Whenever I’m asked to recommend a brilliant high-street mascara, I always utter the three magic words: Maybelline Sky High. I’ll wax lyrical about the incredible lifting, lengthening effect, and the excellent price (under £9 on Amazon), then casually mention the fact it’s the UK’s number one mascara, with one sold every eight seconds. Hard to argue with that evidence.
So when I heard that my budget favourite was introducing a tubing version – the smudge-proof mascara format that’s wildly on trend right now – I had to wonder: could Maybelline Sky Tubes be… even better?
With the weather warming up and holiday season approaching, the timing couldn’t be better. Tubing mascaras are ideal for summer, since their pigments wrap around each lash as tiny, smudge-proof ‘socks’ that won’t run if you sweat or dive into a pool. However, they’re easily removed if you wet them with warm water and gently slide them off.
Tubing formats are particularly popular for mature lashes (hello, me!) since they remove gently and don’t involve any scrubbing that can exacerbate wrinkles. That said, some tubing mascaras can be a little underwhelming, especially if you like a statement lash.
Maybelline, no doubt, had all this in mind when it created Sky Tubes as a sister to its famous ‘lash lift in a tube’ best-seller. And let me assure you, it doesn’t disappoint.
Firstly the pigment is very, very dark (there really are degrees of ‘black’ in mascara world). The colour was so dark, it cheated a ‘tightliner’ look along my upper lash line. Combine that with the mascara’s impressive skyward lift, and I was having an instantly great lash day.
‘Have you had lash extensions?’ I was asked by a colleague, totally unprompted, who had immediately clocked the difference.
It’s also brilliantly budge-proof. Being impatient in my application, I inadvertently blinked some on to my lower lashes; not somewhere I usually wear mascara for fear of smearing, but a happy accident indeed. My eyes looked far more defined, and there was not a hint of under-eye smudging.
Out of curiosity, I left the mascara in situ overnight (while cleansing the rest of my face properly; no judgement please!) There was a tiny bit of crumbling under the eyes come morning, but Sky Tubes was still looking rather good on my upper lashes… and stayed that way for a further two nights when I continued to skip the lash cleanse. Never let it be said I don’t commit to beauty testing. (Also: don’t try this at home!)
Sky High isn’t going to be elbowed aside, of course, but I’m definitely going to be switching to the new version for summer days and nights.
