Best Mascara in Australia (2026)

Mascara is the one piece of makeup most Australians own even if they own nothing else, and it is also the one most likely to be bought badly. The wand shape matters more than the formula, price tells you almost nothing about how it wears, and half the tubes in the average bathroom drawer dried out months ago.

We went through the Amazon Australia mascara shelf in August 2026 and pulled out eight tubes that are in stock, hold a genuine review pile behind their star average, and each answer a different problem: short lashes, straight lashes, a summer that ruins everything, a face that suits brown better than black, and a budget that starts at about $6.

What is the best mascara in Australia right now?

If you want one tube and no further thinking, buy the Maybelline New York Sky High Mascara. It holds the highest star average of our eight picks at 4.6 out of 5, and it earns that across 57,461 ratings, which is the deepest pile of feedback on this page by a wide margin. The slim flexible wand is the reason: it is forgiving enough to apply fast, precise enough to reach the outer corner.

If your lashes are short and length is what you want, the L'Oreal Paris Telescopic Original Mascara is built for that job, with a slim bristle brush and a formula L'Oreal rates for up to 36 hours of wear. And if you want a working mascara for as little as possible, the Rimmel London Extra Super Lash Mascara is the cheapest of our eight picks and still sits at 4.4 out of 5 across more than 15,000 ratings.

The five that follow cover narrower jobs: lifting lashes that point down, surviving a humid February, a softer brown for fair colouring, maximum drama, and one splurge tube.

How do our eight mascara picks compare?

Every tube below was confirmed in stock on Amazon Australia, and every star average and review count comes from the live listing. Prices sit between about $6 and about $68, and the spread of formulas matters more than the spread of prices: lengthening, volumising, lifting, tubing and waterproof are genuinely different products, not marketing synonyms. Worth noting up front, essence and Max Factor tie for the lowest star average of our picks, both at 4.2 out of 5.

How did we choose these mascaras?

• We started from the live Amazon Australia mascara pool, kept only tubes confirmed in stock, then read each listing for what the formula actually claims.
• Star averages and review counts were pulled fresh from each listing, and anything with a thin review pile behind a flattering score was set aside.
• Where a mascara sells in washable and waterproof versions we picked one and named it, so you are not comparing the same tube against itself.
• NestPath researches and studies listings, reviews and formulations rather than running lab trials, so every claim below is either an attributed listing statement or a structural fact about the brush.

What is the best all-round mascara?

Maybelline Sky High is the tube we would hand to someone who owns exactly one mascara. It carries the highest star average of our eight picks at 4.6 out of 5, and holds that score across 57,461 ratings, the deepest review pile on this page. If you wear mascara every day, the washable Falsies below is the kinder daily tube. Nothing else here has anywhere near that much feedback behind its number.

The listing describes a waterproof, buildable formula in a 7ml tube, applied with what Maybelline calls a Bendable Flex Tower brush: a slim wand with a flexible neck, so it follows the lash line instead of forcing you to twist your wrist at the outer corner. Maybelline lists the formula as suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers, and describes the effect as lengthening and volumising together.

The slim brush is the real argument for it. Fat, fluffy wands deposit a lot of product very fast, which is excellent for drama and unforgiving if you have a low brow bone or shaky hands. A skinny wand deposits less per stroke, so it is far harder to overload, which is the difference between mascara you can put on in the passenger seat and mascara that needs five quiet minutes. Because the formula builds, you can still reach a heavier look with three coats, deliberately rather than by accident.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

This is the waterproof version, and waterproof always costs you something at removal. Maybelline says it comes off with soap and water, but an oil based eye remover is quicker and gentler on the lash line. Reviewers consistently report the formula runs wet from a brand new tube, so the first few uses transfer more than the tube will a fortnight later. Give it a week before you decide it smudges.

Which mascara gives the most length on short lashes?

Short lashes need a slim bristle brush and a formula that stretches rather than piles, and the L'Oreal Paris Telescopic Original is the clearest answer in this price band. It sits at 4.5 out of 5 across 307 ratings, a much smaller pile than the Maybelline but a consistent one, and the formula has been on Australian chemist shelves long enough to have a reputation.

L'Oreal describes an 8.4ml tube, a smudge resistant formula rated for up to 36 hours, and a claimed lengthening effect of up to 60 per cent. Treat the percentage as marketing, but the brush is a straight bristle comb rather than a fat spiral, so it separates and drags product to the tip of each lash instead of piling it at the root. The listing describes it as suitable for sensitive eyes and clump-free.

