My Favourite Volumising Mascaras For All Budgets

We all want long, thick, voluminous lashes, right? If I had to pick only one, makeup item to use for the rest of my life, it would have to be mascara and I'm sure the majority of people be with me on that. To help me make the most of my lashes, I have a few mascaras that I can always rely on to make my lashes look their best.

No matter what your budget, there are so many great mascaras available. To be honest, only a few high-end formulas have truly impressed me enough to warrant spending upwards of £12, as drugstore versions are really on point nowadays. The cheapest of my current, favourite trio, is the Seventeen Falsifeye HD Mascara. The thin, tapered, plastic wand fits right into the root of the lashes, gripping each, individual hair to give even separation. Adding length and volume without a clumpy result, no matter how much you layer it, this mascara is seriously impressive. With just one coat, it gives quite a soft, day-time appropriate look, but you can keep building it for more of an intense finish. Accidentally, I bought the brown/black shade and, for anyone with blonde hair, this colour would make a softer alternative compared to harsh black. As my hair is so dark, I need something with more depth, so I'll be sticking to true blacks in future.

Bourjois' Volume 1 Seconde Ultra Black Mascara, which I've previously mentioned in a current favourites post, is another high-street formula that delivers a bold, lash look. Compared to Seventeen's Falsifeye HD, the wand of this mascara is monstrous in size. Again, it's plastic, but it's a bit more difficult to navigate and you can risk poking yourself in the eye if you aren't careful. Interspersed between the bristles, there are little wrap-around spheres which hold extra product and help to envelop each lash completely, to give even the most sparse lashes a huge helping of volume. Even just one coat of this mascara gives a crazy amount of drama, so it's a great one to use whenever you need to get ready in a hurry. It can start to look quite clumpy if you let the mascara dry between coats, though. As it's available in an ultra black formula along with the standard shades, you have the option of boosting the intensity even further, which I always like to do.

Upping the price further, we have Benefit's They're Real Mascara. Apparently, this is the UK's number one selling mascara and I can totally understand why. It seems I'm a major fan of plastic wands, as this has one too. Size-wise, this brush sits somewhere between the other two, but it has triple the amount of bristles and a domed end, which can be used to really catch all of the lashes at the outer corner, pulling them into a winged, cat-like shape. Be warned, though; this mascara hangs on for dear life. Great if you have extremely oily lids and struggle to find a mascara that won't smudge and leave you looking like a panda, but annoying if you normally avoid waterproof formulas. Personally, I think the false-lash look is totally worth the extra effort during your evening, skincare routine!

How do you make your lashes look their best?

AGB X