Ultimate Mascara Challenge

Because Karla is naturally endowed in the lash department, we thought a thickening formula would be too much for everyday wear. We chose Fresh Firebird as a great full-coverage mascara for her lashes.

"Wow! I love them!" Karla said about her lashes after our makeup artist, Marni, applied her mascara. "They're so open — like a fan!"

Karla calls this product "fantastic." She says that for the first time, she’s had no smudging or flakiness after wearing her mascara all day. "By the end of day, my eyelashes looked as fresh and open as when the mascara was first applied. I swapped out my old mascara at the end of the day when I saw my lashes looked normal and didn't have me looking like Alice Cooper. My new mascara glides on easily and doesn’t have a heavy, glued look...I love it!"

To buy: $26, Sephora

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Eva's beauty stats: 29, brown eyes; medium-length, thick wavy brown/black hair; combination/oily skin; short, thin lashes

Beauty tip: Eva uses Indian kohl eyeliner when she wants to make her eyes pop, but uses her fingers to smudge it: "Fingers are the best smudging tools."

Eva's ideal mascara is one that will give her long, thick lashes, "like Kim Kardashian!"

Eva liked how smooth and easily this mascara went on, and loved that it didn't feel heavy or thick. "It didn't weigh down my lashes — it coated them without making them feel too heavy."

To buy: $7.79, drugstore.com

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Erin's beauty stats: 30; fair skin with a normal complexion; long strawberry blonde hair; short, light-colored lashes

Beauty secret: Uses hemorrhoid cream under her eyes to reduce puffiness

"I usually go for a minimal makeup look, with light face powder and concealer." Because of her naturally short lashes, she tends to choose mascaras that promise to lengthen and thicken.

We thought that an everyday mascara, Shu Uemura's Basic Brown, would best compliment Erin's fair complexion and light-colored lashes. Her reaction?

"I've never used brown mascara before — but I love it!"

Erin loved the color of the mascara and found it perfect for daytime use.

"It was definitely still intact by the end of the day — even after the gym, it didn't budge! I've never really considered wearing a brown mascara, but I totally love it! It goes with my coloring, and it's a perfect daytime alternative to black."

To buy: $27.50, Sephora

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Sandi's beauty stats: 28; short, black hair; dark brown eyes; normal complexion; short, naturally thin Asian lashes

Sandi usually goes without mascara because making her short, thin lashes look longer and thicker takes more time than she's willing to spend putting on makeup.

Our makeup artist, Marni, really loved the wand of the Clinique High Impact Curling mascara we tried out on Sandi. "I can actually see this curling the lashes — wow!" she said.

Our editors were equally impressed. "Her eyes are really popping out — the lashes look eight million times longer!" one exclaimed.

As for Sandi: "Oh yeah! — I actually have lashes today!"

Sandi loved how her mascara adhered to her naturally short lashes. "It stayed on all day and didn’t smudge or give me raccoon eyes!"

To buy: $14, Sephora

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Meliqué's beauty stats: 25; normal skin tone; dark hair and eyes, but uses blue-colored contacts; naturally curly African American lashes

We covet Meliqué's beautiful curly lashes; however, her ideal product would give her length too.

"On a normal day, I usually won't use mascara. I'll put on eye shadow, eyeliner, and lip gloss. But I don't really know a lot about makeup or how to put it on, so I'm very eager to learn how to best use these products!"

Meliqué tried one of our wow! mascaras, the MAC Plush Lash. Marni loved the wand, calling the brush "luxurious" and "great for separating the lashes."

Meliqué had high praise as well: "I don't want to take this off!"

Meliqué absolutely loved the mascara. "My eyelashes looked beautiful," she said. "I was more than satisfied with the results. I don’t remember ever seeing my eyelashes that long after applying mascara, and by the end of the day, they still looked great! I would definitely purchase MAC mascara in the future and even used it the next day after the challenge."

To buy: $13, maccosmetics.com

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Vanessa's beauty stats: 20s; naturally curly, long, dark brown hair; brown eyes; olive skin with a normal complexion; natural curl to lashes

Beauty secrets: "My one swear-by product: Palmer's Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick for Lips. It's amazing. Another thing I love to do is put a cup or so of mayonnaise in my hair to really soften it. I do this about four times a year, usually when the seasons change, because my hair tends to get dry around those times. I leave it in all night, shampoo it out the next day, and it's sooo soft and smooth!"

"In terms of makeup though: I'm not usually very concerned with it. I kinda just like to roll out of bed and go. I'm the kind that puts on mascara as I'm walking down the street."

We tried another wow! mascara on Vanessa, the L'Oréal Original Voluminous mascara. Our makeup artist, Marni, called this mascara the kind that "gives you lashes that make a breeze when you blink!"

"This is crazy," Vanessa said. "They don't even look real!"

"This mascara made my eyelashes look so long and luscious and pretty!" Vanessa said. "It didn't flake or smudge at all throughout the day. I love this mascara and will definitely be buying it in the future!"

To buy: $7.29, drugstore.com

Abbe's beauty stats: 24; blue eyes; light brown hair with natural dark blonde streaks; fair skin with an oily complexion; naturally long lashes

Beauty secrets: "I believe in using makeup to play up what you have. I really love my eyes, so I use eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara to enhance and bring them out. Your face is the first thing you put forward to the world, so it's great when you can use makeup to show off your personality."

We used the Flirt! It Curl mascara in brown to give some curl to Abbe's naturally long, light-colored lashes and balance out her fair skin. The result? "Ohmygod!" and "Amazing!" were among the high praises this mascara heard from our editors.

"I love it — wow!" Abbe said. "It's easy and dramatic...which is perfect for me! I look great!"

Abbe loved that it played up her eyes like she wanted. "It definitely had that wow factor I was looking for. So many people asked me if I had eyelash extensions on and were shocked when I told them they were mine! This mascara really brought out just how long my lashes are, which I never seem to get with my current mascara. It also has the curling element, which I love." She was also a huge fan of the color; "the chocolate brown color was more natural than a jet-black."

Her Mascara Challenge take-away: "I learned you don't need eyeliner or even any shadow to make your eyes pop. That with a great mascara, it can be enough for a great daytime look."

To buy: flirtcosmetics.com

Nina's beauty stats: 30; black American; naturally thick, curly black hair; brown eyes; medium-toned, lightly freckled, clear skin; short, thin lashes

Beauty secret: "I love Paul Mitchell The Conditioner. It's absolutely the best for my hair, which tends to be kinda thick and poufy. It's a leave-in conditioner that doesn't make my hair hard and defines without making it sticky."

"My main makeup problem is that all my makeup runs (even waterproof!), so although I'd love some va-va-va-voom from my mascara, I am worried about getting raccoon eyes. For makeup, I usually just use foundation mixed with moisturizer, highlighter under my brows, and lip gloss, but I'd love a mascara that gives me more volume."

We love the way the Lancôme Definicils lengthening mascara enhanced and lengthened Nina's lashes.

"You can really see my lashes!" Nina said. "This mascara truly makes the difference."

Nina loved that this mascara didn't melt off her face. "I liked it both after a few hours and at the end of the day. I've been wearing it daily since the shoot, and I really like how it looks — and that it doesn't fade! I would definitely buy it in the future."

To buy: $24.50, lancome-usa.com

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