The best waterproof mascaras won’t budge when you need them most—kind of like your best friend or your favorite bra. Whether you’re quasi-enjoying a humid summer day, caught in a downpour, or letting it all out with a good cry, a coat or two of trusty waterproof mascara will keep your lashes the way they looked before you headed out the door—no matter how much fluid is involved. We chatted with editors, professional makeup artists, and cosmetic chemists to get the lowdown on what makes the best waterproof mascaras so steadfast and asked the big questions about how to find your perfect match. Scroll on and thank us later.
Our Top Waterproof Mascaras
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Overall: Lancôme Lash Idôle Waterproof Mascara
Why it’s worth it: Lifting, lengthening, feathering, and packed with deep, dark pigment—Lancôme’s Lash Idôle Waterproof Mascara hooks us every time. The formula is infused with conditioning white tea extract to keep lashes soft and fluttery, even beneath its budge-proof pigment. Thanks to the teeny-tiny bristles, every single lash gets perfectly coated, and you can count on up to 24 hours of waterproof wear.
If you want another stellar option from Lancôme, Linda Dowds, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning makeup artist, also loves the Lancôme Définicils Waterproof High Definition Mascara, which she calls a “lighter waterproof mascara with a more natural look.”
Tester feedback from contributing commerce editor Deanna Pai
“The curved wand makes it simple for me to grab every last lash, which might explain why this mascara delivers ah-ma-zing lift and separation. One coat makes me look wide awake—a major plus if you, like me, have a very active toddler on your hands.”—Deanna Pai, contributing commerce editor
- Key ingredients: white tea extract, jojoba oil
- Number of shades: 1
Best Curling: Tower 28 MakeWaves Mascara
Why it’s worth it: Tower 28’s MakeWaves Mascara skillfully embraces every lash, coating and separating like nobody’s business. Its Aquaflex Technology—which is used in hairstyling for memory hold and define curls—stands up to humidity (and all of its resulting rivulets), while castor oil conditions your delicate wispies. One tester found that its short bristles gripped her lashes, making it easier for her to fan them up and out, and allowed her to easily apply the inky-black formula to the hard-to-coat lashes on her inner corners. It’s easy on sensitive eyes, fends off flaking, and looks good all day—making practically perfect in our book.
“The hold on this mascara is incredible. I have short, dense, and straight lashes that are just so stubborn—but this coaxes some length and curl out of them. This is one of the few mascaras I can use without any irritation. While it’s not the most lengthening or curling formula you can get your hands on, it’s so comfortable and doesn’t flake or smudge. I love that it provides the perfect amount of natural-looking weight to my eyelashes so you can actually see them.”—Shanna Shipin, shopping director
- Key ingredients: castor oil blend
- Number of shades: 2
Best Lengthening: Chanel Le Volume de Waterproof Mascara
Why it’s worth it: You can always count on Chanel to deliver serious results. The Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Waterproof doesn’t mess around—one swipe gives you major volume, inky-black color, and that wide-eyed, totally awake, “I definitely got eight hours of sleep” look. The waterproof formula laughs in the face of sweat, humidity, and oily lids alike, while provitamin B5 and vitamin E quietly do their thing behind the scenes, strengthening and conditioning your lashes. We love how the brush has long and short bristles to catch every lash, producing a full, fanned-out finish that refuses to smudge.
Tester feedback from commerce editor Sarah Han
“My itty-bitty lashes always need ample help, and Chanel Le Volume delivers noticeable volume from the very first swipe—and, importantly, doesn’t make my lashes look overly spidery. I love that Chanel plays with non-black hues in its lineup because your girl can’t pass up a brown mascara (I might have to try the blue next!). My only qualm is that it dries out a little faster than I’d like, but that’s definitely not unique to this formula.”—Sarah Han, commerce editor
- Key ingredients: Vitamin B5, vitamin E
- Number of shades: 2
Best Volumizing: Yves Saint Laurent Lash Clash Waterproof Mascara
Why It’s Worth It: The original Lash Clash Mascara has long been a favorite of Allure editors and makeup artists alike for its dramatic lash transformation. (Its power comes from a unique combination of a rich, ultra-black formula that builds both length and volume, paired with an oversized brush designed for maximum impact.) Thankfully, YSL’s Lash Clash Extreme Volume Waterproof Mascara offers the same intense payoff with long-lasting wear that stands up to moisture, sweat, and long days—up to 48 hours if you’re feeling wild. This new waterproof version also features iris extract, which helps keep lashes feeling soft and conditioned while amplifying volume.
