9 of the best mascaras for straight lashes in 2024 to encourage lift and curl

The best for high impact

Forgive me, but when I first heard about the L’Oréal Paris Pro XXL Lift Mascara I thought it might be a bit of a gimmick. It reminded me a little of the now-discontinued Maybelline Intense XXL Mascara (the one with the white primer that you topped with black mascara), which I loved as a teen, but in hindsight made my lashes pretty spidery looking. 

This L’Oréal Paris buy is essentially the grown-up version. The first end has a straight brush and a priming formula designed to lengthen your lashes, which it does very nicely and without clumps. If you have had an LVL treatment or want more of a no-makeup makeup look, then you could stop there. But if you have very straight lashes, like mine, this is where the real magic happens. The second end has a curved brush, which allows you to get close to the roots to draw the lashes upwards, and is packed with tiny fibres that add volume and length. The lift is the most impressive and long-lasting of any mascara I’ve tried without the help of eyelash curlers. As you're layering two formulas, there is a risk of a bobbly finish, but I’ve found that as long as you move swiftly between coats (I do both ends on one eye before moving on) then it’s avoidable. The end result is high-impact, which I love for an evening out. 

The best for lash growth 

Is mascara bad for your eyelashes? Generally, no, but if formulas are drying and difficult to remove, then they can take their toll on them. Lucky for us, Iconic London's Enrich & Elevate Mascara avoids both of these pitfalls and goes even further to care for your natural lashes. It’s infused with a patented lash growth agent called Symlash, which helps to strengthen and lengthen. A nice touch if, like me, you’re too forgetful to regularly apply an overnight lash serum.

The wand is plastic, curved and a little bit bendy (as well as narrow), which makes it easy to get right into those shorter lashes in the inner corner. (Top tip: catching and coating those will make your eyes look wider.) It’s easy to both apply this mascara and build it, with the formula brushing through the lashes like silk. This mascara doesn’t add a huge amount of length to the lashes, but it does lift them for a soft and natural-looking mascara finish. I really liked that it stays flexible all day, meaning I didn’t get that crispy, heavy feeling on my lashes.

The best dual-ended option 

Huda Beauty Legit Lashes Mascara is very similar to the L’Oreal Paris Pro XXL Lift Mascara in that it has two ends – one that’s a volumizing mascara and one that curls and lengthens. What’s slightly different, is that both of these are mascaras in their own right, so you can layer them, or you can pick and choose depending on the look you’re going for. 

This mascara impressed me straight away. The volumizing end gave my lashes extra volume and length, with a fanned-out effect that made it look like I had loads more lashes than I actually do. The brand recommends that you move on from the volumizing end to the curling one straight away, but even if you leave it to dry slightly (I got distracted mid-way through one eye) then the flexibility of the wand and the lightweight nature of the formula means you can still layer it without clumps. It’s a big claim, but by the time I finished applying, it genuinely looked like I could have been wearing false lashes at the edges. Using two wands is a bit fiddly, but worth the extra time in my opinion. The only downside is that the tube is quite chunky to slot in your makeup bag, but the long-lasting results mean you shouldn’t need to top up. 

The best for everyday wear

Lancôme mascaras are pretty iconic. The brand's Hynose range has gained a cult following, and Lash Idole, its lash-lifting sibling, seems to be following closely in its footsteps with thousands of positive reviews online. 

Let’s start by chatting about the brush. It’s curved and angled, which means you naturally hold it with the narrow part facing downwards, and the wider part fans the outer lashes as you go. I was worried this brush shape would be a bit fiddly (I am all fingers and thumbs) but actually, it was really easy and intuitive to use. Every edge of the brush is peppered with teeny tiny bristles, which managed to capture even my smallest and stubbiest lashes and persuade them skywards. The formula is quite waxy and builds nicely. It’s not super wet, which I personally liked (as I feel very wet formulas weigh my lashes down) but not everyone will be a fan. I’d say one to two coats will give you a very natural look, but you can add more than that for the evening or if you wanted more intensity. 

The best for lift

There are so many brilliant Benefit mascaras – most beauty editors have their go-to favourite – but this is the one you need if you have stubbornly straight lashes. Inspired by traditional rollers, the unique wand separates and catches onto every lash to give it a proper lift. Though we have used it with an eyelash curler, we notice a real difference without this step, too. 

Another plus point is that the brush head is plastic, which means you can easily comb the formula through your lashes for clump-free results – which, by the way, promise to last for up to 12 hours. And, as well as its curling prowess, it creates a great amount of length and decent volume for all-out fluttery lashes. A brilliant mascara for stubbornly straight lashes whose owner just wishes they would hold a curl. 

The best for lash conditioning

I will forever associate Eyeko with Alexa Chung and her seemingly effortless (and very cool) cat-eye makeup flicks. Outside of eyeliner, I haven’t tried much from the brand, so was keen to see if the Eyeko Lash Alert Mascara Curl & Lift Mascara would be just as good at making me feel like I was living my late '00s IT girl dreams. 

Unlike some of the other best mascaras for straight lashes on this list, Eyeko has focused on both the ingredients and the performance. Within the formula, you’ll find caffeine as well as biotin, castor oil, and arginine to condition and nourish. Any beauty product that can multi-task gets my vote, but the performance stacks up too. I was a tad underwhelmed to begin with, as the first coat definitely lengthened my lashes, but didn’t lift them much. But I found that if I waited for it to become tacky, and then applied a second coat, I could get more of a curl – and that did hold for a days wear. It’s not at all clumpy, for a very convincing finish. 

The best for long-lasting results

Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty drew us all in with the inclusive shade range of their best foundations, but the rest of the brand is well worth exploring, too. The Full Frontal mascara caught my interest mainly as the wand doesn’t immediately look like it would be brilliant at adding lift to straight lashes – even though it says it does. It’s oval-shaped, with a pointed end and flat sides. Fenty recommends that you use the “fat” side (which holds the majority of the product) to lift lashes, and then the “flat” side to define and curl. The pointed tip was designed this way to catch every lash on the bottom lash line. 

Once I’d made sure I was using the right side at the right time (and after going slightly cross-eyed in the process) I used the fat side first, followed by the flat one. The flat one is brilliant at elongating the lashes – I used two coats and combed both through without clumps. I’m an eye-rubber and suffer from hayfever, so really enjoyed the fact that this is water resistant, so I didn’t have to worry about allergy-induced smudging during the day. 

The best for a natural look

I always like it when a brand knows its niche; to that end, Bella currently only has one product, Wanderlash Mascara. It’s amassed a few makeup artist fans already, including Hannah Martin (Princess Eugenine’s MUA) and Nicola Chapman. I’m also a sucker for fancy packaging, so the fact that this comes in a neat little sliding presentation box earned it brownie points early on. 

This mascara's aim is to deliver the look of the best false eyelashes or a lash lift without the fiddly application or potential damage to your natural lashes. It’s formulated with hemp extract to condition, jojoba oil to promote lash growth and blackcurrant for thickness. The formula is very dark and quite thick, which I initially thought would result in a clumpy or spidery finish. But the interesting shaped wand (it’s concave in the middle, a bit like a sideways egg timer) allows you to comb through any bobbly bits for a sleek, lifted result. It did feel a little heavy on my lashes, but I think that’s a fair trade for the added curl and conditioning benefits.