I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep my mascara from running. I hate getting dark, smudged eyes by the evening. It puts me off wearing any, but I like the look with mascara as my lashes are small and not very dark.
Over the last six months, I’ve tried other options because I’ve been so sick of having smudged mascara by the end of the day. This includes:
– not wearing any mascara (hated it)
– normal mascara
– tubing mascara
– fake lashes
– curling/dyeing lashes at home plus at a beauticianss
Fake lashes are great if you can afford touch-ups every few weeks and have the time, but I prefer to try things at home.
TL;DR (quick summary – updated)
After trialling different methods (and what seems to be a never-ending list of mascaras), I now use tubing mascara which is amazing and stays on all day. I curl my lashes with an at-home lash kit by Luxe Cosmetics. I’ve had my lashes dyed and curled at my local beautician, which was worth every penny (£50 for 2.5-3 months) but I prefer to do it at home (easier and cheaper).
If I want more volume, I buy the brown/black cluster lashes from ‘Tatti Lashes’. They are glued on under your top lash line, instead of over. This seemed really strange to me at first, as I used to spend far too long gluing a full length above. These are ‘cluster’ and not a full strip. They are SO easy to put on. I use 3-4 clusters per eye. I’ve bought the pack from Tatti Lashes, which came with glue, and I top up the lash sets from Tiktok.
In summary, you need to ensure your lashes are clean, free of oil at the time of applying mascara, and free of oil throughout the day.
Contents:
Tubing mascara
* My top pick is tubing mascara *
After everything, I’m now using Revolution Brown Tubing Mascara. It’s AMAZING. It cost a tenner from LookFantastic. I buy the brown version (black is available).
Tubing mascara is different to normal mascara. It coats your lashes in tiny polymers. Your lashes get covered in a ‘tube’ of pigment, making them appear longer and slightly thicker. It’s also different when it comes off – it comes off in larger blobs rather than all bits like normal mascara. I find it much easier to remove.
Normal, non-tubing mascara
If you plan to use normal, non-tubing mascara, here are some steps to help keep it from smudging.
- It goes without saying but make sure your face and lashes are clean of dirt and oil. Before I put on makeup, I wash my face with a very light cleanser.
- Don’t put any creams or oils anywhere near your eyes. If oil gets into the mascara, it’ll start to break it up.
- After your creams have been on your skin for over 10 minutes, use a soft brush to add base powder all over your eyes. I use NYX Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Mattifying Lightweight Powder (£9). It’s very light and soft & comes in 8 colours. I use Light.
- I apply powder foundation on top of the base powder. I use Estee Lauder Double Wear Matt Powder Foundation (£32). It works great on my oily skin and lasts for years.
Below is my left eye where I’ve applied the base & foundation powders and right is without anything. You can see how much it’s brightened the area.
Adding both powders gives my mascara the best chance of surviving!
What about liquid foundation?
I’ve used this too; just make sure to stay away from your lashes and upper/lower lids. If you need to, reapply the powder foundation.
Mascara tips and ones I’ve tried
- I’d use tubing but if you can’t, make sure it’s waterproof
- Make sure your mascara is in date
My favourite non-tubing mascara is Eyeko Limitless Lengthening Mascara in brown, £9. Unfortunately, it’s out of stock everywhere. It had good staying length and wasn’t even waterproof.
Benefit Badgal BANG! Volumizing Waterproof Mascara in pitch black was good but it’s on the more expensive side – early £20s.
I wouldn’t recommend L’Oréal Paris Volume Million Lashes Balm Brown Volumising Mascara in brown. It smudged very quickly.
Use my friends/fam link on LookFantastic on orders £25+ to get £10 off! I’ll also get £10 too 🙂
To remove the mascara
I use The Body Shop Camomile cleansing butter (around a large pea-sized amount in total) with a bamboo soft washcloth to gently rub away the mascara.
For the tubing mascara, I rub in the butter then hold a hot cloth on my eyes for 30 seconds to soak it up. A few gentle rubs, and it’s all off. Much easier than normal mascara.
Fake lashes
I’ve used fake lashes for years and years. I love them for a night out or when my lashes look crap and too curly (I wear an eyemask for sleeping, which really messes up the shape).
I’ve stopped wearing full-width lashes and started with clusters. They’re smaller, so much easier to apply. You need 3-4 per eye, which are less than 1cm in length, and come in different sizes. I buy brown and black so I can choose whether to go darker. I tend to wear the brown for work when I don’t want them to be so dark and more natural-looking.
I originally bought the lash kit from Tatti Lashes. It includes glue, lashes and some tools that are helpful when applying. I bought the ‘Tres Chic – Everyday glam look‘ kit which cost (with delivery) £19.
- https://tattilashes.com/en-us/products/invisi-lash
- Using this link gets you £5 off £25+ and gives me 100 reward points 🙂
Professional or at-home curl/dye lash kit
I’ve done both, and even though I’d much prefer to have someone else do it, I’d rather do it myself at home.
The professional curl and dye was £50. I can’t remember how long it took but I’d recommend it if you have the time and money. I couldn’t believe how curled my lashes were!
It takes around 45 minutes and cost £30 from Luxe Cosmetics UK. The product details say it’ll do 3 applications and last 10 months, but I think I’ll be able to get it to last longer with more applications – I haven’t used up all the different lotions yet.
It’s a very fiddly process. It takes me around 40 minutes, which includes a few 12-15 minutes of waiting for lotions to work their magic. I got their dye kit for free, but I don’t use it. I prefer to use my own which is much better.
I can still wear mascara but I expect the cleansing butter I use to remove it also takes off a bit of the black dye.
I love the curl kit because my own lashes are pretty small and get squashed with the eyemask I wear for sleeping.