I Try Tonnes of New Launches, But This £10 Mascara Is Set to Make History

I have a love-hate relationship with my lashes. They’re thick and dark, which means I can get away with leaving them bare on most days. However, they are also relatively short (in comparison to their thickness) and poker-straight. So while I don’t find myself reaching for mascara every single day, on days when I do want to give my lashes a boost with a coating of mascara, I’m fussy. All I really want are for my lashes to be lifted and fluttery, but achieving such results through mascara, I have learned, is impossible. 

In its very nature, mascara is heavy, clumpy, and attention grabbing, but I like my lashes to be more natural, delicately framing the eyes in a way that opens up my whole face. (Is it really so much to ask?!) Because of my apparently unique set of lash needs, I find myself hating virtually every hyped-up mascara that comes my way, and instead, I cling to understated formulas that give barely-there results. (Victoria Beckham Beauty, here’s to you.) With all of this in mind, when I saw the recent social media frenzy over Maybelline's Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara, I was totally disinterested.

Shannon before applying Maybelline's Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara.

All over my feed, videos showcased dramatic lash results. Before-and-afters clearly showed that this mascara meant business. People’s lashes looked almost impossibly long, show-stoppingly bold, and dramatically full—so much so that even I could understand why this £10 mascara was causing such a stir. In all of my years testing and trialling every makeup product that hits the shelves, I had never witnessed IRL results quite like it. But the truth is, to me, the super-full lashes I saw plastered all over the internet still looked heavy. Sure, in comparison to other formulas, the results weren’t quite as clumpy. But did it make lashes seem natural? Absolutely not. 

Ever the curious beauty journalist, I still wanted to try it for myself and deliver a totally honest review (without any mascara bias whatsoever). After all, everyone I had spoken to told me that Lash Sensational Sky High was, without a shred of doubt, the very best mascara to have ever been made. While waiting for the mascara to arrive, I thought long and hard about what I really wanted from it. My expectations were (pun totally intended) sky-high, but history has taught me not to get my hopes up. I wanted totally lightweight length, a wand that would fan my thick lashes out into something softer, and a formula that wouldn’t smudge but also washed off with ease. But most of all, I wanted zero clumping. And then, a day earlier than anticipated, it dropped through my letter box, and I was totally unprepared.

Shannon after applying Maybelline's Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara.

The results were genuinely jaw-dropping. On first swipe, I thought little of it. Sure, it fanned my lashes out and gave them some subtle length, but it wasn’t the crazy results I had seen on TikTok. Unlike other powerhouse mascaras, the wand is soft and flexible but is small enough to really get into every lash. I reluctantly went in for more layers, knowing that this act always results in lashes clumping together to form spidery lash talons. But the clumping never came. It simply kept building and building until my lashes were jet-black, bold, and long enough that I could actually feel them brushing my brow bone.

As the day went on, I kept catching glimpses of myself in the mirror and being genuinely taken aback at how great I looked. That’s the wonderful thing about this mascara: There is zero room for modesty. Sky High forces you to accept that, actually, you look really good. And who doesn’t want that right now? After a day of wear, I was left with minimal smudging, and it rinsed off relatively easily with my usual cleansing balm.

Trust me when I say that this mascara is totally game-changing. Not only does it prove that there is absolutely no need to spend the big bucks on your lashes, but it also proves that after decades of being let down by brands promising us a false-lash effect, it actually could be done. That whole time, all of the ingredients were there, just waiting to be made into the perfect mascara formula. I want to make this statement official: Maybelline's Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara really is the best that I have ever used.

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