10 Best Tubing Mascaras for Smudge-Free Lashes | Vogue

Mar 28, 2025

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The best tubing mascaras give length and lift to your lashes with the added benefit of easy makeup removal. While TikTok introduced late millennials and early Gen Zers to the game-changing formula with a viral bang—countless videos show beauty influencers using just a splash warm water to remove their eye makeup—the truth is that tubing formulas have been around since the naughties (thank you, Kevyn Aucoin!). A little over two decades later, tubing mascaras have transformed from unsung makeup bag heroes to must-have mascara formulas.

Pro makeup artist Rachel Singer Clark doesn’t hold back when asked if she’s a tubing mascaras fan—in fact, she wholeheartedly advocates for them. “Tubing mascaras are simply a fantastic idea for lengthening your existing lashes,” Singer Clark tells Vogue. “I’ve loved tubing formulas from the moment Kevin Aucoin launched his tubing mascara in the early 2000s. It was groundbreaking in that tubing formulas go a step further than a standard mascara by encapsulating each lash individually—you can build up the formula with additional swipes, making your lashes appear even longer, creating a special effect of seemingly growing the lash on application.”

Revitalash

Length Define Tubing Mascara

BLUEMERCURY

NORDSTROM

Merit

Clean Lash Lengthening Tubing Mascara

MERIT

Hourglass Cosmetics

Unlocked Instant Extensions Mascara

BLUEMERCURY

NORDSTROM

AMAZON

Milani

Highly Rated Lash Extensions Tubing Mascara

Milani

Clinique

Lash Power Tubing Mascara

AMAZON

NORDSTROM

BLUEMERCURY

Milk Makeup

Kush High Roll Tubing Mascara

MILK MAKEUP

Kulfi

Badi Lash Mascara

KULFI BEAUTY

Kevyn Aucoin

The Curling Mascara

AMAZON

BLUEMERCURY

Essence

Bye Bye Panda Eyes

AMAZON

Trish McEvoy

High Volume Tubular Mascara

BLUEMERCURY

NORDSTROM

What is a tubing mascara?

When seeking the appearance of longer lashes, Singer Clark argues there’s no better option than a tubing mascara for visibly lengthening your existing lashes. That’s right, tubing isn’t just a buzzword—professional makeup artist Dalila Bone explains how the popular formula works: “A tubing mascara quite literally creates individual tubes around each lash, defining and elongating them individually,” Bone tells Vogue. “The difference between this and your average mascara is that the product comes off eyelashes in tubes for easy removal.”

Singer Clark assures that the tubing technology of these mascaras means you’ll have no flaking or smudging whatsoever with your lash look. “Tubing mascara formulas are also water resistant—it doesn’t matter if you cry, swim, or sweat. Your mascara will not move,” adds Bone.

How To Remove a Tubing Mascara

While it’s true, tubing mascaras are water-resistant, the trick to their removal is simply warm warm and a light touch. “Warm water and gentle pressure is the best way to remove a tubing mascara—the mascara slides off your lashes with ease, leaving behind tiny tubes.”

Singer Clark also recommends using a cotton pad soaked in warm water or micellar water to remove your tubing mascara. “Hold the saturated cotton pad on top of your closed eye. Allow it to soak in for a few seconds and then gently pull away and downward,”s she explains. “After, you’ll find that little long black spikes appear on cotton pad—that’s the brilliant formula working its magic by mimicking your lash hair shape!”

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