Volume is the most-requested property in mascara and the one that transfers worst to mature lashes, so this page is partly a roundup and partly an argument.
A volumizing mascara works by depositing more material per lash — thicker waxes, polymers, sometimes fibers — so each lash has a greater diameter. That works when the lash has enough stiffness to carry it. A fine lash does not: it bends under the added weight, the tip drops toward the cheek, and the lash line reads as shorter and flatter than it did bare. People then apply a second coat, which makes it worse, and conclude that nothing works on their lashes.
What people actually want when they ask for volume is a fuller-looking lash line, and that is achievable — just not by thickening individual lashes. Three things produce it: color at the root, which darkens the lash line itself so the eye reads as rimmed; separation, because distinct lashes read as more lashes than clumps do; and filling the gaps, with a soft pencil pressed between the lashes, which is the most effective single technique in this whole hub and involves no mascara at all.
So the picks below are a mix. Some are the volumizing formulas that get closest to working on a mature lash — generally the lighter ones, which is a contradiction the category does not advertise. Others are the products that actually produce the result people want.
If your lashes are fine rather than short, read best mascara for thinning lashes first; it is the more directly useful page.
