Glossier's Lash Slick mascara has little fibers that add length and definition to my eyelashes without clumping or smudging

• Finding a mascara that works for my lashes without clumping, drying, or staining is difficult.

I've tried a lot of mascaras and have always wound up tossing them in the bin even before its 6-month expiration date.

The mascara always starts out with such promise, but then the formula might be too thick, making my lashes clump up. Or it's too heavy so when I blink, mascara gets on my brow bone or undereye. Or it doesn't stay on through my day, so if I cry at a movie, sweat, or move around too much, I end up with raccoon eyes, mascara smearing down my face. Or the mascara gets on my glasses, staining them when I blink. Or the wand doesn't coat each lash, making them clump up and stick together in three or four lash-wide clumps. The list literally goes on.

I'm happy to report that Glossier's Lash Slick mascara gives me none of these problems.

You may have heard of Glossier if you follow anything makeup related on Instagram; its aesthetic is minimal and basically "no-makeup makeup." When you wear something from Glossier, the hope is that people might think you were just born this way — personally, I was just hoping to find a mascara that would stay on and not smudge.

I had already purchased other products that I love from the brand, like its Solution for my acne-prone skin, so I was willing to give it a shot and bought Lash Slick when I visited the NYC flagship store recently.

At $16, Lash Slick costs a little more than a drugstore mascara and a little less than a high-end mascara, and I've paid a lot for high-end mascara before, so I was comfortable with that price point. I also liked that the product was hypoallergenic, dermatologist and ophthalmologist tested for allergies, and non-irritating for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers, aka mine. The mascara is also free of parabens, synthetic fragrance, and animal cruelty.

When I first took the tube out of the box, I admired its pretty, millennial pink shade, and when I twisted it open, I noticed that no mascara was dripping off the wand; I've purchased too many where the product was just falling out of the tube or the wand and would wind up wasted.

The bristles on the wand are spiky and gradually get longer, so it coats all of my lashes from the inner to the outer corners. After applying just one coat, the fiber-formula made my lashes looked longer and even had a slight curve to them, making my eyes look more open as well. The fibers wrap around my lashes so they're longer and darker, but they don't feel heavy like with traditional waxy mascara formulas.

The effects of the mascara aren't dramatic, so if you want to look like you just put on a pair of false lashes, this isn't the right formula for you. But since I was looking for an everyday mascara, the lengthening and lifting effects were ideal for me.

Lash Slick gives my lashes a lifted, lengthened look without feeling fake. It doesn't smear, smudge, or cake up on me, and my lashes don't feel thick and clumpy. And it's water-resistant, not waterproof, so it does stay on for a while, but comes off easily enough when I wash my face. It doesn't dry out quickly in the tube as well.

The bottom line

After trying tons of mascara formulas only to wind up disappointed, it's great to find one that fits the bill both literally and figuratively. I can just throw it on and not have to check in the mirror as the day goes on, and to me, that's priceless.