Refy's Lash Sculpt Lengthen and Lift Mascara Is Equal Parts Confusing and Amazing

Refy's Lash Sculpt Lengthen and Lift Mascara has beauty fans in a frenzy over its strange, curved, comb-like applicator. Although, contrary to popular belief this isn’t the first time a makeup brand has tried to reinvent the mascara wand. After nearly 15 years as a beauty editor, I’ve seen several semi-successful and ill-fated attempts. There was the mascara you pumped. The mascara shaped like a tiny rake. The wand that bent at a 90-degree angle, and another wand that looked like a miniature medieval weapon. Many of these novelties failed to catch on, reminding us that if it ain’t broke and it makes lashes look good, maybe don’t try to fix it. Sure, these companies had good intentions in wanting to make mascara easier to apply, but oftentimes their innovations just made it harder and sometimes even hazardous to your eyeball.

Refy is the most recent brand to try and reimagine the traditional mascara wand, and with thousands of videos and hundreds of thousands of likes on TikTok, its Lash Sculpt Mascara has captured makeup lovers’ attention in a major way. A massive mascara fan—I’ve probably tried a thousand at this point—I’m always up for trying something new and unusual, albeit with a healthy dose of skepticism. I’ve been disappointed by never-seen-before mascaras before. I also typically prefer fluffy wands and volumizing formulas with words like Climax! Drama! and Extreme! in the name.

Refy Lash Sculpt Lengthen and Lift Mascara

$26.00, Sephora

When I got my hands on the Lash Sculpt Mascara, my first reaction was noticing how thick the tube is. It’s shorter and stockier than most mascaras, which was unexpected seeing as the wand itself is so slim. Also surprising is how little mascara is actually on the wand when you pull it out of the tube. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was completely free of product (I touched it, and unsurprisingly, it’s not). Looking at the wand for the first time, I was immediately reminded of one of my all-time favorite mascaras: Maybelline New York The Falsies Push Up Mascara (which doesn’t have a fluffy brush but does have a hyperbolic name). Launched in 2017, this wand was also shaped like a comb, albeit with longer bristles and a lot less curve to it. The Maybelline Push Up Mascara wand looked like a miniature hairbrush. Refy Lash Sculpt looks more like a lobster claw or a sickle hook. Or as one TikToker seemed to think, like the “Grim Reaper from The Sims”.

According to Refy cofounder Jess Hunt, development of the applicator was two years in the making. “I read every single DM and comment. I don't think any other product has been requested as highly as this one,” she tells Allure. “The patent-pending applicator has been designed in-house by the Refy team to fit every eye shape and each bristle on the wand has been strategically placed to separate, lift, and lengthen the lashes.”

As many reviewers have found though, the Lash Sculpt wand takes some getting used to. I had to try it about four times before I got comfortable with it and found exactly how best to hold the wand in order for it to work for me. The wand is very, very curved—more curved than my almond-shaped eyes—and initially, it was tricky to not jab my eyelid with the tip. The method I’ve nailed down is to go in with the bristles tilted slightly upward as I pull the comb through my lashes. This helps to catch a majority of my lashes and keeps the wand from poking me in the eye. I still find it tricky on my left eye (I’m right-handed), as it’s harder to rotate the wand with your hand flipped and contorted the other way.

While the wand is quite long, I found that it wasn’t long enough to catch every single lash at once. Combing through my lashes about six to seven times, I either missed the teeny-tiny lashes at the inner corners, or the errant lashes I have at the outer corners. If I held the wand so that the base lined up with my outside lashes, then the lashes about two-thirds of the way along my lash line—where the wand ended—got extra long and wonky-looking as the tip deposited more product there. This was less of an issue when I tried the mascara without curling my lashes first. Curling them seems to cause the corner lashes to fan out, making it harder for the wand to reach them. What the wand does brilliantly, however, is allow you to get really close to the lash line, while the pointy rubber bristles comb through and separate my lashes in a really beautiful way.

