I’ve been a Too Faced Better Than Sex girl for years now. There’s just nothing else like it that creates so much length and volume all with one swipe. But after years of rubbing off panda eyes, I finally had to face the facts that liquid mascara just isn’t for me. Read on for my review of six of the top-rated tubing mascaras.
Kevyn Aucoin The Volume Mascara
Kevin Aucoin: $32
This was the first one suggested to me by multiple people saying I needed a tubing mascara. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. The first thing I noticed was that it was dry and flaky. I wasn’t too sure whether that was a property of tubing mascaras, or whether I had just found a bad one.
I also noticed that this took two to three swipes to do what Better Than Sex could do with one, and not nearly as well–my lashes looked thin and wilted compared to how they used to look with BTS.
The bottle completely dried up to the point I could barely get the brush in and out of it within one month. Obviously, I did not buy this again.
eyeko Black Magic
Ulta: $24
I was excited about this one because of reviews I saw suggesting it was a great substitute for Better Than Sex. It definitely was more like BTS than Kevyn Aucoin was–in fact, I never saw any evidence of this operating like a tubing mascara, despite Ulta’s claim to the contrary. (Although I can’t be too miffed with them, because they did give me all my money back.)
This bled all over my undereyes like liquid; it washed off (or more accurately, didn’t) like liquid, and there were no little “tubes” like I would have expected from a tubing mascara. Not only that, but it flaked everywhere.
If I wanted a regular liquid mascara, I would just stick with Better Than Sex. Next.
Tartelette Tubing Mascara
Ulta: $25
After the Black Magic fiasco, I just went online to Ulta and Sephora and ordered four different tubing mascaras with excellent reviews in the hopes that one of them would end up being my new go-to. This was the next one I tried. The third time had to be a charm, right?
Wrong. While it did a somewhat better job of actually coating my lashes, it still didn’t compare to Better Than Sex. And again there were no tubes! Instead it was just dry and flaky. And it still smeared. (Although I did really like the brush; it did a great job of keeping my lashes from clumping. So that’s something. But not enough to make up for the fact that it didn’t do the rest of its job.)
I was beginning to give up on ever finding an actually decent tubing mascara. But then….
Caliray Come Hell Or High Water
Sephora: $24
It turns out, the fourth time is a charm! I think this one is my new Holy Grail. While wearing, it looks almost as thick and curly as Better Than Sex! And it actually forms tubes! It also DOES NOT SMEAR under my eyes! Not only that, but it washes right off with water. This is what I consider a true tubing mascara, and a good one, at that.
Merit Clean Lash
Sephora: $26
Although I was and still am very happy with the Caliray, I bought two others, so I went ahead and tried my next one. While I enjoyed the soft feel of the brush from Merit Clean Lash, I felt that this one, too, did not behave at all like tubing mascara. It was also extremely flaky. Although it didn’t appear to smear, I was brushing crumbles off my cheeks all day long. It also seemed to be possibly drying up after only a few weeks of use, but I’m not certain on that–that’s about the time I tossed it. I still had one last mascara to try….
blinc Amplified Tubing Mascara
Sephora: $26
I opened this one just a couple of days ago and am very impressed! It does crumble a bit, but it coats my lashes, it forms actual tubes, and it washes right off with water! I would say this one is nearly as good if not just as good as Caliray, although I’m not certain it thickens my lashes quite as much as Caliray. I intend to use the entire tube of this one before replacing with Caliray.
The Verdict
My searching is over and the verdict is in! To replace my precious Better Than Sex liquid with a tubing mascara, I have to go with Caliray’s Come Hell Or High Water. It’s the only one that does everything I want it to do while also lengthening and thickening my lashes like Better Than Sex. However, blinc is a great backup for when Caliray isn’t available. (There’s one caveat–I think every single tubing mascara is going to take two to three swipes to replicate the look of liquid, just because of its nature. But the final result does what I want, so c’est la vie.)
