I used to depend on eyelash curlers for lifted lashes but this £13 mascara has me swearing off them

Whenever I get asked to name my favourite beauty buys, the Maybelline Sky High Mascara is usually the first to tumble off the tongue - and while the £13 price point is reason enough, here's why I think everyone's lashes could benefit...

Without overstating the point, this mascara has changed my life and while the brand itself is already known to house some of the best mascaras on the market, this particular lash-booster thoroughly exceeded my expectations. And although new mascaras will, of course, come and go (vigorous and plentiful testing is a Beauty Editor’s cross to bear), this will forever be my favourite mascara and the only one I’ll spend money on.

So, if you - like me - are tired of curling your lashes over and over just to achieve a semblance of lift, here's exactly why Maybelline's popular mascara is worth every penny and lives [sky] high on my list of beauty essentials...

Why the Maybelline Sky High Mascara retired my eyelash curlers

I am fortunate to have been blessed with fairly long eyelashes. But alas, nature gives with one hand and takes with the other. Long they may be but my eyelashes are also frustratingly straight so I have always had to rely on lash curlers to tease some much-needed lift. And even after this crimping, primping torment, some mascaras would weigh so heavily on my lashes that they would immediately revert to their straight, sticky-outy default position. 

When used correctly, eyelash curlers are perfectly safe for your lashes, but I had started to notice my once lengthy lashes were looking a little stubbier and I grew tired of putting in the effort with my palm-sized torture device and not getting much in return. This is where the Maybelline Sky High Mascara enters my story and after adding it to my rotation a couple of years ago, I sacked off eyelash curlers altogether - as I found this magic wand did more to lift my lashes on its own than my curler and other mascaras combined. 

Full disclosure: I do get LVL (lash lifting treatment) a few times a year. But where once upon a time I would have to return to the painstaking process of crimping lashes after about five or six weeks, I find that using Maybelline Sky High Mascara creates so much lift that it appears to prolong the results of my LVL treatment. The combination of LVL and this mascara means my eyelashes are so long that they literally tickle my eyebrows if I look up. Stick that on your next ad campaign Maybelline. 

What makes Maybelline Sky High Mascara so good?

The formula perfectly treads the line between weightless wear and buildable volume, which is what makes it one of the best Maybelline mascaras IMO. I tend to adopt a 'more is more' approach to mascara, and this thing layers like a dream. No clumps. No clagging. No spider’s legs. 

One coat gives length and lift. Two coats dials up the volume and thickness of each lash. Three coats (my personal sweet spot) give falsie-like results. And if you’re partial to a lower lash coating, this one won’t leave you with a speckled imprint or panda eyes by the time you’ve reached the office. 

The brush head - made of plastic rather than traditional bristles - is straight and ever so slightly conical, which means you can dig right into the base of your lashes and lift up to coat from root to tip. The cherry on this fluttery-lash cake? Maybelline Sky High Mascara is just £12.99, and honestly, the results are so good I’d pay double - just don’t tell anyone!