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Amazon’s bestselling $4 mascara has 240,000 five-star reviews — and it's a Black Friday steal

The Black Friday deals continue on tons of beauty favorites, especially with a wide variety of amazing markdowns at Amazon. When perusing the savings, I discovered one mascara that had over 240,000 (!!) five-star Amazon reviews ... so of course, I had to check it out. Surely such an inexpensive mascara can't be worthy of all this hype, right? Well, spoiler alert: the Essence Lash Princess Mascara is absolutely worthy of all this hype.

I now see (with eyes framed by lush lashes) why it's the No. 1 bestselling mascara on Amazon. It's on sale now for $4 (was $5), but to my delight, I also spotted a giftworthy set featuring multiple varieties marked down for Black Friday, including four of the brand's mascaras in the Princess collection for only $16.

Get four of the cult-favorite Essence Princess mascaras in this sweet set.

$16 at Amazon

Why is this a good Black Friday deal?

The price truly can't be beat. I admittedly love the pricier prestige mascaras, but even my other favorite drugstore mascara costs more than double. It's usually an extremely reasonable $5 per pop, but in this kit you'll get 4 for $4 apiece. And yeah — the product is actually really good.

Why do I need this?

Going in, I was fully ready to judge the brush because I typically prefer a rubberized bristle brush. (I think it provides a clump-free experience that way and really coats and separates each lash.) But I have to say, this cone-shaped fiber brush really did live up to the product claims that it sculpts individual lashes effortlessly. No need for any glob control. My lashes looked dramatically lifted with plenty of volume that lasted all day without any flaking or smudging.

It seriously does give the look of instant false lashes, which is great because I hate fighting with lash glue. Apply one coat of this stuff and you're good to go, or you can amp it up with two to three coats for a seriously extra voluminous look. (For the record, I have two coats on in the below photo.)

I tried (and fell in love with) the OG Lash Princess Mascara before even realizing there are three other kinds in Essence's Lash Princess family. There's also the Sculpted Volume Mascara, Waterproof Mascara and Curl Mascara, all of which are in the gift set. The others also have many thousands of five-star reviews and are equally affordable at less than five bucks. Now, please excuse me as I add all of them to my cart. (It's my job!)

A photo of the writer wearing the mascara next to a photo of the product itself.
Essence Princess Lash Mascara really is as good as the 240,000+ five-star reviewers say it is.

What reviewers say

I'm far from the only convert — remember, nearly 250,000 reviewers have given this little mascara a big five-star rating.

"Must have products in our household with two teenage girls and myself," confessed one beauty maven mama. "Our favorite is the false lash effect and so thankful there is technically three in this pack!"

"I’ve always struggled with mascara. Over the years, I have never found a brand that I made sure to purchase again. Until ‘Essence’," marveled an "impressed" five-star fan. "I absolutely love this stuff! My eyelashes are almost nonexistent and this product gives me eyelashes!!"

A savvy gifter shared, "I got this for my daughter for Christmas. She loves it! I bought just a single tube to try it out and I love it. With the mascara I was using before, at the end of the day my eyes and lashes would be itchy — but these do not irritate me at all."

This set is perfect gift for the beauty lover in your life — or as a little treat to yourself for making it through the Thanksgiving chaos!

$16 at Amazon

If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

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Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

How we find and select deals: Our deal-hunting team of award-winning writers and editors are seasoned experts in their fields (tech, style, home, beauty), many with 20+ years’ experience. This team works diligently to bring you the best sales, deals and price drops. Our unbiased experts maintain strict editorial integrity: We only bring you deals that we really believe will save you money. Here’s more on how we select deals for our Black Friday and Cyber Monday coverage.