My Favorite Mascaras

Mascara is my favorite beauty product. I feel like there is no faster way to look awake than to swipe on mascara. If I only had 5 minutes to get out the door and was only able to use one product, it would be mascara. I also find it interesting how whenever I meet someone who's not a beauty junkie, or who only wears the most minimal makeup, mascara is usually the product they use. I will be doing my favorites of other beauty products that I love as well (my other two "can't live withouts" being foundation and brows), but mascara is my number one love, and seems to have most mass appeal, so let's start there.

I feel like some mascaras I try, I just keep swiping and swiping and no color gets deposited. These mascaras have instant impact. In one swipe you will see bold color, volume, and length. That's not to say I don't continue applying 12 more coats (I just love it!), but a few will do. I also feel like some mascaras work great on top lashes, but not the bottom, and the reverse. These work great on both. In my opinion, these are the best mascaras out there, the ones I tell people to try, and the ones I continue to re-buy. I have broken them down into the best high end mascaras and the best drugstore mascaras, so no matter what your price range you can find one (or several) you love too.

High End Picks

1) Benefit Cosmetics They're Real!

Yes, everyone hypes about this mascara, and yes there is a reason why. The dual shaped plastic brush is shaped like a traditional brush, but also has a ball on the end. I like to swipe it horizontally first to really coat my lashes, and then hold it vertically and use the ball to really separate those lashes. Holding it this way and using the ball end really helps you get into those inner and outer corners that can be hard to get to.

2) Too Faced Better Than Sex

The name says it all. The hourglass shaped bristle brush grabs lashes and coats them instantly. Even though I love applying 12 coats, I don't with this because after just a few, I have all the color and [clumpless] volume I want. I love the formulation of this one. It's so volumizing and the brush is so loaded with product that you just look at it and think you're going to get clumps, but you will quickly find you are very, very wrong.

3) Lancome Hypnose Drama

This is the mascara I reach for the most, and ironically I feel like no one ever talks about this one. It is an amazing smoky black color and the S-shaped bristle brush grabs and wraps lashes amazingly. It will give you lots of color and volume payoff in just a couple of strokes, but it also builds beautifully, making it amazingly versatile and able to provide subtle definition, or big, bold, falsie rival lashes depending on how many coats you apply. I keep using the word "amazing", but it is.

4) tarte Gifted Amazonian clay smart mascara

This is the most traditionally shaped brush of all my picks. First, I love the wooden packaging, so cute. But the mascara itself is great too. This brush coats lashes well, but the formulation is sooo nice. It's a very hydrating formula that almost feels like you applied conditioner to your lashes. For anyone who hates the brittle, stiff feeling some mascaras can give you, this is the answer!

Drugstore Picks

5) L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

This one looks kind of scary at first, not going to lie. However, once you actually attempt swiping the V-shaped plastic brush through your lashes, you will find that it is not only very easy to do, but works very well too. It gives the best definition and separation I have ever seen, while still giving volume and great length. The V-shaped brush also means you will get a fanned-out effect which really opens up the eyes.

6) L'Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga

I talked about this in my September Favorites and I'm still loving it. This will definitely be a staple. I love that the wand is flexible so you can really wiggle back and forth to get all the volume you want without getting clumpy or all your lashes stuck together. The brush is tapered and longer than most brushes, which makes it super easy to get into the inner and outer corners and get those lashes that are sometimes hard to reach.

7) Maybelline Volum' Express The Falsies Mascara

This is my favorite drugstore mascara, and another one that I feel like no one talks about.  A "Hidden Gem" if you will. I love that this comes in a Carbon Black shade, which is an extremely rich, dark, bold black. This mascara doesn't feel like it's gripping your lashes, but the curved brush coats them wonderfully in one coat, and it is very buildable. You can keep swiping for bigger, bolder, blacker lashes, and clumps just won't appear. I'm wearing it today and had to include a pic to show you how bold this one is. Even without liner to make my lashes look even bolder, just the mascara itself is intense in the best way possible.

8) Maybelline Pumped Up! Colossal Volum' Express

I wasn't sure how I felt about this the first few times I tried it, and then I started loving it. It definitely wraps lashes and builds quickly, which makes it perfect for days that you are in a hurry, or for people who only apply a couple of coats. I had to learn not to apply as many coats as I usually do because it started getting clumpy, but once I restrained myself, it looked great! It has a sort of egg or football (where did I get that?) shaped brush, which makes it another one great for getting in corners. The brush is also very dense, which provides that instant bold look (and what can tend to clump if you go too far). Took me a few tries, but now one I have repurchased many times.