Review: Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara

Does anyone else feel like they sometimes start the new year exhausted, or is it just me? We may be just 4 days through the new year, and I've already worked 50% of it. It sounds ridiculously silly, I know - I'm just being dramatic! I did, however, finish out the year with some very sad things in 2025, and I needed a bit of a break to get away from it for a couple of days, and the rest that I got was very much appreciated, but I think my sleep patterns have been a little erratic, with switching days of being on and off. Thankfully, no matter how tired you are, you can always rely on makeup to help you fake it, on the days when you can't quite make it. 

 

One of the good things that came out of the end of last year was my birthday, and aside from all the well wishes, and the gorgeous trip that I took away with my husband, I also managed to snag myself a great present from Sephora, a Rare Beauty makeup kit, which had the Perfect Stroke Universal Volumizing Mascara as part of it. This mascara is said to help lift, curl, lengthen and volumise the lashes, all of the things that you'd want for your lashes, when it comes to making them pop with your mascara! On top of all that, it's also meant to be long-wearing!

 

This mascara is supposed to be lightweight, and easy to build up, and it's meant to have a brush that is curvy, multi-length and made to give every lash type amazing oomph! This does have a brush that has bristles with varying lengths, and when you start at the base of the lashes, it does seem to load the hairs with mascara quite evenly, and I love that this brush isn't overly fat, and seems to get the tricky little ones in the corners of the eyes that don't ever quite get covered particularly well. 

 

The only issue that I seem to have with the brush is that it seems to be a little too big for the 8ml mascara case, and every time I use it, the brush seems to push the product out of the tube, which makes it messy and feels like a bit of a waste. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the brush. I like that this does seem to give me a bit of a lift, but I can't speak to how much of a curl you can get out of it, as my lashes still seem a little curved from my lash lift. I do appreciate that this doesn't have an odd smell, and that it seems to coat my lashes in mascara quite evenly.

 

I haven't found it to cause much clumping, which is great, and it does give my lashes a bit of length, and while it also does add some volume, it's not as much as I'd prefer, sadly. It is, however, one of the easier mascaras to take off that somehow also results in minimal smudging around my eyes, which feels a little like witchcraft to me! I have cried a little bit with this on and I didn't find a lake of mascara tears on my face, nor does this seem to be hard to remove - some cleansing oil does the trick at the end of the day. Yet, this seems to stay on my lashes and not budge much throughout the day - how mad is that! This is easy to love and integrate as part of my daily routine, and be found for $25 for 8ml, or $43 for 13.5ml, available at Sephora. What;s your latest mascara?