The Best Mascaras For Curling Lashes

Let's face it — pretty much all of us dream of having long, voluminous lashes. While lash lifts and temporary false eyelashes can offer incredible results, they aren't always all that safe or affordable. But finding a good mascara isn't always easy. Bad mascara can lead to clumps or smudging, which we all know is not a good look. It's no wonder that when you find a great mascara, it quickly becomes a staple in your makeup routine.

So, we've done a little research. We've tracked down the top 14 mascaras that really work. These are the makeup artist-approved mascaras that will give you loads of curl, tons of volume and absolutely no clumps. Plus, they'll last you all day long, giving you that fresh, awake look for hours on end. Without further ado, get ready to bat your eyelashes. Here are our top picks for the best mascaras for curling your lashes.

For several years, the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara has been something of a cult favorite. The product was first launched in 2013. By 2019, Vogue claimed that a tube of this mascara was sold every 7 seconds. And, by 2020, it was the world's best-selling mascara.

From its five-star Woman & Home review, it's easy to see why so many people can't get enough of this (somewhat suggestively named) product. According to the review, the mascara is mess-free, easy-to-use, and offers good length, volume and curl — all without any clumping. Plus, it lasts all day long. The mascara also received stellar reviews from Byrdie and Who What Wear.

What to expect from this product? A gorgeous rose gold tube, an hourglass-shaped applicator, and the most dramatic, lifted lashes you've ever experienced. While this mascara may not quite live up to its name, it certainly comes close!

Lancôme is a Parisian brand known for high-quality, sophisticated beauty products. Their Lash Idôle Mascara is one of their classic items. As Woman & Home notes in its review of the mascara, it was created after decades of scientific research. The mascara wand itself has 360 micro-bristles and the formula is made with white tea extract to ensure that your eyelashes are perfectly curled and evenly coated with no clumps. It even helps to strengthen your lashes in the long run. The formula reportedly feels lightweight and is great for layering, so you can build up long lashes without making a mess of your eyelids. In fact, it claims to open your eyes by 140%.

Not only does the Lash Idôle Mascara really work, it will also look great on your bathroom shelf or in your makeup bag. With its stunning rose gold and black packaging, this tube of mascara looks like something straight out of a French drugstore.

Zendaya herself apparently uses this mascara. "It literally stays put all day long — I often forget I even have it on," she told InStyle. Well, we are totally sold.

Another cult favorite, the bubblegum pink tube of Benefit Roller Lash Curling and Lifting Mascara, is often touted as one of the best curling mascaras on the market. According to Tyla, it totally lives up to the hype. The mascara applicator uses "Hook n' Roll" technology to lock onto your eyelashes as you apply the product. As Benefit writes in the product description, it "grabs, separates, lifts, curls" all at once. Ultimately, this means you get a smooth application and rarely end up with stray mascara on your eyelids or nose.

The mascara formula is also made with provitamin B5 and serin, which will improve the health of your lashes. It's no wonder this became the top selling mascara in the U.K. drugstore Boots for a while in 2021 (via Red).

On the more affordable end of our list of picks is the L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Curved Brush Mascara. While this may not be a designer brand, L'Oreal certainly delivers with this product. The Voluminous mascara line has been around for a while, and in the time it's been on drugstore shelves, it's established itself as one of the all-time best mascaras. This version of the famed mascara's curved brush curls by pushing and lifting the lashes away from the eyelid while fanning them out to create the illusion of more volume. It's no wonder it has a 4-star rating on the L'Oreal website.

If you're hoping to add curl and volume, this is the brush and the formula for you. "When choosing a curling mascara, the wand is very important, but also the formula," Paris-based makeup artist Andreea Ali told Byrdie. The formula helps to hold the curl, while the curved brush helps to lift the lashes and fan them out, creating volume.  

Ilia's Limitless Lash Mascara is one of those beauty products that has taken the world by storm over the past few years. The formula is 99% natural, which is rare in the cosmetics industry. It contains good-for-your-lashes ingredients like arginine, shea butter and beeswax (via Vogue).