Wand aside, the formula is lovely. Thin, silky, and super glossy, it reminds me most of Glossier Lash Slick Mascara (although Glossier is a tubing mascara, Refy is not). The pigment is inky black–darker than a lot of mascaras in my collection—and the formula is really lightweight and flexible. This is probably chalked up to the fact it contains panthenol, a conditioning agent that softens the lashes, as well as is-diglyceryl polyacyladipate-2, an ingredient that cosmetic chemist Valerie George calls out as key.

“I really like this ingredient because it’s a lanolin-alternative that also acts as an emollient and helps evenly distribute pigments on the lashes,” she says. “It might even have some temporary hair-softening properties.” The other important ingredients include carnauba and candelilla waxes, along with synthetic beeswax, as these do the heavy lifting, literally. “Once the water from the formula evaporates, these [waxes] create a film over the lashes to keep the pigments in place,” explains George. Hunt notes that carnauba and candelilla waxes are also found in the brand’s best-selling Brow Sculpt, allowing you “to create an elevated natural lash with a high-impact finish.”

Allure Editor Reviews

Three editors—with three different types of lashes—put Refy's Lash Sculpt Lengthen and Lift Mascara to the test. Their honest first impressions and before-and-after photos, below.

Sophia Panych, Allure contributor

The formula is unbelievably lengthening, quite a feat since it’s not fiber-based. It gives nice separation but zero volume, so if you’re looking for something to bulk up your lashes, this mascara is not it. Some TikTok reviews said it gives you a natural lash look. It definitely does, but I find it’s slightly more intense than the most natural mascaras on the market, formulas like Glossier Lash Slick or Victoria Beckham Future Lash Mascara. Lash Sculpt is more than a tint because of how much it lengthens and lifts. It leaves my lashes long, wispy, and stretched out like a foldable fan.

As someone with extremely oily eyelids (and lazy about properly setting my undereyes), most mascaras creep underneath my lashes after a few hours. Refy Lash Sculpt was no different, smudging under my lower lashes after approximately three to four hours. It wasn’t as pronounced as many other mascaras I’ve worn and I did find my go-to combination of Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer set with Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Perfection Blurring Under-Eye Powder helped minimize it.

What’s nice is that the formula doesn't dry out and flake throughout the day, which is something I always notice right away as a contact lens-wearer. Overall, I’d give Refy an A for effort on this one. I understand the concept. If you get a hang of the comb and it's not too curved for your eye shape, then you’ll benefit from incredible length and separation, and it’s a great option for people who prefer a more natural lash look.

I think what’s clear is this is definitely not a product for everyone. I saw TikTok videos of people who loved it and spoke to friends who hated it. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. I’ll keep using it and perfecting my application process. Will I invest in another tube when it’s finished? Will this new wand shape catch on and revolutionize mascara for good? Like the risk-taking mascaras of old, only time will tell.

Annie Blay, associate beauty editor

I'm not much of a mascara fan, but I was intrigued by the curved shape of the Refy Mascara. I found there's a bit of a learning curve (no pun intended) with this product. The interesting shape isn't the most intuitive, so it takes some fidgeting to start to feel comfortable with it, but once you do, it's smooth sailing.

The shape of the wand feels like it's supposed to mimic your natural eye shape and once I understood that, it was easier to use. I love how small the bristles are because they fan out my lashes just the right amount and really target each individual lash, fanning them out and separating them. A little does go a long way here, so don't dip the wand in the tube too many times. I found that when I doubled-dipped for one lash, I started getting spiderweb-like clumps—don't make the same mistake I did.

Sarah Han, commerce editor

At first glance, I was a bit unsure about the unusually curved wand but it actually gave me one of the best lash-separating finishes out of all of the mascaras I’ve tried. Though my lashes are sparse, they somehow manage to form clumps, which drives me nuts. (After all, I want the illusion of more lashes, not fewer.) This comb-like applicator lengthens and curls—though, I always, always use an eyelash curler beforehand—every short, stubby lash of mine without disturbing the surrounding ones. I’m surprisingly pleased with the results and have since added this into my daily rotation. (If Refy feels like adding a brown to the lineup, I wouldn’t mind! Hint hint.)

You can shop the Refy Lash Sculpt Lengthen and Lift Mascara for $24 and $26 at us.refybeauty.com and sephora.com, respectively, right now.

Originally Appeared on Allure