The trade-off is that a comb brush gives you very little volume. If your lashes are sparse rather than short, this is the wrong tube and the Max Factor further down suits you better. If they simply disappear at the tips, this is the right one, and the pick we would put in a work bag.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The review pile is the thinnest of our eight picks, so the star average carries less weight here. The comb brush also punishes a heavy hand: load it up and you get spidery lashes rather than long ones, so wipe the wand on the tube neck first. It is not waterproof, so it is a poor beach day choice.

What is the best mascara under $10?

The Rimmel London Extra Super Lash is the cheapest of our eight picks and does not behave like a compromise. It holds 4.4 out of 5 across 15,403 ratings, the second deepest review pile here, and has been a chemist aisle staple for years. If you go through mascara quickly, or want a spare tube for a gym bag, this is the sensible buy.

Rimmel describes the formula as defining, lengthening and curling, built on film-formers, waxes and pigments with hydrogels for a smooth film and vitamin E in the mix. The shade is listed as black-black, a genuinely dense black rather than the softer charcoal some budget tubes give you. The listing also calls out no clumping or sticking.

What you give up at this price is drama. It will not build into a false lash look no matter how many coats you apply, and the brush is a conventional spiral. What it does is put a clean, defined, obviously-there black lash on your face in about twenty seconds, which is what most people want on a Tuesday. For a first mascara, or a spare tube at work, it is hard to argue with.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It is not waterproof and not marketed as long wearing, so an oily lid or a hot day will move it. Hooded eyes should expect transfer to the upper lid by afternoon, so keep a cotton bud handy. It also dries out quickly once opened, which matters less when replacing it costs so little.

Which mascara lifts straight or downward lashes?

Straight lashes are a brush problem, not a formula problem. If your lashes grow downwards, a straight wand simply paints them and they still point at your cheek. The Maybelline Falsies Lash Lift uses a double-curved brush that catches lashes at the root and pushes them up, and it sits at 4.5 out of 5 across 2,576 ratings.

Maybelline describes a fibre-infused, washable formula in an ultra black shade, with the double-curved lifting brush doing the structural work. The listing frames it as a lash lift look without the salon appointment, and lists it as suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers. The curve is the point: rest the concave side against the lash line, wiggle at the root, and the wand does the lifting rather than your wrist.

Because it is washable rather than waterproof, it comes off with warm water and a cleanser, which matters more than people expect. Waterproof formulas are the main reason lashes get tugged out at removal, and five days a week of that adds up. If you do not own a curler, our heated eyelash curler guide covers the powered alternative to the clamp style.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The curved brush is awkward on your non-dominant eye for the first week, and getting the curve facing the right way takes practice. The washable formula means humidity will move it, so this is a cooler months tube rather than a Queensland summer one. Fibre formulas can also shed a little late in the day, worth knowing if you wear contact lenses.

Which mascara survives an Australian summer?

Heat, humidity and salt water are what actually beat mascara in this country, and the Heroine Make Long and Curl Up Waterproof is the pick built for it. It is the only tubing formula among our eight picks, which is a different technology to ordinary waterproof mascara, and it sits at 4.4 out of 5 across 2,421 ratings.

Tubing mascara wraps each lash in a flexible polymer sleeve rather than coating it in wax and pigment. It does not smudge, flake or run when wet, and it needs no solvent to remove: warm water and gentle pressure slide the tubes off whole. Heroine Make describes a 5mm fibre that lengthens with each coat, curl-locking ingredients and a memory-shape polymer to hold the curl, and calls out resistance to tears, sweat, water and oils. It is made in Japan, where tubing formulas have long been mainstream.

This is the tube for a February wedding, a beach holiday, a hot commute, or anyone whose eyes water in air conditioning. It also suits people who find waterproof removal harsh, since you are not scrubbing a wax film off your lash line at night.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Tubing formulas cannot be layered the way wax ones can. A second coat mostly rebuilds the same sleeve rather than adding thickness, so heavy volume is the wrong ask. The tubes can shed as small dark flecks if you rub your eyes hard, which looks alarming once and is harmless. You also have to wet your lashes to remove it; a dry wipe will not shift it.

Which mascara looks natural on fair lashes?

Black mascara on fair colouring can read as a stripe rather than a lash line, and the fix is a brown-black shade, not a lighter hand with black. The essence Lash Princess in black brown does that job for about $7 and holds 4.2 out of 5 across 7,606 ratings.

essence describes a conically shaped fibre brush in a 12ml tube, with the shade positioned for a more natural look while the formula still claims length and dramatic volume. The cone brush is the interesting part: fat at the base, tapered at the tip, so the thick end does the main lash body and the point handles the inner corner and lower lashes. That is a lot of control at this price.

