A 61-Year-Old’s Eyes Look 20 Again Thanks to This $19 Mascara

A few years ago, I stopped wearing mascara entirely. My eyelids had seemingly become oily almost overnight, and virtually every formula I’d loved for years rendered me racoon-eyed by midday. I’m very much a lash-loving person, however, and have since replaced conventional mascara with self-adhesive lash clusters, which stymie smudging risk. 

Of course, applying individual lashes is slightly more time-consuming than swiping on a few coats of mascara. Occasionally, when I fail to give myself time to apply my faux wispies, I turn to tubing mascara. DHC, a Japanese brand and purveyor of my favorite oil cleanser, happens to make a tubing mascara, I recently discovered after stumbling upon it at Amazon. Shopper acclaim for the product has quickly convinced me to try it for myself. 

DHC Mascara Perfect Pro Double Protection Mascara

The DHC Perfect Pro Double Protection Mascara is a highly lengthening, lash-separating, clump-free formula. A tubing mascara, it coats lashes in a non-crunchy, budge-proof film, and delivers entirely smudge- and smear-resistant wear throughout the day.

Unlike conventional mascaras, DHC’s is a tubing formula—which, in essence, means it coats lashes with a polymer film. The film creates lash-lengthening “tubes,” or a coating, that resists smudging or running, even in the presence of sweat and water. Removing a tubing mascara requires only warm water—no makeup remover or cleanser involved—which allows the tubes to slide cleanly off lashes and down the drain, without leaving a stitch of residue or pigment behind. 

In addition to its tubing polymers, DHC’s formula contains ingredients that strengthen, soften and support natural lash growth over time. Vitamin E, an antioxidant that softens hair and skin, may help lashes grow. Beeswax strengthens lashes over time, per the brand, and reinforces the polymer tubes while softening lashes for a non-crunchy, flake-resistant finish.

Shoppers swear DHC’s mascara is the ultimate smudge-proof lengthening formula. One reviewer, who has purchased the mascara at least seven times and recommended it to numerous others, says “people have asked if [they] have lash extensions” in light of its lengthening effects. Another reviewer says the mascara “doesn’t smudge or smear,” and resists creating “raccoon eyes—even in wet weather.” Similarly, another fan swears it withstands sweaty hikes, “stays on through tears, running through the sprinkler, [and] swimming.” Plus, they’ve worn it kayaking and “to the gym, on runs, in races and through some very long days” with equally steadfast results. Per a 61-year-old shopper who looks “20 again” thanks to the mascara, it revives the lashes of their youth: “The ghosts of eyelashes past came to visit after using this mascara,” they said.

For lengthened, separated lashes that remain pristine throughout the day, sans smudging, shop the DHC Perfect Pro Double Protection Mascara at Amazon. Shop more smudge-resistant mascara, below:

Lancôme Définicils High Definition Mascara

Neutrogena Healthy Lengths Mascara

Maybelline Sensational Sky-High Washable Mascara