Not Black, Not Brown—the
When Dua Lipa breathes, I pay attention. So when she posts her trademark 20-slide Instagram dumps brimming with the coolest, most trend-inspiring camera roll snaps every week, my fellow editors and I are quick to inspect every detail.
One particular carousel that won’t leave my mind is a summery slideshow of the singer’s brief stay in Hamburg, Germany, which included a few up-close shots of her eyelashes coated in turquoise mascara with a sneaky YSL Beauty tag. Could this be an unreleased iteration of the brand’s lauded Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara in a new poolside hue? While I couldn’t find an exact match for the songstress’s mermaid shade on the brand’s site, I couldn’t wait until their mysterious launch to find a lookalike.
“Mascara is a daily staple in most people’s makeup bags and is the easiest step when it comes to eye makeup,” Donni Davy, co-founder of Half Magic and head makeup artist on Euphoria, tells Who What Wear. “Swapping your everyday black mascara with a colored one is literally the easiest way you can experiment with color on your eyes,” she adds. Though Davy doesn’t believe in rules regarding colorplay, she thinks that teal and blue hues look “especially beautiful” on brown eyes, and that turquoise mascara pops the most against deeper skin tones.
Ahead, 6 turquoise mascaras for a pop princess-approved look, plus a few other oceanic shades that feel all too perfect for summer.
The Best Turquoise Mascaras, at a Glance
Best Overall: Half Magic Eyelectric Extreme Lengthening Mascara
Half Magic
Eyelectric Extreme Lengthening Mascara in Teal Widdit
Pros: Smudge-resistant formula, wearable color payoff, holds curl
Cons: Might be too sheer for those who want intense color payoff
Size: 0.27 oz. | Shades: 5 | Benefits: Tubing formula, flake-free, ophthalmologist tested
There’s a lot to love about Half Magic’s Eyelectric Mascara, so let me break it down for you. Not only is the brand’s teal shade a stunning, pigment-packed shade of blue-green, but it’s easy to layer for barely there blue or a statement Lipa-like eye. A few quick swipes tinted my black lashes ocean blue, and the tubing formula demonstrated some serious flake- and smudge-free staying power during my day-long test—even on a hot New York City day.
Due to its lash-coating formula, it took a bit of legwork to remove this mascara. But I found that washing my face with warm water and cleanser before gently sliding my fingers down my lashes removed the turquoise tubes much easier than micellar water. It’s worth noting that this product offers more of a teal tint than a full-on shade change, but this makes it extremely wearable in everyday life (though you can always pack on the layers if you want to build up the color). “I wanted to create a colored mascara that was truly flattering, vibrant enough for the color to be visible and fun, but not so bright that it would take you all the way out of your comfort zone,” Davy explains.
Customer review: “Hands down, best tubing mascara ever! Lengthening, doesn’t smudge or flake. Lasts all day. Love it!”
Best Budget: Colourpop BFF Mascara
ColourPop
BFF Mascara in Swell Season
Pros: Low price, flake-free wear, intense color
Cons: No complaints here
Size: 0.24 oz. | Shades: 8 | Benefits: Volumizing, stay-put formula, buildable
If you don’t want to be too spendy when trying out a new look, I don’t blame you. I favor this under-$10 pick from Colourpop for its affable price, rich pigmentation, and impressive hold. Each swipe offers a bright blue hue that packs a punch without hurting your wallet, and its thick, fluffy wand leaves a healthy dose of the bright formula with every pass, building intensity in not only this sea-blue shade, but in volume, as well. When I want to play up the color of my flutters for a festival or fun event, I won’t hesitate to grab this budget-friendly wand.
Customer review: “Suuuuch a fun and unexpected tint, and still totally wearable for daily life – no need to save it for a special occasion. Doesn’t clump, stays in place, and looks awesome with the many (many) blue and green ColourPop shadows in my collection. The price is so reasonable, too.”
