Mascara for short lashes

Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara leads with 31 of 32 reviewers with short lashes saying it lengthened or built them up. It is sold at Sephora and Ulta, and the best pick sold on Amazon is Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara at 55 of 60. Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara is next at 40 of 44, and reviewers credit it more for length than for volume.

  • 823 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Jun 2017 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it work on short lashes? What buyers said
  1. Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara 32 said either way
  2. Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara 60 said either way
  3. Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara 44 said either way
  4. Benefit They're Real! Lengthening Mascara 57 said either way
  5. Benefit Roller Lash Mascara 63 said either way
  6. Benefit Fan Fest Mascara 24 said either way
  7. Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara 39 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for lash length. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara 31 of 32 say it lengthens short lashes See it at Ulta
Best pick on Amazon Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara 55 of 60 say it lengthens short lashes Check price on Amazon
What stands out

The first two picks are volumizing formulas. 53% of reviews for Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara and 48% for Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara mention volume, not just length.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points buyers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Fenty Beauty

Hella Thicc Mascara

Best for volume on short lashes

31/32 say it lengthens short lashes

Volume is the main praise, with 53% of reviews mentioning it, and 41% mention length. 19% mention smudging.

What buyers praise

  • Adds volume 53%
  • Lengthens lashes 41%
  • Doesn't smudge or flake 17%
  • Separated, no clumps 16%
  • Lasts all day 12%

What buyers complain about

  • Smudges or flakes 19%
  • Flakes under the eyes 9%
  • Messy or awkward wand 5%
  • Clumpy 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 22 of 22
  • Sephora 9 of 10
See it at Ulta

Share of 58 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

2

Lancôme

Monsieur Big Mascara

Best for added volume

55/60 say it lengthens short lashes

Strong at both stores, with 27 of 28 at Ulta and 28 of 32 at Sephora. Clumping is the catch, mentioned in 20% of reviews.

What buyers praise

  • Adds volume 48%
  • Lengthens lashes 32%
  • Lasts all day 14%
  • Separated, no clumps 12%
  • Holds a curl 10%

What buyers complain about

  • Clumpy 20%
  • Smudges or flakes 9%
  • Messy or awkward wand 8%
  • Flakes under the eyes 7%
  • Drops the curl or weighs lashes down 6%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 27 of 28
  • Sephora 28 of 32
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination15 of 17
  • Oily6 of 6
  • Dry3 of 4
  • Normal3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light16 of 16
  • Light-medium to medium7 of 10
Check price on Amazon

Share of 118 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

3

Lancôme

Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara

Best for length and separation

40/44 say it lengthens short lashes

A lengthening formula: 62% mention length and 45% say it keeps lashes apart. 10% call it too subtle.

What buyers praise

  • Lengthens lashes 62%
  • Separated, no clumps 45%
  • Lasts all day 20%
  • Doesn't smudge or flake 19%
  • Adds volume 18%

What buyers complain about

  • Smudges or flakes 14%
  • Too subtle 10%
  • Drops the curl or weighs lashes down 8%
  • Dries out fast in the tube 4%
  • Clumpy 3%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 32 of 35
  • Sephora 8 of 9
4

Benefit

They're Real! Lengthening Mascara

Best for length

49/57 say it lengthens short lashes

Reviewers credit it for length, with 46% mentioning it, and 22% say it separates lashes. Complaints include smudging (18%) and the formula changing for the worse (7%).

What buyers praise

  • Lengthens lashes 46%
  • Separated, no clumps 22%
  • Adds volume 17%
  • Holds a curl 8%
  • Doesn't smudge or flake 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Smudges or flakes 18%
  • Hard to remove 7%
  • Formula changed for the worse 7%
  • Clumpy 7%
  • Dries out fast in the tube 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 25 of 30
  • Sephora 24 of 27
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 12
  • Normal6 of 6
  • Dry5 of 6
  • Oily3 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light10 of 11
  • Light-medium to medium11 of 12
See it at Ulta

Share of 112 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

5

Benefit

Roller Lash Mascara

Best for holding a curl

53/63 say it lengthens short lashes

The most reviewers weighed in on this one, with 53 of 63 saying it worked. 32% say it holds a curl, though 8% say it drops.

