All About Mascara

I love mascara! It helps open up and accentuate my eyes, and it's the one product that really pulls my whole eye look together. Picking out the right mascara is the key to getting the full benefit of the product. I've road-tested a number of mascaras, and I've got tips on picking out the best mascara and which ones really live up to the hype.

What You Need To Know

• Know your need. Do you have shorter lashes that you want to lengthen? Do you struggle to keep the curl in your lashes? Mascaras address the need for volume, thickening, curl, and length, but knowing which need you're looking to fill will help you narrow down your focus while on the hunt for a new mascara.
• Double up on mascaras. I love to play with the look of my lashes (I'm not a false lash wearer, but I love to replicate the look with mascara). Sometimes a coat from two different mascaras gives the benefits of each formula and creates the best lash look.
• Curling is your best primer. I'm personally not a believer in lash primers as much as I'm a believer that curling your lashes is the best way to prime. Think of a lash curler as using a curling iron on your hair, and your mascara as the hairspray that keeps everything in place. Tarte and Shiseido make the best eyelash curlers I've ever used.
• A lash comb or spoolie is your friend. Keeping your lashes separated is the best way to open up your eyes and break apart the clumps that ruin your mascara look. Investing in a lash comb was the best thing I ever did - the MAC 205 mascara fan brush is my personal pick.

My Ultimate Mascara Picks

My mascara picks depend on my mood - there are days where I want a lot of curl, dramatic volume or a super natural look. Here are the ones I love using based on the look I'm hoping to achieve - and I hope you'll find one to address your own mascara needs.

Volume

Whenever I want crazy volume, I always turn to MAC. Their Haute and Naughty mascara is a great option for the look of false lashes without having to wear a pair. The wand can be pulled from the main barrel for extra volume or from the top barrel to create a more natural play on volume. Their Upward Lash has the smallest plastic wand that allows you to get into the corners of your eyes with great precision and a thick formula that truly coats every lash.

Thickening

It's a subtle difference, but where volumizing creates the illusion of more lashes, thickening formulas are a lifesaver for those with thin lashes as they'll make each lash look thicker than they really are. Marketed as a volumizing mascara, I've found that the Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara is really the best as grabbing onto and defining each individual lash to make them appear thicker than normal. One coat will more than suffice, but two coats will give you a false-lash effect.

Lengthening

My favorite mascara ever is Too Faced's Better Than Sex mascara - it's a great utility player but its main strength is the way that it lengthens lashes. You can see it in action in the top picture. I used two coats in that photo and received so many compliments for how amazingly long my lashes looked!

Curl

There's something really magical about Dior's Iconic mascara - it truly is the hairspray that locks in my lashes after I've curled them. It creates a more natural lash look but the formula is buildable enough to allow you to create more volume if need be without weighing down lashes. Use the Overcurl version of this mascara to reap the benefits of a curved wand that bumps up the curl of your lashes.

All Around

When I'm looking for a mascara that can do a little bit of everything, I look no further than Giorgio Armani's Eyes to Kill or Urban Decay's Perversion mascara. They both do a great job of giving me a bit volume, lift, length and curl and pair well with other mascaras that specifically offer one of these benefits.

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

• Mascara tends to work its best when the formula dries down a bit - it might take you a few uses before you're able to see the real benefits of a mascara's formula.
• But if your mascara gets too dry, add 2 - 3 drops of saline solution to the tube and your mascara will be as good as new again.
• Never pump your mascara wand into the tube, which adds air into the tube and makes the formula dry out even faster. You also run a risk of bringing bacteria and dust into the tube.
• Love the formula but hate the mascara wand? Mix and match! You can clean and disinfect your favorite mascara wand and use it instead of the dreaded wand that came with the mascara whose formula you love.
• Your old mascara wands and spoolies are the best ways to tame edges and flyaways. Spray a little hairspray onto the wand and run it over your hair for a super precise way to get your stray hairs back in place.
• If you're ready to give up on a mascara that you don't like, consider one last use for that tube before you throw it out - as an instant root touch-up or cover for gray hairs. 

What are your favorite mascaras and why? Leave a comment with your recommendations, and I hope you'll find this list helpful when you're scouting out a new mascara to try.