Why everyone’s raving about this mascara

Good mascara doesn’t have to be expensive. Take the «Lash Princess» mascara by essence, for example. It costs just 5 francs and outperforms many high-end mascaras. There’s supposedly a new star among drugstore mascaras. And it supposedly shines brighter than all the others. The Maybelline New York «Lash Sensational Sky High» mascara seems to be quite the miracle worker, at least if you believe the countless Instagram and TikTok videos. There’s no shortage of awe-inspiring demos like this one. The Sky High appears to create long, thick eyelashes out of barely visible fine hairs. And the hashtag #skyhighmascara has since racked up over 109 million views. No wonder demand is on the rise. And according to our own sales figures, Sky High currently tops the list of most popular mascaras in our shop.

Mascara

Maybelline New York Sky High Lash Sensational

1 Very Black

381

Mascara

Maybelline New York Sky High Lash Sensational

1 Very Black

381

It’s more expensive than my tried-and-true favourite by essence, but the beauty community still considers the Sky High mascara to be in the «affordable» drugstore category. I want to know what’s up with the supposed miracle mascara.

Sky-high promises?

Maybelline promises intense volume and extreme length with no clumping. According to the brand, the length you get is thanks to both the flexible plastic brush and the mascara itself, which contains fibres and bamboo extract.

Before I apply it, I curl my lashes with an eyelash curler – a must, for me. The brush is easy to pull out of the tube, but not so easy that excess mascara stays clumped on it.

So far, so good.

It usually takes two coats for me to decide whether or not I like a particular mascara. But with the Sky High, I’m sold after the first one.

The second coat really caps it all off for me. My eyelashes look twice as long as without any mascara. The base is thick and my lashes are neatly separated, with no clumps in sight.

Not even after I put a third layer on top. I haven't been this excited about a mascara in a long time. So, what is it that makes this mascara so special?

The Sky High vs. other mascaras

Typically, when a mascara promises results to high heaven, it tends to come with clouds on the horizon. What I mean by that is that they rarely manage to give you length and volume, all while remaining clump-free. Even though that’s what they love to claim. In most cases, at least one of the advertised qualities turns out to be nothing but smoke.

To find out what makes the Lash Sensational Sky High mascara different, I took a closer look at the plastic brush and compared it to similar brushes in my collection. I found the following differences:

1. What Maybelline means when it says «flexible» is that the brush is bendable. So much so that, unlike other similar mascara wands, it creates no noticeable resistance and nestles perfectly against your lashes.
2. The brush is slightly cone-shaped, but remains narrow all the way through. Thanks to this, I can get very close to my lash line and reach every little hair, so I don’t lose a single millimetre of length. In turn, this creates a thick lash line while maintaining beautifully separated lashes. I can easily reach the corners of my eye and my bottom lashes without getting mascara all over my skin. The reason it works so well on my lower lashes is probably because the individual bristles have the perfect length – not too long and not too short.
3. The neck of the tube wipes off any excess mascara, which prevents product from landing on my lid or making my lashes stick together. As for the fibres and bamboo extract, I really can’t judge what role they play. In any case, I’m able to build up the mascara clump-free. And I don't experience any crumbling or smudging all day.

Verdict: the sky’s the limit

The Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara promises a lot – and it delivers on those promises. Unlike most mascaras I've tested so far, it's a true all-rounder. It not only brings out the full potential of my lashes, but also stays put all day. My long-time favourite is already vacating the throne. It’s clear that I prefer the Sky High.