Tester feedback from senior audience development director Lexi Herrick
“I am very particular about waterproof mascara, because I have found them limited in other ways, but the Lash Clash YSL Waterproof Mascara is the exception. This lifts and adds volume to my lashes just as well as the original, but with a lasting, immovable coat. I have worn this mascara on hikes, on the golf course and even in the ocean and it’s HELD UP. It isn’t flakey either, and does come off with a solid makeup remover.”—Lexi Herrick, senior audience development director
- Key ingredients: iris florentina extract
- Number of shades: 1
Best Lifting: Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Sky High Waterproof Mascara
Why it’s worth it: Makeup artist Lavonne fell head over heels for the TikTok-viral Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Waterproof Mascara in the hue “Very Black,” so much that when she spotted a rare restock in person, she grabbed three tubes at once. “This mascara makes my lashes look like I’ve had a lash lift and use growth serums,” she says of the drugstore favorite.
For less than $15, those results are hard to beat. FYI: You can use this mascara alone or with Maybelline’s 2023 Best of Beauty winning The Lash Sensational Sky High Tinted Primer for extra long-lastingness.
“This might be a bold statement, but no mascara has left me with a greater impression than Maybelline New York’s Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara. My short, nearly-invisible lashes and I are hard to impress—almost all mascaras I try are inevitably rallied into a makeup bin of no return—but this formula lengthens and creates definition without needing a million layers, which is also to say, it doesn’t clump.”—Sarah Han, commerce editor
- Key ingredients: Polyvinyl laurate, bamboo extract, beeswax
- Number of shades: 2
More waterproof mascaras we love:
Best Volumizing: L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Waterproof Mascara
L’Oréal Paris
Voluminous Waterproof Mascara
Why It’s Worth It: “L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Mascara is a staple in every makeup artist’s kit,” makeup artist Patrick Ta says. And he’s right: It’s one of the best drugstore mascaras—a claim seconded by Mario Dedivanovic, Ariel Tejada, and Mai Quynh. Better yet, the brand’s waterproof formula is just as beloved. Ta swears by it for a mascara that lasts until the end of the day on set. Even if you’re not a celebrity booked and busy from midday to midnight, keep this one around for days when you’re out and about, and thank us later. The Voluminous Lash Paradise Waterproof Mascara is also worth checking out if you want a backup. (We love options—can you tell?)
- Key ingredients: crotonates copolymer, beeswax, carnauba wax
- Number of shades: 3
Best Buildable: MAC MacStack Waterproof Mascara
MAC
MacStack Waterproof Mascara
Why it’s worth it: The MAC MacStack Waterproof Mascara is a swim-friendly version of the brand’s original Best of Beauty-winning formula with impressively long-staying power. This smudge-free, lengthening mascara is buildable, but, truthfully, all you’ll need is one coat for superb results. You may be tempted to pump the wand into the tube to get the brush saturated, but don’t—MAC says this causes the formula to dry out.
- Key ingredients: kaolin clay, trimethylsiloxysilicate, carnauba wax
- Number of shades: 1
Best Brown: Dior Diorshow Waterproof Mascara
Dior
Diorshow Waterproof Mascara
Why it’s worth it: Take it from Los Angeles-based makeup artist Molly R. Stern—Dior Diorshow Waterproof Mascara can handle pretty much anything. “You can slobber and splash in the Dior Diorshow Waterproof Mascara, and it will stay on,” she tells Allure. Despite its budge-proof formula, she notes the highly volumizing, non-chunky mascara comes off easily with eye makeup cleanser or micellar water.