What buyers praise

  • Lengthens lashes 39%
  • Separated, no clumps 33%
  • Holds a curl 32%
  • Adds volume 16%
  • Lasts all day 12%

What buyers complain about

  • Drops the curl or weighs lashes down 8%
  • Smudges or flakes 6%
  • Too subtle 5%
  • Clumpy 4%
  • Too expensive 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 25 of 29
  • Sephora 28 of 34
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination16 of 19
  • Dry6 of 8
  • Normal5 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light16 of 18
  • Light-medium to medium7 of 9
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
See it at Ulta

Share of 114 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

6

Benefit

Fan Fest Mascara

21/24 say it lengthens short lashes

40% mention length and 29% volume, but 17% say it clumps and 12% say it flakes.

What buyers praise

  • Lengthens lashes 40%
  • Adds volume 29%
  • Separated, no clumps 18%
  • Easy to remove 12%
  • Holds a curl 12%

What buyers complain about

  • Clumpy 17%
  • Flakes under the eyes 12%
  • Dries out fast in the tube 9%
  • Too subtle 6%
  • Smudges or flakes 6%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 11 of 12
  • Sephora 10 of 12
  • Brand site 7 of 7 shown, not counted
See it at Ulta

Share of 77 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

7

Tarte

Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara

32/39 say it lengthens short lashes

It has the weakest record here at 32 of 39. 15% call it too subtle and 12% say it clumps.

What buyers praise

  • Lengthens lashes 35%
  • Adds volume 30%
  • Separated, no clumps 17%
  • Lasts all day 15%
  • Holds a curl 8%

What buyers complain about

  • Too subtle 15%
  • Clumpy 12%
  • Smudges or flakes 10%
  • Too expensive 9%
  • Hard to remove 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 10 of 11
  • Sephora 22 of 28
  • Brand site 14 of 16 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination15 of 18
  • Oily3 of 5
  • Normal2 of 3
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light12 of 15
  • Light-medium to medium8 of 11

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 87,180 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for lash length and read the newest matching reviews, up to 30 per product and store, posted between Jun 2017 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that Amazon sells from the brand and that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else links to the store page, unpaid.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts and link to the product pages, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara Ulta, Sephora (58 reviews counted)
  2. Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara Ulta, Sephora (118 reviews counted)
  3. Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara Ulta, Sephora (93 reviews counted)
  4. Benefit They're Real! Lengthening Mascara Ulta, Sephora (112 reviews counted)
  5. Benefit Roller Lash Mascara Ulta, Sephora (114 reviews counted)
  6. Benefit Fan Fest Mascara Ulta, Sephora (77 reviews counted)
  7. Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara Ulta, Sephora (99 reviews counted)

People asking about it on Reddit

  1. What's the best mascara for someone with short, straight lashes? r/drugstoreMUA, Apr 2024, 36 comments
  2. Mascara for short eyelashes r/Makeup, May 2022, 29 comments
  3. Best mascara for short eyelashes r/MakeupAddictionCanada, Jun 2024, 24 comments

Questions buyers ask

Which mascara makes short lashes look longer?

Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara has the best record here at 31 of 32. Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara follows at 55 of 60, then Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara at 40 of 44.

Should I choose a lengthening or volumizing mascara for short lashes?

Reviews point both ways. The first two picks, Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Mascara and Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara, are volumizing formulas. Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara is a lengthening formula and sits third at 40 of 44.

Does Benefit They're Real work on short lashes?

For many buyers it does, with 49 of 57 reviewers with short lashes saying it lengthened or built them up. 46% of its reviews mention length, but 18% mention smudging and 7% say it's hard to remove.

Is there a mascara for short lashes on Amazon?

Yes. The best pick sold on Amazon is Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara at 55 of 60. Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara and Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara are sold there too. The other picks are sold at Sephora and Ulta.

Related problems

Mascara Mascara that holds a curl Top pick: L'Oréal Paris Voluminous Lash Paradise 608 buyer reports Mascara Mascara that doesn't clump Top pick: Clinique High Impact Mascara 633 buyer reports Mascara Mascara that doesn't smudge Top pick: L'Oréal Paris Double Extend Beauty Tubes 751 buyer reports Eyelash curler Eyelash curler that doesn't pinch Top pick: Tweezerman ProCurl Lash Curler 304 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through "Check price on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.