Best Blue: YSL Beauty Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara
YSL Beauty
Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara in Electric Blue
Pros: Easy to build, clump-resistant, high pigmentation
Cons: Shoppers note tough removal
Size: 0.30 oz. | Shades: 3 | Benefits: Lash-separating brush, infused iris extract, safe for sensitive eyes
While not turquoise, this mascara is the formula we can assume the songstress wore in her post based on the brand and tapered wand shape—just in a dreamy, unreleased shade. The closest thing? Electric Blue, the icy royal hue above. We’ve lauded this volume-boosting and lengthening formula for its lash-separating powers that make your fringe look like falsies in just a few swipes. From Lipa’s iPhone shots, it’s easy to see how noticeable this turquoise shade is against inky eyelashes, and the brand claims that it only takes 5 strokes to achieve maximum volume sans clumping.
Customer review: “Love the vibrancy of this mascara. My lashes always get tons of compliments when I use this product. Perfect consistency and does not clump.”
Best Blue, Less Expensive: L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Original Volume-Building Mascara
L’Oreal Paris
Voluminous Original Volume-Building Mascara in Cobalt Blue
Pros: Offers natural-looking length, volumizes without clumping, drugstore price
Cons: Some shoppers report under-eye smudging
Size: 0.26 oz. | Shades: 7 | Benefits: Boosts lashes to 5 times the thickness, made with lash-conditioning ingredients (D-panthenol and ceramide-R)
If a vibrant blue is what you’re after, then look no further than this drugstore pick from L’Oréal. This cobalt shade is nearly identical to YSL Beauty’s royal blue—just at a fraction of the price—and imparts many of the same benefits, too. Volumizing with little effort and great for defining individual lashes, editors have long waxed poetic about this budget-friendly tube; its thick wand and clump-free formula offering natural-looking length without veering spidery. And right now, it’s on sale for just $9.
Customer review: “I love this mascara and have since the ‘90s. The color payoff is great…What I love is that this mascara (basically) stays all day but still comes off easily with washing. The brush is nice and the formula curls my lashes for me and it’s cheap to buy. I’ve purchased every color, and even as I age, it’s nice to wear some fun makeup that’s not blitzed with glitter or neon.”
Best Volume: Shiseido Controlled Chaos Mascara Ink
Shiseido
Controlled Chaos Mascara Ink
Pros: Thickens lashes without clumping, holds curl, smudge-proof
Cons: More green than turquoise
Size: Not listed | Shades: 4 | Benefits: Curl-enhancing brush, boosts volume by 250%
Bright, boosted turquoise lashes coming right up! This thickening mascara is your one-stop shop for bold volume and color, making this the ideal option for anyone with thin or long, spindly lashes. Its curved brush offers optimal lift and curl in each coat, and despite its thickening abilities, doesn’t clump or goop up your fringe. Because this shade veers more green than blue, this mermaid color will bring out the colorful shards in blue, green, and mixed-color eyes—though you can experiment with this (and any!) shade regardless of your eye color.
Customer review: “Brightens my eyes and I love the colors. I bought this as a Christmas gift for a friend after she complimented me. The colors really stand out too, which I love…The emerald is definitely the color which is most noticeable. This mascara lengthens my lashes which helps with making them stand out. This might be the first mascara I use up before it dries up, I wear it that often.”
Best Application: Kiko Milano Maxi Mod Colour Mascara
Kiko Milano
Maxi Mod Colour Mascara in Metallic Green
Pros: Small brush for better maneuverability, volume-boosting, long-wearing
Cons: Some experience clumping
Size: 0.41 oz. | Shades: 4 | Benefits: 200% increase in volume, up to 10-hour wear, infused with argan oil
We’ve covered our bases on volumizing mascara wands, but what about those made for precision? This Kiko Milano formula coats each lash in a decadent layer of a fun, ‘80s-vibrant teal thanks to its small, thin bristles at the end of its wand. Its mini stature is designed for precision placement, which makes it easy to sweep the color above and below the lashes (and get into those tight corners!) without making things messy. Each pass can boost your lashes’ thickness up to twice their original size and offer 10 hours of bold color that won’t fade or flake.
