The Best Lengthening and Volumizing Mascaras

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.

It's ophthalmologist and allergy tested, and Maybelline lists it as suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers. That's a spec claim rather than a medical clearance, but it's a meaningful filter if your eyes water at the wrong formula. Owners with sensitive or aging eyes are a noticeably large share of the positive feedback here, which is not something you can say about every mascara in this category.

This is also the washable version, so it comes off with soap and water and a bit of patience. A few owners find removal tougher than they'd like and blame their remover routine as much as the mascara. If you want the version that survives a humid day or a good cry, Maybelline sells a waterproof Sky High separately — but expect to work harder at the sink.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

On oily lids it can transfer. Owner reports split hard on this: plenty describe a full day with no smudging, and a handful describe genuine raccoon eyes by evening. Lid oiliness is the variable, not the tube. Dust a little translucent powder under the lower lash line before you apply, or skip to the waterproof version.

If your lashes are very sparse, one coat won't do much. You'll likely need three, and each one needs about thirty seconds to set or you'll get clumps. That's a real time cost on a morning when you're already late.

The wand is the whole story. It uses a double-hook bristle design — front hooks to load formula from root to tip, side hooks to comb through and separate. L'Oreal claims up to 5mm of visible length and up to 36 hours of wear. Owners consistently describe the same effect in their own words: separated, defined lashes that read as noticeably longer, with several saying it looks like they're wearing falsies.

It rewards technique, which is the catch. This is not a swipe-and-go wand. Several owners describe a real learning curve, and a few give up on it because the formula doesn't build the way a thicker one does. If you're new to mascara, the angled brush will feel fussy for the first week. If you already have a routine, the precision is the point.

Like the Sky High, it's washable, removes with soap and water, and is ophthalmologist tested and marketed as suitable for sensitive eyes. It's a comparable safety profile at a comparable drugstore price, which is why the choice between them comes down to what you want your lashes to look like rather than what they cost.

Where it loses to our top pick is fullness. Separation and density work against each other — the more cleanly a brush isolates each lash, the less it can pack product between them. If you want your lash line to look dense and dark, this isn't the one. If you want long and defined, it's better at that than anything else here.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Smudging complaints are more prominent here than with our top pick. At least one owner describes a light coat turning into smudges under and above the eye by the end of an evening. Again, oily lids are the common thread, but it's worth knowing before an event.

It also doesn't build well. Owners who wanted to layer coats for more drama came away disappointed. Treat it as a one-or-two-coat product and set your expectations there.

A few buyers report tubes arriving already opened or with damaged packaging. The product inside was reportedly fine, but check the seal when it shows up.

If your lashes point down, this is the one to try first. The brush is curved silicone rather than bristle, with short bristles that hold formula and long ones that comb through. It follows the arc of your eye socket instead of fighting it, so you get lift without having to twist your wrist at an odd angle. Owners with hooded eyes and monolids come back to this one specifically for that reason.

The formula is light. That's a genuine advantage for curl, because heavy product is what pulls a curl flat by lunchtime. Owners repeatedly describe it as clump-free and easy to apply — the single most common theme in the feedback — and it washes off with soap and water at night without a dedicated remover.

It's vegan and cruelty-free, which e.l.f. applies across its whole line rather than as a marketing feature on one product. If clean formulation is a filter for you, this and the CoverGirl are the two here that meet it at a drugstore price.

What you give up is drama. It won't lengthen like the Telescopic Lift or build density like our top pick. Think of it as the everyday mascara — the one you reach for on a Tuesday, not the one you save for a wedding.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It flakes if you curl your lashes first, and owners report the flaking gets noticeably worse as the tube ages past the first couple of weeks. If you're a lash-curler loyalist, that's a genuine conflict.

Curl hold softens over a long day, and some owners see slight smudging by evening. A primer underneath extends it, but that adds a step to a product whose main appeal is simplicity.

The tube is small, so it runs out sooner than a bigger drugstore tube — which eats into the savings a bit.

Nothing else here builds density like this. The hourglass wand narrows at the center to grip individual lashes and widens at the ends to load product at the tips, so you get a fanned, packed-looking lash line rather than a coated one. Owners describe getting the drama they want in two coats instead of four, which is part of why it's endured as a cult product for so long.

The formula is thicker and richer than anything else in this lineup, and it holds up. Owner feedback skews strongly toward all-day wear with minimal flaking, and people who bounce between mascaras tend to describe this as the one they keep returning to. It's also ophthalmologist tested and listed as suitable for contact lens wearers, and it's cruelty free.

It's the most expensive product here by a wide margin, and that's the honest barrier. Several owners plainly say they love it but wait for a sale and stock up. If you wear mascara daily, the cost per use adds up in a way the drugstore picks don't.

It also leans dramatic by default, which cuts both ways. There's no subtle setting on this formula. If you want lashes that look like slightly better versions of your own, our top pick or the e.l.f. gets you closer.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It clumps if you rush. Owners who once loved it and now don't almost all cite clumping, and the pattern points to stacking coats before the previous one has set. Give it thirty seconds between passes.

Removal takes real effort. A thick, long-wearing formula needs an oil-based or dual-phase remover to come off cleanly, which is a nightly chore if you'd rather use soap and water.

It's the wrong tool for a natural look. Buying it as an everyday mascara means paying a premium for drama you'll spend time toning down.

The brush is a big flocked barrel, which is the opposite approach from the Telescopic Lift. Instead of isolating lashes, it maximizes contact and deposits a heavy coat in one pass. CoverGirl claims ten times the volume of bare lashes. Owners describe a full, flattering effect that stops short of the false-lash look — which is exactly what some people want.

The clean formulation isn't just a label here. It's vegan, infused with argan and marula oils, and formulated without parabens, sulfates, talc or mineral oil, and CoverGirl is Leaping Bunny certified. Owners with sensitive or severely dry eyes report using it daily without irritation, which is the kind of feedback that's hard to get from a spec sheet.

It's also a large tube — the biggest volume in this group — so it lasts. That's a quiet advantage for a product you're supposed to replace every three months anyway. And owner feedback on smudging is unusually consistent: most describe it staying put through a normal day.

The catch is precision. A wide barrel is a blunt instrument. If your lashes are fine or sparse, it deposits more product than you need and the result reads as heavy rather than defined.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It clumps if you don't wipe the wand first. Drag the brush against the tube lip before every application — without that step, it dumps product at the root and you'll be picking at your lashes with a spoolie.

Owners who've been buying it for years are split on the reformulation. Some think the clean version performs as well as the original; others feel it gave something up. Worth knowing if you loved the old Lash Blast.