Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Washable Mascara Makeup, Volumizing, Lengthening, Defining, Curling, Multiplying, Buildable Formula, Blackest Black, 1 Count

Why it's worth it

A drugstore mascara with a flexible bamboo-fiber formula and a bendable Flex Tower wand that curves along your lash line. It builds length and fullness without much clumping, and it's the pick most likely to work on whatever lash shape you have.

The brush is why this one works. Most wands are stiff, so they treat your lash line like a straight line — which it isn't. The Flex Tower brush bends as you sweep, so it stays in contact through the curve and picks up the short lashes at the inner and outer corners that rigid wands skip. If you've ever finished a coat and noticed a bald patch at the corner, that's the problem this brush solves.

The formula is built around bamboo extract and fibers, which is Maybelline's way of adding apparent length without much weight. In practice it stays buildable. Owners routinely describe two or three passes per eye without the lashes gluing together into spikes, and several say they use it precisely because it doesn't feel heavy. That matters more than it sounds — a heavy formula drags a curl flat within an hour.

From our review of 5 lengthening and volumizing mascaras, by Sarah Wright, Editorial Associate

What we like

• +The brush is why this one works
• +The formula is built around bamboo extract and fibers, which is Maybelline's way of adding apparent length without much weight
• +It's ophthalmologist and allergy tested, and Maybelline lists it as suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers
• +This is also the washable version, so it comes off with soap and water and a bit of patience

What to know

• –On oily lids it can transfer
• –If your lashes are very sparse, one coat won't do much