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The best mascaras for sensitive eyes aren’t as clinical as they may sound. The question is always the same: Can you really get the same payoff from a gentle formulation? Thanks to cutting-edge technology and a spate of disruptive ingredients, you can—and there are plenty of great mascara formulas to get your hands on, from buzzy, clean beauty brands mixed with tried-to-true ophthalmologist-tested formulas from mainstays like Clinique.
“Mascara is a staple in every beauty bag but can be a silent culprit behind eye irritation. Choosing the right formula isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about eye health, precision, and performance,” celebrity makeup artist Lauren D’Amelio Ventre tells Vogue. “Mascara should enhance beauty, not compromise comfort. In my 20 years as a makeup artist, I’ve worked with every formula imaginable, from high-performance luxury mascaras to innovative clean beauty formulas. The difference between a great mascara and one that causes irritation often comes down to mindful formulation and hygiene.”
Not to mention, eye irritation and poor makeup hygiene could have you paying a visit to the doctor for medical intervention. “I commonly see irritation from mascara in my patients, and this can occur for a few reasons. First and foremost, sensitivity to the ingredients such as certain fragrances, preservatives, or components used in the formula," double board-certified ophthalmologist Dr. Ashley Brissette tells Vogue. “Flakey mascara isn’t just unsightly; it is also a common irritation culprit. Mascara can dry out and flake off or smudge off and clump, and get into the eyes, causing discomfort and even potentially a scratch to the cornea.”
Vogue’s Favorite Mascara for Sensitive Eyes
- Best for Doe Eyes: Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara, $29
- Best Tubing: Merit Clean Lash Lengthening, $26
- Best Drugstore: CoverGirl Lash Blast Clean Mascara Waterproof, $12
- Best Mascara Wand: Tower 28 Beauty MakeWaves Mascara, $20
- Best Volumizing: Victoria Beckham Beauty Vast Lash Mascara, $34
- Best Waterproof: Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara, $26
In This Story
- How can mascara irritate eyes?
- How to Choose a Mascara for Sensitive Eyes
- Best Practices for Applying Mascara Without Irritation
- Meet The Experts
Pro makeup artist Brielle Pollara agrees, adding that harsh ingredients often take a harsh ingredients used daily on the eyes bound to lead to irritation. Plus, using expired formulas and rough makeup removal practices only makes matters worse. Below, shop the best mascaras for sensitive eyes— and yes, there’s tubing, volumizing, and lifting formulas for ultra-fluttery fanned-out lashes.
Best for Doe Eyes: Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara
Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara
- Why We Love It: With a dual-sided brush that leaves no lash unturned, Ilia’s cult-favorite, highly effective formula harnesses keratin, shea butter, and beeswax together to curl and lengthen lashes to doe-eyed effect. Plus, the clean beauty brand just added a new brown shade of its bestselling mascara.
- Benefits: Lengthening, lifting, smudge and flake resistant
- Key Ingredients:
- Shades: 2
Best for Fluttery Lashes: Westman Atelier Eye Want You
- Why We Love It: Say hello to full, fluttery lashes with Pro Gucci Westman’s mascara—the plant-derived formula adds natural volume while still lengthening and defining your lashes. The result? Thanks to the hourglass-shaped mascara wand, plant-based filaments coat every lash for added density.
- Benefits: Buildable volume, lengthening, flake-resistant
- Key Ingredients: Carnauba wax, candelilla wax, plant-derived ester, shea butter
- Shades: 2
Best Tubing Mascara: Merit Clean Lash Lengthening Tubing Mascara
- Why We Love It: Merit set out to create the ultimate everyday clean mascara and the minimalist makeup brand succeeded with an innovative, 100% tubing mascara formula (made with tubing film formers and unique ingredients, such as plant-powered rice bran wax) that gracefully smoothes over lashes to lift, separate, and define without ever smudging. At the end of the night, you’ll only need warm water and a gentle cleanser to remove the mascara with ease.
- Benefits: Lengthening, defining, easy removal
- Key Ingredients: Rice bran wax, olive oil esters, candelilla wax, carnauba wax
- Shades: 1
Best Conditioning: Saie Mascara 101
- Why We Love It: With its special hydra-mineral complex, Saie’s Mascara 101 strengthens lashes while yielding impressive volume and lift. It’s buildable, so one coat offers a your-lashes-but-better effect, while two-plus layers takes you into more intense, feathery territory. No matter how many you swipe on, the hydrating formula adds a dose of nourishment thanks to beeswax and shea butter to prevent breakage.