Customer review: “I LOVE this color and I also can’t get over how well the wand applies the product. It allows precision. I’m excited that I found this cruelty-free brand.”
What to Look For
- Shade: As shown above, there are many different iterations of turquoise mascaras available on the market today. While we wait for Lipa’s shade of choice to see the light of day, you can try teal or turquoise hues like the Colourpop BFF Mascara in Swell Season or opt for a brighter, truer blue with colors like YSL Beauty’s Electric Blue. With the options available, there’s a handful of shades to play around with until you find your preferred color of choice.
- Formula: Just like there are many different color options, each formula brings its own set of benefits to the table. Where some are more pigmented and offer a brighter hue, others are more wearable in everyday life thanks to a natural-looking tint (ahem, the easy-to-wear Half Magic Eyelectric Mascara). Almost every formula above is smudge- and flake-proof, but some are better at holding curl than others (hi, tubing mascaras!). If brighter color is more important to you than 10-hour wear (or vice versa), you can find your perfect match above.
- Price: One of the last, but arguably most important things to keep in mind when shopping for a new mascara, is price. This retro shade finds itself in all corners, with L’Oréal options starting at $9 and Shiseido picks climbing their way to $25. Though these mascaras may lie on either side of the scale, you can rest assured that we’ve picked the best quality formulas from each price range—so no matter your budget, you can experiment with beauty without breaking the bank.
Who Should Wear Turquoise Mascara?
As mentioned before, anyone can wear turquoise mascara—the right hair color, eye color, and skin tone combo does not exist. However, Davy likes the idea of turquoise mascara against deeper eye and skin tones to allow the color to pop.
Another perk regarding colorful mascara is that it might be the simplest way to make your makeup look elevated and interesting. “You don’t have to have precision eyeliner skills or any blending ability whatsoever… you just coat those lashes and go,” Davy quips. “I am all about fun makeup being easy.”
What to Wear with Turquoise Mascara?
If the thought of any sort of blue mascara gives you pause, Davy has a few suggestions for making this statement eye look a bit more subtle (or not—choose your own adventure). “Personally, my favorite way to wear color mascara is to let it really stand out against the other eye makeup that I’m wearing,” she starts. Davy suggests using this mascara with a shifting duo-chrome eye shadow like Half Magic’s Blushing Lizard to draw even more attention to the eye, or to double-down on the turquoise color by adding on swipe of of teal eyeliner or using a matching eye shadow. “I also love how effortless yet striking teal eyeshadow looks when I pair it with glowy skin and literally no other eye makeup,” she adds.
How We Chose
I evaluated the best turquoise mascaras on the market by testing samples of several popular shades and brands myself, wearing the formulas for hours on end in hot and humid conditions to see which provided the best color payoff, staying power, and could effectively hold a curl. Using a discerning eye, I evaluated several other popular turquoise and teal mascara options on the market—researching the formulas, weighing benefits and ingredients, and taking shopper reviews into consideration. I shaped the above list based on real-time testing and research and made sure to include the very same formula Lipa is suspected to be using, just in a different shade, to offer a robust list of options for the colorful mascara-curious.
Why Trust Us
At Who What Wear, we know that beauty isn’t one-size-fits-all. Over the years, our editors have tested thousands of products—including skincare, makeup, haircare, and nails—while also working closely with trusted experts, like renowned dermatologists, celebrity makeup artists, and other leading industry insiders. Together, this ensures every guide is well-researched, inclusive, and relevant to you.
We focus on formulas that deliver, whether they’re affordable favorites or luxury investments. Our product selection is based on tangible results, ingredient know-how, and what we’d truly recommend to our closest friends and family members.
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