The 5 Best Mascaras of 2025
Under $20
Drugstore staple CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara delivered on its no-clump promise and met our requirements for length, fullness, and lift. However, the thick, spiky, molded brush tended to smudge. Building volume was a challenge for our testers, and fine lashes could droop by day’s end. On the plus side, it’s one of the easiest mascaras to remove.
At just five bucks, Amazon best seller and TikTok sensation Essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara is a great value and the least expensive mascara we tried. It definitely outperformed its cost in our tests, but reports of clumps, light smudging, smearing, and flaking made us hesitate to recommend it.
We gave L’Oréal Telescopic Original Mascara solid marks for boosting length and volume, but our testers found the wand polarizing. It has a built-in comb for detangling. That’s a plus. But most testers strongly disliked the thin, flexible wand and molded sawtooth brush, which they found difficult to use. A small group liked the brush; one tester said she was “obsessed.”
Tarte Big Ego Vegan Mascara, which has girl-next-door vibes, went on a little sticky but came off easily with a wipe. Benefit Cosmetics BADgal Bang brought more va-va-voom to lashes but tended to collect under eyes by day’s end. Ami Colé Lash Amplifying Mascara lengthened more than it volumized (with a side of clumps), though it held up to tears as long as our testers didn’t rub their eyes.
A note for tubing-mascara fans: Tarte Tartelette Tubing Mascara built enviable body, but the tubes didn’t glide off as cleanly as other tubing formulas in our tests.
$20 and up
Other suitable everyday mascaras with not-so-fatal flaws include Glossier Lash Slick, which darkened and defined lashes but didn’t offer any wow factor even when we piled it on. After three coats, Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes Mascara created feathery—not spidery—volume but lost its luster by the end of the day. And It Cosmetics Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing and Lengthening Mascara had issues from start to finish, beginning with clumps and ending with flakes.
For lush, evening looks, we had high hopes for Gucci Mascara L’Obscur, with its luxurious peach-and-gold textured tube. It just looked and felt expensive. But the result didn’t meet our expectations, and it took a bit of work to remove. Plus, one tester found the formula irritating. Dior’s Diorshow thickened lashes with tarantula-esque flair but raccooned under testers’ eyes under humid conditions. We were divided on Pat McGrath FetishEyes Mascara. It pilled at first, but once that was sorted out, it stayed on forever and produced impressive color and fullness. Despite its billing as a lengthening mascara, the length was nothing to write home about, especially for the price.
The unusual 2.5 mm slim metal wand in NeoGen Dermalogy Maxicara both drew us in and turned us off, as the mascara was annoying to apply and tough to remove. We also deemed the two-step application process for Honest Beauty Extreme Length Mascara + Lash Primer too much of a hassle for its mediocre results.
If you are a tubing devotee who leans toward a more subtle lash look than our pick from Thrive Causemetics delivers, consider Kevyn Aucoin’s The Volume Mascara, which in our tests was dark and glossy and defined like crazy. The volume it provided, however, was nothing to get excited over. Blinc Lash Extension Tubing Mascara produced a similarly subtle look upon application, but little flakes collected under the eyes by mid-afternoon.
This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter. Katie M. Palmer wrote an earlier version of this guide, first published in 2015.