- Benefits: Lifting, buildable volume
- Key Ingredients: Beeswax, shea butter, fatty acids, glycerin, carnauba wax
- Shades: 2
Best for No-Makeup Makeup: Ere Perez Aloe Gel Lash & Brow Mascara
- Why We Love It: Virtually imperceptible, Ere Perez’s clear gel mascara boasts aloe vera, known for helping to keep lashes soft and silky smooth, as its hero ingredient. It also doubles as a brow groomer, making it the ultimate no-makeup makeup two-for-one.
- Benefits: Conditioning, natural definition, gentle hold
- Key Ingredients: Aloe Vera
- Shades: 1
Best Lengthening: Kjaer Weis Lengthening Mascara
- Why We Love It: Kjaer Weiss’s refillable, organic mascara is an industry favorite thanks to its creamy, flake-free formula, which is loaded with jojoba and castor oils. It comes with a specially designed wand that distributes pigment evenly to clump-free effect.
- Benefits:
- Key Ingredients:
- Shades: 2
Best Lifting: Milk Makeup Rise Mascara
- Why We Love It: Housed in a sleek white tube with a curved brush, Milk Makeup's new 93% natural RISE mascara is reliably buildable. A coat or two layers yields natural-looking lifted, lengthened lashes, while an extra layer offers an intensified fullness.
- Benefits: Lifting straight lashes, buildable volume
- Key Ingredients: Sunflower seed wax, carnauba wax, tree berry wax, and candelilla wax, monoi oil
- Shades: 1
Best Drugstore: CoverGirl Lash Blast Clean Mascara Waterproof
- Why We Love It: A drugstore favorite, CoverGirl’s vegan Lash Blast mascara is free of parabens, sulfates, talc, and mineral oil, while delivering impressive, extensions-like results. What’s key is its lengthening fiberstretch pigments and jumbo brush with teeny-tiny bristles that leave no hair uncoated.
- Benefits: Lengthening, Volumizing
- Key Ingredients: Argan oil, marula oil
- Shades: 4
Best Indie Brand: Ami Colé Lash-Amplifying Mascara
- Why We Love It: Beauty editor-favorite brand Ami Colé’s Lash-Amplifying Mascara formula features 87% naturally-derived ingredients, such as moisturizing jojoba oil and strengthening shea butter, to nourish lashes while volumizing and lengthening sans flaking.
- Benefits: Flexible and buildable volume
- Key Ingredients: Shea butter, jojoba oil
- Shades: 1
Best Mascara Wand: Tower 28 Beauty MakeWaves Mascara
- Why We Love It: Another clean beauty favorite, Tower 28’s MakeWaves mascara is celebrated for both its deeply-pigmented formula and its unique wand. The latter features a dual-side brush with short bristles to build volume at the roots and longer ones for lengthening the outer lashes.
- Benefits: Lengthening, volumizing
- Key Ingredients: Carnauba Wax, olive oil esters, sunflower seed wax, castor seed oil, vitamin E
- Shades: 2
Best Waterproof: Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara
- Why We Love It: For cry-proof lashes safe for even the most sensitive eyes, look no further than the waterproof version of Clinique’s bestselling High Impact mascara. Build volume with ease, layering coats of mascara until your desired intensity is reached—the soft fiber bristles of the mascara wand help to define each lash, preventing from unsightly clumping.
- Benefits: Waterproof lift and volume
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid
- Shades: 3
Best Volumizing: Victoria Beckham Beauty Vast Lash Mascara
- Why We Love It: Victoria Beckham Beauty’s mascara features microalgae and panthenol, which give lashes a fuller appearance and much needed hydration. Meanwhile, niacinamide and vitamin E work together to help deeply condition lashes, preventing future breakage.
- Benefits: Conditioning, lifting, lengthening, cruelty-free, smudge proof, clean formulation
- Key Ingredients: Tahitian sea microalgae, panthenol, niacinamide, vitamin E
- Shades: 1
Everything You Need To Know:
How can mascara irritate eyes?
