. Best Innovation: Milk Makeup Kush High Volume Mascara
Even though we’re used to CBD everything here at Byrdie HQ, we never thought of mascara and cannabis as a plausible pairing—that is, until we discovered this Milk Makeup mascara. Its composition incorporates hemp-derived cannabis seed oil, which bonds heart-shaped fibers to your lashes while conditioning them, resulting in loads of volume without feeling burdened down. We really like how a little goes a long way and how stylish the package is.
19. Best for Bottom Lashes: Beauty Bakerie Eyelash Icing Mascara
This waterproof mascara ink black is wonderful for extending and shaping lashes. The iconic wand includes lash-extending strands that split for a clump-free appearance, and it also effortlessly increases bottom lashes. “I’m a huge proponent of painting bottom lashes,” adds Cashmere Nicole, proprietor of Beauty Bakerie. “I created the whisk-inspired want to grab and coat even the smallest, most obstinate lash hairs without making a mess under the eyelid.”
20. Gucci L’Obscur Mascara
“I never thought I’d be able to claim that my favorite mascara was one produced by Gucci, but here I am, living large.” Aside from the label and the visually beautiful pink-and-gold container, I was instantly intrigued by Gucci’s L’Obscur Mascara formula, which is designed to extend and define — rather than thicken — my thin lashes. I usually just need one or two coats to achieve instant natural-looking length and never have to worry about unpleasant clumping or mid-day smudges. Gucci, you have produced a fantastic mascara.
Final Word
When looking for the finest best mascara uk 2021, there are several factors to consider: the shape of your eyes, wand preferences, eye sensitivities, and, of course, the look you want to achieve, whether it’s lengthening, volumizing, or curling. Maybelline’s Great Lash Mascara is an excellent everyday option. It is not only inexpensive, but it is also effective, having withstood the test of time. Do you want to add a lot of volume to your lashes? Reviewers like Too Faced’s Better Than Sex Mascara, noting that it rivals the extending and definition of falsies with just one sweep.