After two years of testing mascara for the Strategist, I’ve pretty much switched entirely to tubing mascaras. While traditional mascara formulas are made from a combination of waxes, oils, and pigment, tubing mascaras contain an extra ingredient: polymers. Rather than depositing layers of the formula onto your lashes like coats of paint, these polymers instead encapsulate each individual lash, wrapping around them like a film or “tube.” They’re also more stable and more difficult for your skin’s oils to break down, so once they’re wrapped around your lashes, they have all-day staying powder. They won’t smudge or flake, whether you’re sweating through Pilates or rubbing elbows at a party.
You may think that means tubing formulas are more difficult to remove, but in fact they’re typically easier to take off than traditional formulas. That’s because the polymers are water soluble. When I tested Merit’s Clean Lash mascara, which uses a tubing formula, the mascara came right off with just a splash of warm water — I didn’t even need to use a cleanser or makeup remover, and there was zero elbow grease involved.
Tubing mascara’s combination of staying power and easy removal makes it a great option for people who wear contacts or have sensitive eyes that are easily irritated by daily scrubbing. The same is true for those with oily lids that tend to break down their mascara, causing midday raccoon eyes.
As for how it looks, tubing mascara usually gives your eyelashes a more defined and lengthened effect, since each individual lash is “tubed” and emphasized. It’s also a great choice to apply after using an eyelash curler and can make it easier to achieve a lifted look, since your lashes won’t be weighed down with multiple coats of product — usually one coat of a tubing mascara is sufficient.
The tradeoff is that you won’t get as much volume and buildability in a tubing formula as you will with a non-tubing one. Some people have also reported finding tubing mascaras to be wetter and clumpier than traditional ones, but those qualities are totally dependent on the brand and its specific formulation. Personally, I love both Glossier’s Lash Slick and Merit’s Clean Lash for an everyday “your lashes but better” look, and was impressed with how well Tower28’s MakeWaves tubing mascara held a curl.
You may still want to reach for a traditional mascara when you’re looking to achieve a more feathery, dramatic effect. But I’ve found that the overall effect of tubing mascaras pairs well with my natural daily makeup, and I prefer how much gentler they are on my lashes. If you haven’t tried tubing mascaras before, they’re definitely worth a shot to see if they have a place in your makeup routine.
Tubing mascaras we’ve tested
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