Unsurprisingly, the product has loads of celeb fans. Camila Mendes loves it and, in a Vogue makeup tutorial, she explained why. "I feel like I need something that's really going to give me a defined, feathery look," she said, before applying her Ilia mascara. 

Jennifer Aniston's facialist Melanie Simon also swears by it for giving a curled, lengthened look. "This is my absolute favorite mascara for lengthening," she told Who What Wear. "It's literally almost as good as extensions and I can't live without it." Finally, Olivia Wilde is another Ilia convert (via Us Weekly). Sounds like this mascara is definitely worth the hype.

Glossier, known for its Millennial pink packaging and minimalist "clean girl" branding, has quickly become a cult favorite brand for fans of that "no-makeup makeup" look. And its mascara is one of those products that we just keep seeing everywhere. Apparently, the product took 18 months to develop and 248 different formulations before its launch (via Marie Claire). But, in the end, it's become a Millennial favorite. As one editor wrote for PopSugar, "One coat leaves you with that 'your lashes but slightly better' look, which is perfect if all you need is a little oomph." In other words, this mascara is perfect for curling and lifting your lashes in a natural way that doesn't look fake.

It's no wonder people like Michelle Obama and Holly Willoughby are fans. As Obama's makeup artist told The Cut, she wore this mascara for the 2021 inauguration — and we have to say, she looked amazing. As for Willoughby, her makeup artist has also revealed that this is the TV presenter's go-to (via Red).

Chances are, you've already come across Charlotte Tilbury's iconic Pillow Talk line. While the line is most famous for its soft nude eyeshadows and perfect pink lipsticks, it also has a pretty decent mascara: the Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes mascara.

Tilbury herself can't go without this product. "Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes Mascara is my new magic wand for fuller-looking lashes," she told Allure. "I use the flat side of the wand to coat, then twist it and use the bristle side in a zig-zag motion for a lifted effect." 

Lizzo's makeup artist Alexx Mayo is also apparently a fan. "There is something about the brush that really grabs every single lash and really stretches the length in such a clean way," said Mayo (via Vogue). After using this product, you'll have big, beautiful, curly eyelashes you can flutter all day long.

Chanel's Le Volume de Chanel Mascara is one of those products that seems to offer the full package — curling, color, length, and drama. The brand describes this product as "a mascara that offers instant volume from the very first stroke for longer, plumper and thicker lashes."

"I love it because it's an intensely black mascara that does it all!" said Andrea Tiller, a celebrity makeup artist. "With only two coats you can get a dreamy false-lash effect. It's a staple in my kit that I can't live without," she told Vogue. 

Emma Roberts also loves this Chanel mascara. "I love the Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara," she told Harper's Bazaar. "It makes me look so much more awake and I like that the formula is really dark." This mascara also made an appearance in "The Suicide Squad," as Allure noted that the product was used for Harley Quinn's eye look. Clearly, this product is doing something right!

This super-affordable mascara promises loads and loads of curl. With great reviews from the likes of Good Housekeeping, it seems the Maybelline Colossal Curl Bounce Mascara is one of the best out there. Apparently, this mascara functions as both a curling wand and a mascara in one with its flexible, curved wand. It is also smudge resistant and long-lasting, while still being easy to wash off. As Vogue reported, in the 2022, this mascara began trending with almost 50 million views on TikTok. In other words, this mascara is one of Gen Z's favorite options. 

According to Maybelline, this formula offers 24 hours of smudge-free curl — and bounce. Apparently, just one coat is enough to give you super curly, dramatic lashes for around $11 a tube. Plus, you won't even need to use an eyelash curler. Sign us up!

Gwyneth Paltrow is the Creative Director of Juice Beauty, whose Phyto-Pigments Ultra-Natural Mascara offers an all-natural formula containing aloe leaf juice, candelilla wax and purple carrot. It will add rich color, give you that curled look, and volumize your lashes, all while conditioning and protecting them.