Brown-black reads as lashes rather than as mascara in daylight, which is why it turns up so often on people who wear very little else on their face. It is worth trying if you wear glasses too, since a dense black lash behind a lens can look heavier than you intended.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

essence shares the lowest star average of our picks with Max Factor, both at 4.2 out of 5, and the complaints are usually about wetness and transfer. It is not waterproof, and the fat cone brush is easy to overload, so wipe it first. Brown-black also does not suit everyone: on dark hair and dark brows it can look faded rather than soft.

Which mascara gives the most dramatic volume?

If your complaint is that your lashes are fine and sparse rather than short, you want a thickening formula and a brush that deposits generously. The Max Factor 2000 Calorie has been doing exactly that since long before any of the newer tubes here existed, and it sits at 4.2 out of 5 across 11,952 ratings.

Max Factor describes a 9ml tube and what it calls a bodybuilding formula, claiming up to three times more volume. Read that as a marketing descriptor, but the structure behind it is a thick, wax-heavy formula on a dense brush, the traditional recipe for thickness. The listing also positions it as a good choice for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers.

This is the tube for evenings, photos and anyone who wants lashes to be a visible feature rather than a tidy frame. It is also the one most likely to need a lash comb, because a generous formula on a dense brush clumps if you are enthusiastic. Two coats with a comb between them beat four without.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It shares the lowest star average of our picks with essence, both at 4.2 out of 5, and the pattern in the criticism is clumping, which is the predictable trade-off for a thickening formula. It is not waterproof, so it is not the summer tube. And a heavy wax formula sits noticeably on the lash: if you like mascara you cannot feel, this is not it.

Is a luxury mascara worth the money?

Usually not, and we would not tell anyone to start here. But if you already want a nicer tube, the Lancome Lash Idole is the one we would point at. It is the dearest of our eight picks, and it still holds 4.5 out of 5 across 7,350 ratings, a serious pile for a department store product. Expect to pay around $68.

What you are buying is the wand. Lancome describes a dual-sided, curved elastomer applicator with 125 bristle sizes and 360 micro-bristles, where the inner curve builds volume and the outer curve lifts and lengthens. Elastomer wands hold less product than bristle wands, so they deposit evenly and clump less, and the curve does the lifting a separate curler would. The formula is a lightweight gel rated for up to 24 hours with no flaking, and Lancome cites a consumer study of 103 women in which 95 per cent saw an instant lift.

Is that worth the gap over a chemist tube? For most people, no. For someone with straight, fine lashes who has never got on with a wax formula, the wand does something the cheap tubes cannot, and that is the honest case for it.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Elastomer wands hold less product, so heavy volume takes more passes than a traditional brush needs. The gel formula is not waterproof, a real limitation at this price. And mascara is a consumable with a three month open life, so the monthly cost here is unavoidably high.

Which mascara should you buy?

Match the tube to the problem rather than the price and the choice gets simple.

What should you look for in a mascara?

Start with the brush, because it determines the result far more than the liquid does. A slim bristle or comb brush separates and lengthens; a fat spiral deposits volume; a curved wand lifts. On short lashes a fat wand simply coats your eyelid; on thick lashes a comb brush feels like it is doing nothing.

Then decide what you need it to survive. There are three categories and they are not interchangeable:

• Washable formulas come off with warm water and cleanser. Gentlest on the lash line, least resistant to humidity and tears.
• Waterproof formulas use water-resistant waxes and usually need an oil based remover, though some, like our top pick, list soap and water removal. Best for swimming and long hot days, hardest on the lashes at removal.
• Tubing formulas wrap each lash in a polymer sleeve. They resist water and sweat but slide off with warm water and pressure, which is the best of both, at the cost of buildable volume.

Shade is the next decision and it is undersold. Blackest black suits dark hair and strong brows; brown-black flatters fair or red colouring and anyone who wants the makeup to be invisible.

Finally, look at what you pay per use rather than per tube. Mascara has a short open life, so replacing a tube every three months at chemist prices is a very different annual cost to doing it at department store prices. That is the argument for keeping a chemist tube in rotation even if you own something fancier, and the star averages here do not climb with the price.

How do you care for a mascara so it lasts?

Replace it every three months from the day you open it, and write the date on the tube with a marker if you will not remember. Mascara sits wet, dark and warm beside your eye, close to ideal conditions for bacteria, and the inside of a tube cannot be cleaned.

Never pump the wand in and out of the tube. It feels like it loads more product, but it pushes air in and dries the formula faster. Twist the wand out instead. And do not add water, saline or eye drops to a drying tube: it thins the formula briefly and opens a contamination route. A claggy tube has reached the end.

