Best High Street Mascara

from left to right: Benefit They're Real! mascara // Jelly Pong Pong lengthening mascara // Estee Lauder L'Extreme mascara // Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara // Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara // Look Stretch Factor Mascara

In my opinion, one of the most important elements in makeup is a good mascara. A mascara would be my desert island item – by extending your eyelashes or making them fuller, you can completely transform your look and the shape of your eye can dramatically change. On a lazy day when I want to look natural, I ensure that my skin is looking dewy and fresh, and apply a good mascara to the ends of my lashes to make them stand out just a little bit; if I’m prepping for a night out, I tend to layer two mascaras – apply a lengthening first and coat it with thickening mascara for the false lash effect with your own, natural lashes. 

In this edit, I’ve picked my favourite mascaras – some new purchases and some old favourites, ranging from lengthening to thickening and high street to designer.

Benefit “They’re Real!” Mascara: Benefit is one of my favourite brands and has been for a long time. With quirky product names, pretty packaging and products that work there’s little to fault the brand on. “They’re Real!” is a best selling mascara and for a perfectly good reason: it delivers. The product promises to give you natural lashes that look like falsies, all without the hassle of application. The brush carefully separates lashes, lengthens and thickens them without clumping, and lasts a good part of your whole day. I’d recommend spending the money on this mascara – I’ve had mine for nearly two years and I’m still using the tube religiously. Plus, I realised it really did work and my friends thought I was wearing false lashes daily – until I told them how easy it actually was to get amazing results with “They’re Real!” mascara.

Jelly Pong Pong “Fairy Lashes” Mascara: I got this product in one of my Glossyboxes a few months ago and I love the results – natural looking long lashes within seconds. The Fairy Lashes mascara is also waterproof which is a winner now that we’re looking at Autumn rain (if any of you follow me on Instagram, you’ll remember my mascara disaster last year when the snow hit!) My only issue with this mascara is actually taking it off as it comes off quite clumpy and is obviously more difficult to take off due to its waterproof qualities. But don’t be put off by that as it’s worth the extra minute of your night-time routine for long lasting day results.

Estee Lauder “L’Extreme” Mascara: One of my favourite mascaras EVER, L’Extreme is a winner in any makeup bag. With a detailed brush, this mascara separates the lashes and finely coats them with lengthening layers so you can build your eyelashes as you please. I have never known this mascara to clump and used it so much that I literally have maybe one or two more uses out of it (cue the crying) I’m definitely going to repurchase this, I cannot sing its praises enough – however through trying to repurchase it, I think it has been discontinued... Does anyone know? 

Benefit “Bad Gal Lash” Mascara: The cult Benefit mascara, Bad Gal Lash thickens the lashes and looks best with dark kohl liner. It’s been a mascara I have used for ages so I always tend to have it in my makeup bag and repurchase whenever it runs out. The only downfall I’d give to this product is that it tends to wear out halfway through the day, so I always end up having to top it up if I am planning on going out after work.

Max Factor “False Lash Effect” Mascara: I bought this mascara quite a while ao and it has quickly become my favourite night out product. It thickens the lashes and is perfect for layering as it doesn’t tend to clump so I’ll usually lengthen my lashes with something like “They’re Real!” by benefit and then thicken and layer on False Lash Effect. It lasts, doesn’t smudge and can be topped up at any point. I would love to try more Max Factor mascaras after this one as I was really impressed with the results!

Look Beauty “Stretch Factor” Mascara: This mascara is the best for long lashes, it’s easy and quick to apply, doesn’t smudge and can be layered without clumping. I have to admit I wasn’t majorly impressed with the other Look Beauty mascaras (you can read a review I did here) but Stretch Factor has stuck as a favourite. I also use it before applying a thickening mascara on nights out to give lashes the extra bit of length.

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