“The eyes are one of the most delicate areas of the face. If a mascara isn’t chosen or used correctly it can be a hidden source of irritation,” D’Amelio Ventre tells Vogue.
She breaks down the most common sources of unwanted eye irritation from mascaras:
- Harsh Ingredients: Mascaras that contain drying alcohols, synthetic fragrances, and preservatives that can trigger sensitivity, redness, or even allergic reactions.
- Flaking & Smudging: As mascara wears throughout the day, tiny flakes can break off and enter the eyes, leading to discomfort or watery eyes.
- Harsh Waterproof Formulas: While long-wear mascaras have their place, they often require aggressive makeup removers that can strip natural oils from the lash line, leaving eyes vulnerable to irritation.
- Bacterial Contamination: “Mascara tubes are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, and using expired mascara can lead to infections, styes, or persistent irritation,” says D’Amelio Ventre. “If a mascara has changed in smell, texture, or performance, it’s time to replace it—no exceptions.”
How to Choose a Mascara for Sensitive Eyes:
“Whether you’re a beauty professional or someone curating their perfect mascara wardrobe, prioritizing freshness, quality, and gentle application will ensure that every fluttery lash is as comfortable as it is captivating,” D’Amelio Ventre tells Vogue.
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Amy Spizuoco agrees, adding that testing is another key element to avoid irritation. “Before using any new mascara, especially if you have sensitive eyes, do a patch test by applying a small amount to a small area of skin near your wrist or behind your ear.Also, always remember to read the label to check theingredient list for potential irritants,” she tells Vogue.
While perusing through the best mascaras for sensitive eyes, the pros simplify what qualities you should keep in mind:
- Ophthalmologist and Dermatologist-Tested Formulas: These aren’t just marketing buzzwords, but trustworthy seals of approval—it means a formulation has gone through rigorous testing to ensure safety. Though, as a caution, even vetted formulas may cause irritation for those who have specific allergies. Adding to that, Dr. Spizuoco reminds us that just because a dermatologist has tested a product does not mean it’s safe for sensitive, emphasizing that ophthalmologist-tested formulas are key for this category.
- Fragrance and Alcohol-Free: According to D’Amelio Ventre, both alcohol and fragrance are two of the most common triggers for sensitive eyes. In addition, hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, and formulas with minimal preservatives are ideal.
- Calming Ingredients: Formulas enriched with aloe vera, chamomile extract, vitamin E, or panthenol help condition lashes while reducing inflammation.
- Tubing mascaras: D’Amelio Ventre says tubing mascaras are a no-brainer for those with sensitive eyes, as they wrap a water-resistant polymer around each lash that can be effortlessly removed with warm water.
- Expiration Dates: No matter how clean a formulation may be, or soothing the ingredients featured, disregarding expiration dates is a more than just an error of judgement. “A clean formula means nothing if the mascara is past its prime. Ensure that mascara is replaced regularly to maintain hygiene and peak performance,” explains D’Amelio Ventre.
Best Practices for Applying Mascara Without Irritation
The pros suggest gentility as the ultimate virtue when applying a mascara to sensitive eyes. “Start with a clean lash line, and make sure to remove any residual makeup, oils, or bacteria before applying mascara. Use a light hand because overloading the brush leads to clumping, which increases the likelihood of flaking into the eyes. Apply mascara slightly away from the waterline to prevent direct contact with sensitive areas,” D’Amelio Ventre tells Vogue.
Avoid pumping the mascara wand in and out to capture product, Dr. Brissette, says. “This can dry out the formula and change its viscosity. When applying, gently wiggle the wand from the base to the tips of your lashes to coat them evenly. Always remove it carefully at the end of the day to protect both your lashes and the delicate skin,” she says.
Meet The Experts
- Dr. Ashley Brissette, MD MSC FRCSC, is a double board-certified ophthalmologist based in New York.
- Lauren D’Amelio Ventre is a makeup artist, beauty educator, luxury beauty expert and licensed cosmetologist.
- Dr. Amy Spizuoco, DO, FAOCD, FAAD is a board-certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist based in New York and founder of True Dermatology group.
- Brielle Pollara is a New Jersey-based makeup artist specializing in bridal, celebrity, and editorial makeup.
