"It seems like, at this point, a new beauty product goes viral every other week. The cycle is predictable: Bloggers start raving about a new launch, causing it to sell out almost immediately, and once we regular folk get our hands on it, we figure out whether the rave reviews were legit or just another successful marketing campaign. Many of our favorite beauty products do pass this test—the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, Hourglass Phantom Volumizing Lip Balm, and the Kosas Revealer Concealer, to name a few. But just as often, viral products prove to be no more than just a passing fad. One product that has garnered a cult following after going viral? The Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara.
This 24-ounce Stanley is the take-anywhere hydration essential that’ll make an everyday appearance.
I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about this mascara from everyone—my favorite bloggers, colleagues, friends, and random strangers whose lashes are so good I just have to ask them what they’re wearing. I’ve yet to try it for myself for one reason and one reason only: The Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara is only available to purchase directly from the Thrive Causemetics website. I don’t know about you, but ease of access plays a big part in all of my beauty purchases. Can I swing by Ulta and pick it up after my Target run? Can Sephora deliver it to me in two business days? Can I place a bulk order to restock my vanity all at once? If the answer to any of these questions is no, I have a hard time justifying the beauty purchase. However, the reviews for this mascara are just so good I had to finally give it a try for myself. Here’s my full review:
The Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara uses a tubing formula that essentially wraps each lash in a tube of product that lengthens, curls, and defines lashes, giving them the appearance of lash extensions without the time and money spent at the salon. The mascara is also designed to be flake-, smudge-, and clump-proof, as well as easy to remove. Sounds like a dream, right?
Available in 6 shades
My review of the Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara
About my lashes
My lashes are medium-length and tend to fall straight unless I curl them. My dream mascara would lengthen, curl, add a little volume, and, most importantly, stay in place throughout the day. So often, I apply what I think is a great coat of mascara only to take photos with friends a few hours later and notice that my lashes have all but disappeared. How can I leave the house with lashes that rival the look of extensions only to look as though I have no lashes at all later that same day? I’ve yet to find a mascara that looks just as good when it goes on as it does later in the day, but based on the rave reviews for the Thrive Causemetics mascara, I had really high hopes.
How the Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara performs
Application
The Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara has a stiff plastic wand with shorter bristles. But don’t let that fool you; I’m able to get excellent length, curl, and volume with just a single swipe of the product. Seriously—just one swipe and my regular-length lashes are nearly touching my eyebrows. By wiggling the brush between my lashes a little bit and then combing upward, I get even better results. I also experience almost no clumping with this product, and whenever I do find a lash or two that want to be best friends for the day, separating them with the tip of the brush does the trick.
The formula dries down just slow enough for me to go back in with a second coat if I feel like it’s needed but also doesn’t take so long that I risk transferring the product to my lid or undereye by blinking. The one drawback I do sometimes experience is that the product gives me so much length it can transfer to my upper eyelid during application. However, a quick wipe with a Q-tip solves that problem super easily, leaving me with flawless, super-long lashes.
Wear
The initial results speak for themselves, but what really seals the deal on a mascara is its longevity. As I mentioned earlier, my lashes tend to fall throughout the day despite doing everything I can to curl and set them in place. The Thrive mascara, however, combats the gravitational pull on my lashes beautifully. While I notice a smidge of that initial va-va-voom fades throughout the day, my lashes typically still look great at the end of the night when I wear this mascara. If I was really bothered by it, I’d just re-curl my lashes with an eyelash curler to get a little extra lift, but truthfully, this product holds up really well.
Removal
This is where tubing mascaras really shine. Yes, the imitation of lash extensions is a tiny makeup miracle itself, but there’s nothing worse than trying to take off mascara at the end of the day. Sometimes, even with a shower and a double cleanse, I find my eyes still ringed in black. Obviously, we all want a good waterproof mascara, but the challenges of removing it almost make me want to skip this step of my makeup routine altogether. The Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara is so much easier to remove than pretty much any other mascara I’ve worn.
I always double-cleanse at night, but I find that my Thrive mascara comes off completely after my first cleanse. I massage the Farmacy Green Clean cleansing balm into my lashes, rinse with warm water, and voilá! The tubing formula loosens with the cleanser and rinses away seamlessly. I’ll occasionally find a couple of flakes left behind, but those come off with my second cleanse anyway. The major benefit here is that the product doesn’t get smeared into the skin when you wash your face. Instead, it flakes and lifts right off of your lashes.
Final verdict
I started this review by saying I really don’t like buying makeup products that I can’t easily snatch from a major retailer, but I’ll be making an exception for the Thrive Causemetics Liquid Lash Extension mascara moving forward. This is truly the best mascara I’ve ever put on my lashes and after years of saying, “How different could it really be?” to every video of it that crossed my For You page, I finally get it. This mascara isn’t just a viral sensation; it’s a product that solves every single problem a person could have with mascara. If you’ve been holding out like I have, take this as your sign to finally take the plunge.