The Clear Mascara That Lets Me Fake a Lash-lift for Cheap
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When the weather starts to warm up, I prefer a simple everyday look: a littleblush, brow gel for fullerbrows, andmascarafor a feathery lash. Lately, I’ve noticed my usual black mascara seems stark against my otherwise bare face, though. I’ve tried a brown mascara to lighten the look, but the color doesn’t suit my dark hair. In the past, I’ve gotten lash lifts to curl my stubbornly straight lashes without adding extra depth to my eyes and have loved the result. But the downsides are that they’re expensive and I’ve noticed more lash fall-out than normal after treatments that don’t seem worth it to me.
So when I saw the “ghost lash” trend starting to pop up on my feed and in my inbox, my ears perked up. It’s essentially using a clear mascara to fake a lash lift. The more I looked into it, the more it made sense for me to try. I already wanted a natural-looking lifted lash, but on top of that, clear mascaras are better for sensitive eyes since they don’t have added pigment. As an everyday contact lens wearer, my eyes are easily irritated and switching to a clear mascara could help. Also, with my running and workout routine, I’m often sweating my makeup off. At least with a clear mascara, I wouldn’t have to worry about raccoon eyes. To boot, a lot of the formulas I researched have nourishing ingredients like squalane and peptides. While I’m not expecting them to work miracles, it’s nice to know the mascaras aren’t drying out my lashes or causing fall-out. To that end, I called in a bunch and picked some up from the drugstore to see how they would hold up against one another.
The ones I loved
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The Ordinary came out with its own clear mascara at the end of 2025. It was the first formula I tested and set my expectations high. After curling my lashes, I swiped the transparent gel on and first noticed how well the formula does at separating out every individual hair to create a feathered look. Unlike other mascaras I’ve used, my lashes felt soft rather than crunchy after the formula dried down. I thought this would mean the curl wouldn’t last, but that wasn’t the case. The curl held well immediately after (no recurling needed) and throughout the day. It’s even kept my lashes lifted through sweaty runs and beach days. On top of all that, the formula is made with conditioning squalane to keep lash hairs moisturized.
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e.l.f.’s clear brow and lash mascara has been on the market much longer than the Ordinary, but it was new to me. When I tested it, I appreciated the dual-sided brushes that allowed me to swipe onto my brows and lashes. Like the Ordinary, it was great at separating out my lashes and keeping them curled from morning until the late afternoon. The biggest difference between the two was that the e.l.f. formula dried slightly harder than the Ordinary’s, but it never felt drying or irritating to my eyes. The mascara is also made with conditioning ingredients like vitamins B and E and algae extract, so I wasn’t too pressed about the slight crunchiness. Plus the cost of the e.l.f. mascara is less than half the cost of the Ordinary, which is also why I kept it at the top of my list.
The ones I liked
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Physicians Formula makes its own clear mascara packed with peptides, mineral water, and vitamin E to help lash health. The added benefits of the formula stuck out to me, especially at a drugstore price. When I applied it after curling lashes, I noticed that the mascara weighed down my lash hairs more than the others I tested. There was a bit of curl on my outer lashes, but the ones in the middle sort of sank back to their natural straightened state. I had to wait for the product to dry and recurl my lashes with this formula. After doing so, the curl did hold all day and my lashes felt soft to the touch. The extra step is mainly why I didn’t place this at the top of my list, though.
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Maybelline Great Lash Washable Clear Mascara
Maybelline Great Lash in black was my introduction to drugstore mascara as a preteen, but I had never tried out the clear version. (More is more was my makeup philosophy back then.) All’s to say, it felt very nostalgic picking this up at my local CVS. The formula felt lightweight and dried quickly on my lashes, unlike the Physicians Formula mascara. However, it didn’t seem to separate the individual lash hairs as much as my top picks and resulted in a little clumping. Other than that, it was able to keep my lashes lifted throughout an entire day. My one other reason for knocking it down a category was its lack of extra lash-nourishing ingredients. Again, while it’s not like I’m looking for something to replace a lash serum, many of the other formulas had that extra benefit.
The ones I’d skip
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I had high hopes for this one, given how high-performing Essence’s inexpensive mascaras are. I’ve tried their Lash Princess (ourbest overall mascara) and Lash Without Limits (a runner-up in mytubing-mascara testing) and was impressed with both, but this one didn’t hold up, unfortunately. When I applied the formula, it was very wet and goopy, even after wiping excess product off the wand. It took much longer than any other mascara to fully dry down — over five minutes — and took a couple tries with my lash curler to keep the hairs lifted. Unlike the other formulas, the curl didn’t last all day, maybe a few hours.
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My experience with CoverGirl’s clear mascara was pretty similar to the one above with Essence. It wasn’t nearly as goopy coming out of the tube — I attributed it to the better tubing and packaging — but it still applied very wet. It took some time to dry down, and my lashes were pretty straight until I recurled them. They did hold a curl longer than the Essence formula, but it didn’t last all day. On sweaty days, it didn’t cause any sensitivities or itchiness, so that was a plus. But by the end of my run or workout, my lashes were completely back to normal, as if I hadn’t applied anything on them at all.
Everything you need for ghost lashes
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