Paltrow isn't just a member of the team that creates and sells this mascara; she's also a big fan of it herself. While showing off her daily makeup routine to Vogue, the actress described the product: "It's a clean mascara that works beautifully, which is really hard to do."

Apparently, this product was especially hard to create. As Paltrow explained in a video for Ulta Beauty, "When I spoke to other people in the natural makeup industry, they always say mascara is impossible to do with all natural ingredients and we have a lot of trouble with it." Paltrow went on to explain that when applying this mascara, you need to use a slightly different technique than the one you might use with traditional mascaras, as you need to let each coat of this one dry before building it up. But if you're after an all-natural mascara that will give you plenty of length and volume, this is the one for you.

This gorgeous mascara will not disappoint when it comes to curl. With its all-black tube and easy-to-use applicator, this mascara feels sophisticated and chic. The product page promises it offers volume, length, and definition thanks to the bristle weave design on the oversized brush.

One fan of this mascara is Mary Phillips, Jennifer Lopez's makeup artist. "Eyes to Kill is beautiful: It's not too much, it's just enough," Phillips said. "Because sometimes it's 7 a.m. and you aren't looking for a full-blown lash after your workout, just an effect that's way better than your own bare lashes" (via Vogue).

The review from Good Housekeeping is also highly positive, praising the waterproof formula and smudge-proof nature of the mascara. "It made lashes look longer and more voluminous in just one or two strokes while the large brush helped to separate and define them," the review claims. Well, it sounds like this mascara is pretty close to perfect!

Want to look like a living doll, complete with curled, fluttery, glossy lashes? Lancôme's Hypnôse Doll Lashes Mascara might just be the product you've been looking for. One beauty writer for Into the Gloss noted that she couldn't help but keep coming back to this mascara because of its unique cone-shaped applicator and the one-of-a-kind FiberShine formula that offers gloss, weightlessness, and a bit of drama. 

Kim Kardashian also loves the Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Lashes Mascara  — in fact, she calls it one of her favorite mascaras "in the entire world." In her Vogue makeup routine, Kardashian explained that she likes to layer both this mascara and Charlotte Tilbury's Legendary Lashes mascara for the ultimate dramatic lash look. "It's good to layer and mix," she said after experimenting with both. Based on her final result, we totally agree.

Maybelline has a whole line of mascaras called The Falsies, and all of them are great affordable options, at around $8 each. These mascaras definitely do the trick when it comes to curling straight lashes. While each formula is slightly different, they all promise to lift, lengthen and curl natural lashes to look almost like — you guessed it — falsies!

Gigi Hadid has claimed that the Falsies Push-Up Drama mascara is one of her favorites for exaggerating her natural lashes. "I love that it lifts the lashes from the root," she said. "Mascara that lifts and creates volume is perfect for my eye shape" (via You). 

Gemma Chan also loves how well the Define-A-Lash formula curls her straight lashes. As she explained, she uses a lash curler then holds the curl with this product. "I'm lucky I have long lashes, but they're straight and they're very fine, so the most important thing to me is to use lash curlers and then find a mascara that holds the curl," Chan said in an interview (via The Zoe Report). In fact, it seems The Falsies mascara line is so good, it's even gone viral on TikTok (via StyleCaster).

Looking for a "get-out-of-jail-free card for short and sparse lashes"? According to Hourglass, their Unlocked Extreme Length and Definition Mascara is sure to do the trick. This mascara promises to take short, straight lashes and give them both curl and length. Think of it as extension-less extensions.

Based on the reviews, this product does exactly what it says on the tin. What makes this mascara special is that it is versatile enough to suit all lash types. "Unlocked is a completely different formula and further builds the credibility of the brand in truly owning this make-up category," Margaret Mitchell, Space NK's chief merchant told Vogue. "As a tubing mascara, it is smudge proof and easy to remove, but it has the exceptional lengthening and separating benefits which are second to none."

The only downside, according to one Glamour reviewer, is that this mascara is not exactly water resistant. But for this amount of curl, we're willing to risk it.