Wipe the wand on the neck of the tube before every application. The neck is there to meter the product, and skipping it is the most common cause of clumping across every mascara here, cheap or expensive.

Store it upright and capped, away from the bathroom windowsill, because an Australian bathroom in January gets hotter than most people realise. A drawer is better, and a makeup organiser keeps tubes upright and visible so you notice when one is past it.

For removal, soak rather than scrub. Hold a soaked pad against closed lashes for ten to fifteen seconds before you wipe, and the mascara comes away without dragging at the lash line. Scrubbing is how people lose lashes.

You'll also want these with your mascara

None of these are essential, but each solves a problem mascara alone creates.

• Tweezerman Classic Eyelash Curler for straight lashes. Curl before mascara, and squeeze at the root rather than clamping hard once.
• Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Make-Up Remover for waterproof formulas, which a normal cleanser often will not shift.
• Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water in Oil as a gentler daily option for washable and tubing mascaras.
• Ogato Reusable Makeup Remover Pads so you are not buying a bag of cotton rounds every month.
• L'Oreal Paradise Lash Primer if you want more from a mascara you already own, applied on bare lashes before the colour coat.
• essence Lash Princess Mascara Primer as the cheaper way to try a primer before committing to one.

The competition: what we left out

Covergirl Lash Blast Cleantopia nearly made the list, but at 4.1 out of 5 it carries the weakest star average of anything we shortlisted, and the Rimmel covers the same budget territory with a much deeper review pile behind it.

The black-mint essence Lash Princess, the version most people know, was out of stock when we checked, and we do not list tubes you cannot buy. The black brown version above is the same formula in a different shade.

L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Panorama is a solid volumiser, but the Telescopic does a job nothing else here does. Natio Infinite Tubing is an Australian-owned tubing option we wanted to include, but its review pile is far too thin to recommend against the Heroine Make.

We also left out two adjacent categories. Lash serums are excluded because they trade on efficacy claims we cannot verify from a listing, and heated eyelash curlers and magnetic lashes are separate tools with their own guides.

Mascara FAQs

What is the best rated mascara in Australia?

Of the eight mascaras in this guide, Maybelline Sky High holds the highest star average at 4.6 out of 5, and it does so across 57,461 ratings on Amazon Australia, which is by far the largest review pile here. Star averages are a crowd signal rather than a lab result, so a high score backed by tens of thousands of ratings is worth more than a perfect score backed by a dozen.

Which is the best mascara for an older woman?

Finer, straighter lashes are the common change with age, so a lightweight lengthening formula on a slim brush usually flatters more than a heavy volumising one. The L'Oreal Telescopic Original suits that brief on a chemist budget, and the Lancome Lash Idole does it with a curved elastomer wand that lifts as it coats. A brown-black shade such as the essence Lash Princess is also worth trying, since dense black can look harsher as brows and hair lighten.

How often should you replace mascara?

Every three months from the day you open the tube. Mascara sits warm, dark and damp beside your eye, the inside of the tube cannot be cleaned, and every application returns the wand to the formula. Write the opening date on the tube with a marker if you are likely to forget, and do not try to revive a drying tube with water or eye drops.

What is the difference between tubing and waterproof mascara?

Waterproof mascara uses water-resistant waxes to stop the pigment moving, , and it usually needs an oil based remover to come off. Tubing mascara wraps each lash in a flexible polymer sleeve instead, so it resists sweat, tears and humidity but slides off whole with warm water and gentle pressure. Tubing is kinder at removal; waterproof builds heavier volume.

Does expensive mascara work better than chemist mascara?

Not reliably. Across our eight picks the highest star average belongs to a chemist tube, not the department store one, and the cheapest pick still sits at 4.4 out of 5 across more than 15,000 ratings. What premium tubes more often buy you is a better applicator, and elastomer wands like the one on the Lancome do deposit more evenly than a traditional bristle brush. Whether that is worth the gap depends on how much your lashes fight you.

Related guides for the rest of your routine

• Best setting spray in Australia for keeping mascara and everything under it from moving on a hot day.
• Best makeup brushes in Australia if the rest of your kit is still supermarket sponges.
• Best heated eyelash curler in Australia for straight lashes that a clamp curler cannot hold.
• Best magnetic lashes in Australia for the nights when mascara alone is not the look.
• Best makeup bag in Australia so tubes travel upright and capped.
• Best makeup mirror in Australia because bathroom lighting is why your mascara looks different at work.

About the author

Anish Puri founded NestPath in 2026 after going through the Australian first-home-buyer process himself. NestPath focuses on Australian first-home buyers because the existing review sites are American, generic, or both. Anish handles editorial selection across the homeowner hub. Reach out: hello@nestpath.com.au