An Ophthalmologist and a Makeup Artist Just ID’d the 10 Best Mascaras for Aging Lashes

If you find it challenging to shop for mascaras as your lashes change with age, you’re not alone. While it’s a known fact that the strands of hair on your head grow increasingly dry, brittle, and sparse as they mature, it’s easy to forget the same thing applies to the hair on the rest of your body, including your eyelashes. From year to year, a mascara you once depended on to keep your lashes looking long and luscious may need to be traded for a newer model to address new concerns.

Below, two experts on the subject—an ophthalmologist and a makeup artist—are sharing their tips for keeping mature lashes healthy and the best and worst ingredients to keep an eye out for. They even spilled a few of their product favorites!

Taking Care of Your Lashes as They Age

Before starting your hunt for a mascara that will look and feel amazing on aging lashes, it’s helpful to know how to care for and protect them. As your lashes age, estrogen levels dip, which reduces the hair-growth rate. This leads to everything from thinning and brittleness to loss of pigment and irregular density. Michele Probst, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Worth Beauty Company, tells us that you can keep your natural lashes thriving long after you’ve reached a particular age by taking time to remove product from your eyes and lashes nightly, using a lash serum, being careful while using metal lash curlers, and avoiding astringent glue with fake lashes.

Finding Your Perfect Mascara Match

When it comes to deciding which mascara will work the best for your mature lashes, pay special attention to the ingredients. “I like hydrating ingredients like argan oil—a fatty acid–rich plant oil [that’s] rich in linoleic acid, which is extremely hydrating,” says Diane Hilal-Campo, MD, board-certified ophthalmologist and founder of Twenty/Twenty Beauty. She also shares that vitamin E offers nourishing benefits for the lashes and defends against damaging free radicals, and the addition of panthenol (vitamin B5) in a formula can work overtime to condition the lashes from inside out.

“I’d also recommend looking for hyaluronic acid or glycerin, both of which are humectants that can draw water into dehydrated lashes. That water will then be locked into the lash by the aforementioned nourishing ingredients,” Hilal-Campo adds. When it comes to which ingredients would cause more harm, she tells us to steer clear of allergens like beeswax and carnauba wax. Additionally, she warns against mascaras with strong preservatives and alcohols that can cause damage to the lashes and eyes. It’s smart to avoid prostaglandin analogues since they’re known to trigger unnaturally long lash growth.

Keep scrolling to see the mascaras beauty editors and experts love for aging lashes underlined by hundreds of glowing reviews from customers.

The Best Mascaras for Aging Eyelashes, Listed

• Best Overall: Twenty/Twenty Beauty Clean Sweep Mascara
• Best Lengthening: Prime Prometics PrimeLash Mascara
• Best Volumizing: Rituel de Fille Levitation Lash Lifting + Lengthening Mascara
• Best Defining: Dr. Hauschka Defining Mascara
• Best Tubing: Milk Makeup Kush High Roll Defining & Volumizing Tubing Mascara
• Best Waterproof: Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara
• Best Long-Lasting: Sarah Creal Back of the Cab Volumizing & Tubing Mascara
• Best Clean Formula: Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara
• Best Value: Maybelline Falsies Lash Lift Volumizing and Lengthening Mascara
• Best Luxury: YSL Beauty Lash Clash Mascara

Best Overall: Twenty/Twenty Beauty Clean Sweep Mascara

Best Lengthening: Prime Prometics PrimeLash Mascara

Best Volumizing: Rituel de Fille Levitation Lash Lifting + Lengthening Mascara

Best Defining: Dr. Hauschka Defining Mascara

Best Tubing: Milk Makeup Kush High Roll Defining & Volumizing Tubing Mascara

Best Waterproof: Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara

Best Long-Lasting: Sarah Creal Back of the Cab Volumizing & Tubing Mascara

Best Clean Formula: Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara

Best Value: Maybelline Falsies Lash Lift Volumizing and Lengthening Mascara

Best Luxury: YSL Beauty Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara

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