Makeup/Beauty

Testing and Rating 8 Top Mascaras: High-End & Drugstore

March 7, 2021

Recently, the Sky High mascara by Maybelline blew up on TikTok, and I had to see what all the hype was about. While looking for this viral mascara, I was inspired to test out some other popular mascaras as well. Most of the mascaras in this blog post are from drugstore brands with a few high-end ones as well. I'm going to be rating them on a scale 1-10 and seeing how they wear throughout the day. For all of these mascaras, I curled my lashes before applying and did three coats, although I usually only do two. Here is what my natural eyelashes look like with no mascara

Kush Mascara by MILK- 4/10

The Kush Mascara by MILK Makeup costs $25 at Sephora and claims to provide high volume with a soft feathery effect that is not spidery. This mascara itself is a 5/10 for me, but I rated it 4/10 because I can't justify its price. The mascara did an okay job on my lashes but for $25, I expected a lot more than just okay. There are much better options that are also a lot more affordable.

*note: these pictures are of the mini size, which costs $13

Pros: volumizing, very comfortable on lashes, is buildable to get the volume you prefer

Cons: doesn't hold a curl at all, provides no definition to lashes, thick brush makes it hard to get inner and lower lashes, gets clumpy very easily

Wear: no smudging, doesn't feel heavy, slightly flakey

Removal: came off easily with makeup wipe

Lash Paradise by L'Oréal Paris- 9/10

The Lash Paradise Mascara by L'Oréal costs $9.99 on Amazon and claims to provide voluptuous volume, intense length, and feathery soft lashes with no flaking, smudging, or clumping. This mascara has been a go-to of mine for a while. I've found that it does all that it claims while also being very affordable. The only reason I gave it a 9 instead of 10 was because it can easily start to look spidery if you're not careful, but it looks amazing in person.

Pros: good separation and definition, holds curl, doesn't flake or smudge, lasts all day

Cons: need multiple coats to build volume, will feel slightly heavy on lashes, can look spidery

Wear: no smudging or flaking, felt slightly heavy

Removal: more difficult to remove with more coats, but still comes off with one makeup wipe

Monsieur Big by Lancôme- 7/10

The Monsieur Big Mascara by Lancôme costs $26 at Ulta and claims to provide volume and length that is smudge proof and does not flake. This mascara was a favorite of mine and I still love it. Personally, I do think it's worth its price and would repurchase, but there are definitely drugstore options that can beat this one.

Pros: provides good volume, long-lasting, great definition

Cons: clumps easily, slightly flakey, feels heavy on lashes, not a lot of length, doesn't hold curl

Wear: long-lasting, will flake when touched

Removal: came off easily with makeup wipe

Lash Princess False Lash Effect by Essence- 8/10

The Lash Princess Mascara by Essence costs $4.99 at Ulta and claims to provide a voluminous false lash effect with dramatic volume and sculpted length. This mascara costed the least of all the ones I tried, but I've heard amazing things about it. I gave it a 8/10 because I do love how it made my lashes look, but didn't find that it gave my eyelashes any extreme volume. For the price, I think its 100% worth it.

Pros: very good definition and length, easy to coat all eyelashes, very buildable, feels light on lashes, no flaking

Cons: needs multiple layers, no extreme volume

Wear: feels light on lashes, no flaking throughout the day

Removal: came off easily with makeup wipe

Air Volume by L'Oréal Paris- 10/10

The Air Volume Mascara by L'Oréal costs $10.97 on Amazon and claims to provide intense volume that's "light as air" without the weighdown for a blown out lash look" that lasts 24 hours without smudging or flaking. While I didn't wear it for the full 24 hours, I did fall in love with this mascara, and it is definitely one of my favorites now. I didn't really find any major issues with application or how it looked on my lashes. Not to mention, the packaging was super cute!

Pros: easy to coat inner lashes, good separation and definition, feels VERY light on lashes, hold curl, very buildable, flake resistant

Cons: requires a little more work for removal but not difficult, slight smell

Wear: extremely light, no flaking

Removal: required a little more work than others, but still only needed one wipe

*note: I would've stopped at two coats but did three for these pictures

Telescopic by L'Oréal Paris- 6/10

The Telescopic Mascara by L'Oréal costs $9.24 on Amazon and claims to provide intense length, up to 60% longer lashes, and precise separation. I love the creative telescope shaped packaging and did find it provides good length, but it took several coats to build which then came with some clumpiness. It also didn't hold a curl very well, so I ended up with long but straight lashes.

Pros: good for definition and length, easy to coat inner and outer lashes, no flaking or smudging

Cons: doesn't hold curl, needs multiple coats, burns a little if it gets in eyes

Wear: no flaking, will smudge and run with the tiniest bit of water, not good for watery eyes

Removal: came off easily with makeup wipe

*note: I tried 4 coats with this one to see if I could build it more, but it started to get clumpy

Lash Sensational by Maybelline- 5.5/10

The Lash Sensational Mascara by Maybelline costs $8.99 on Amazon and claims to volumize and reveal layers of lashes for a fanned out effect. I did see some volume from this mascara, but I found it really difficult to get even coats, which I believe was due to the shape of the brush. The end result ended up looking very natural and not dramatic at all.

Pros: good for holding curl, feels light on eyelashes, volume + definition, no flaking

Cons: very difficult to coat lower lashes, takes a long time to dry, can get spidery, uneven coats

Wear: not heavy at all, no flaking

Removal: came off easily with makeup wipe

Lash Sensational Sky High by Maybelline- 10/10

The Sky High mascara by Maybelline costs $8.98 on Amazon and claims to provide limitless length and full volume, grip and extend every lash without clumping, smudging, or flaking. This viral mascara inspired this blog post and I was very excited to try it out. However, it was extremely difficult to find. It was sold out everywhere I looked, and I had to wait for it to come back in stock, but eventually, I was finally able to order it. I ended up absolutely loving it, and it's now my favorite mascara. It's basically an all in one mascara, and I found it to be true to all of its claims. Plus, the packaging is so cute!

Pros: flexible wand, all in one, amazing brush, easy to coat all lashes, provides volume and length, holds curl, buildable, feels light on lashes, no flaking

Cons: can get spidery if you don't separate lashes

Wear: long-lasting, feels light, no flakes or smudges

Removal: the most difficult one to remove, but still only needed one wipe, would recommend leaving vaseline on lashes for a few minutes before removal to break it down

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