Bless the heart of any woman who is dedicated enough to apply fake lashes every time she goes out: The patience she must have! The precision! While falsies are a great way to make a fluttery statement, they pose a challenge for a lot of people, including myself. Unless I have a very good reason to wear them, I say no to faux fringe. Instead, I save myself the time and the hassle by reaching for a tube of volumizing mascara. Since playing up my lashes is my favorite beauty pastime, I’ve tried countless formulas over the years. These are my absolute favorites—and the ones that make strangers ask me if my eyelashes are in fact real. Spoiler: They are.
Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara
Buy It: $32; chanel.com
The little black tube may be a splurge, but it’s worth every penny. The volume-boosting formula separates and plumps up the look of every lash, even my baby bottoms ones, to create a doe-eyed effect that Twiggy would approve of.
It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara
Buy It: $24; sephora.com
One of the times I thought I’d absolutely wear false lashes? My wedding. This mascara gave such three-hundred-degree thickness, length and fullness I ended up skipping the falsies and using a couple of coats of this instead.
L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Excess Mascara
Buy It: $6.18; amazon.com
L’Oréal Paris’s Voluminous line of mascaras always deliver wow-worthy lashes, but this formulation delivers the most dramatic look. Its oversized brush is designed to coat eyelashes from root to tip with a deep black hue.
Maybelline New York Volum’ Express The Colossal Washable Mascara
Buy It: $4.68; amazon.com
After discovering this drugstore formula in high school, it’s just as good more than ten years later. It’s infused with collagen to plump up each lash, and I love to layer it on for extra fluttery ends.