Dowds also appreciates that the Dior Diorshow Waterproof Mascara offers a brown option, since it’s especially useful for her work as a makeup artist on set. Brown waterproof mascaras are few and far between, and this winner is among them. Your no makeup-makeup eye look deserves just as much smudge resistance as a face of full glam.
- Key ingredients: carnauba wax, castor oil, beeswax
- Number of shades: 2
Best for Short Lashes: Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara
Too Faced
Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara
Why it’s worth it: The Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof Mascara lives up to its name—or at least gets pretty close. “It’s waterproof, smudge-proof, sweat-proof, and has no fallout,” says New York City-based makeup artist Stoj. Amrita Mehta, a New York City-based makeup artist, agrees, explaining that the super black formula “adds lots of volume and gives you all the drama you’d want.”
- Key ingredients: porcelain flower extract, omega oil, peptides
- Number of shades: 1
Best for Working Out: Gen See Spectator Sport Mascara
Gen See
Spectator Sport Mascara
Why it’s worth it: 2024 brought Gen See’s Spectator Sport Mascara its second Best of Beauty Award, and rightfully so. The formula presents as powdery (a part of its no-budge magic) and requires a couple of pumps of the brush into the tube to expose the product to oxygen to get things creamy. Apply a few swipes of this weather-withstanding, sob-safe mascara and bask in the length, volume, and pigment.
“Unlike so many water-resistant mascaras, this one goes on weightlessly, with clump-free buildability.” —Marci Robin, contributor
- Key ingredients: panthenol
- Number of shades: 4
Frequently Asked Questions
How are waterproof mascaras different from standard mascaras?
While standard mascaras do the trick in lengthening, volumizing, darkening, and separating your lashes, waterproof mascaras are better suited for long-wear and durability. “Waterproof mascaras are designed to be more resistant to running and smudging with tears and sweat, and some can even a day at the pool,” cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos tells Allure. “They often contain ingredients polymers that adhere strongly to lashes and create a water-resistant film.” Waterproof mascaras rely on film-forming copolymers, which help with flexibility, holding the eyelash’s curl, and boosting temperature resistance.
“Some waterproof mascaras are totally anhydrous, meaning they contain no water, so they dry differently and sometimes can take longer,” continues Dobos. “The unique, natural composition of beeswax makes it a useful ingredient in all mascaras but especially waterproof formulas.”
Are waterproof mascaras safe for your lashes?
Waterproof mascara itself is always safe for lashes, but the product tends to be more difficult to remove when it comes time to wash off your makeup, posing potential distress to your lashes. Dobos explains, “Your usual micellar water might not cut it. Rubbing and pulling at lashes can cause breakage or already loose lashes to come out.” But, not all hope is lost—the way in which you approach removal can make a difference.“Using a bi-phase or oil-based eye makeup remover helps reduce pulling or tugging at the delicate eye area to remove. Isohexadecane and silicones work to dissolve the tenacious polymer films,” Dobos adds.
How should I choose a waterproof mascara?
As always, your perfect-match-mascara depends on what you’re looking to get out of the product. Do you want a waterproof mascara that prioritizes lengthening? One that is especially heat-resistant? One that can withstand a day of water-sport practice? Look at the mascara’s description and ingredients before you head to checkout. “Some examples of ingredients to look for are Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Styrene/Acrylates/Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, and VP/Eicosene Copolymer,” Dobos advises.
Dobos suggests that, beyond examining the formula, you should consider the mascara’s brush and the “wiper” at the mouth of the tube. “There are some tradeoffs in using waterproof mascaras; some might take a little longer to dry, meaning lashes coated with the product that touch each other might stick together,” says Dobos. “A good wiper—that separate ring you can see at the opening of the mascara tube—and silicone bristles that are stiff and on the shorter side can help separate lashes reduce the amount of product applied, reducing clumping potential.”
How do you stop mascara from smudging under the eyes?
According to Dowds, application is a big part of her smudge-proof technique—sometimes the brush is too big, or sometimes there’s too much product on the brush. “I recommend starting with a single, thoughtful first coat, then letting it dry for a moment before applying a second coat in the same way,” she says.
