3 Major Mascara Upgrades
Have you resigned yourself to a life of resembling the famed MPR Raccoon at the end of the day? After accomplishing the equivalence of scaling a 25-story office building whether at your job or at home, do you have the smudged and flaked remains of your mascara around your weary eyes?
Nearly every mascara available to humankind from the drugstore to the department store claims that it doesn’t smudge, but in fact so many of them do—even the ones bathed in LED light and enshrined in a plexiglas case at Sephora with a price tag you know is out of your tax bracket. And if you were so lucky as to find one that didn’t leave you with a bandit mask, it also likely felt as if you coated your lashes with an industrial grade asphalt sealant.
WATCH: Sweat-Proof Mascara
Is there any hope? We come with tidings of soft, smudge-proof joy in the form of these three tubes. Not only do these mascaras outperform every other brand we’ve tried (and trust us, that’s a whole truckload), they also in most cases cost less or the same price as the boutique best-sellers.
For Length
This minimalist tube, in Glossier’s signature shade of subdued yet cheerful pink, skips the bells and whistles in its packaging and puts the emphasis on its formula. Inspired the look of (tasteful) lash extensions, this mascara dramatically increases the longevity of a lengthened look minus any spindly or tarantula leg-looking lashes. While it does magically wash off with warm water, one of our editors (cough, me, cough) wore it to a pool gathering where she unexpectedly found herself involved in a game of water basketball, and it didn’t budge.
For Curl
Decorté Luxscara Volume Volumizing Mascara
Japan’s best-selling beauty brand finally brought its mascara with a devoted following stateside last year. If your lashes are as straight as a West Texas highway, this curved, bushy brush that resembles a caterpillar evenly coats lashes with a fiber-technology formula that supports a curl without any crunchy stiffness.
For Volume
DHC Mascara Perfect Pro Double Protection
You may have read our ode to this mascara a few moons ago, but rest assured, we still feel just as passionately about its powers as we did the day we first found it. If you’ve laughed out loud as a mascara advertisement suggesting it can provide satisfactory darkness and volume with one coat, this particular tube actually delivers. It’s also available to Amazon Prime members.
