I Find out Whether Milk’s Tubing Mascara Really Lives up to its Price Tag
Image – Courtesy of writer
When Milk Makeup launched its tubing mascara, it was part of a launch of two tubing products – Kush High Roll Tubing Mascara (£32 from Cult Beauty UK /$28 from Sephora US) and Kush High Roll Brow Tint (£24 from Cult Beauty UK /$24 from Sephora US), which caused quite a stir online as a tubing brow gel was generally unheard of.
If you’re thinking “a tubing what?”, let me explain. A tubing mascara (or brow gel) is different than normal as the formula wraps around each hair (like a tube), rather than painting or lacquering it. Plus it’s meant to be less prone to smudging and easier to remove. Bonus.
Infused with hemp-derived cannabis seed oils like the rest of Milk’s Kush line, the tubing mascara in particular intrigued me. I’d come across a few tubing mascaras before but hadn’t ever been blown away. Perhaps this would be the one to knock my socks off. Or…maybe they’d stay firmly on.
Image – Courtesy of writer
My favourite mascaras aren’t tubing, they normally have chunky wands and one in particular has a curve. So Milk’s straight, slightly skinnier-than-my-usual brush was new to me, and I was on the fence about whether I would like it or not.
Would I be a tubing mascara convert? Or stick to what I know and love? Keep scrolling to read my honest review.
The product details
The Kush line contains everything from mascaras to lip oils to brow serums and beyond. The tubing mascara launched in 2024 and is one of 5 mascaras from Milk – a standard volumising one, two waterproof mascaras and one for natural lift and length called Rise.
According to some users, the volumising Kush Mascara results in some smudging so perhaps the brand thought a tubing version – which is also vegan – would be a better alternative. We shall see!
The Milk website says the tubing mascara promises to separate every single lash “for high definition, natural volume and length without smudging or flaking for up to 24 hours.” Another pro is that the formula is meant to condition lashes, so I was keen to see if I’d notice a difference here too.
First impressions
The packaging has a luxe, silver shine and when you twist the wand back into the tube, it clicks shut. So satisfying. There is no noticeable smell when you open it, and the wand is pretty clean so no risk of messiness when you pull it in and out (don’t you just hate it when the mascara brush leaves a load of product on the edge of the tube as you push it back in?)
Image – Courtesy of writer
The brush is slightly slanted and, as I mentioned earlier, skinnier than my usual chunky shape. The bristles are on the short side compared to my normal preference so nothing to write home about, but I was hopeful this would mean I’d be left with a mess-free and natural finish.
My results
Straight from my first application I instantly noticed how smoothly the brush glided up my lashes. As smooth as butter. Overall, the brush is easy to manoeuvre, and the process is comfortable and mess-free.
I have noticed that not much mascara comes off on the first coat meaning it is tricky to achieve the full lash look I normally like to have, straight away. It separates my lashes nicely though and gives a nice curl too, however it dries quite quickly.
Image – Courtesy of writer
This is great if you’re just applying one coat. But if you want more volume and thickness, going over it with a second coat means that the lash separation I managed to create with my first coat is sort of ruined and my lashes start to stick together. So it’s almost as if I need to choose between nicely separated lashes, with not much volume, or volume with a slightly clumpy finish. Hmm.
I think because of the dryness, there were also a few bits that gathered at the tips of my lashes too, like little bobbles. However, because it’s a tubing mascara they were easy to pull off as the formula stretches – it doesn’t flake. And whilst I’d rather it didn’t bobble at all, it was easily fixed.
This brings me to its lack of smudging and crumbling. I didn’t find any residue under my eyes like I do with some mascaras so that is definitely something, and this formula was way easier to remove with my usual makeup remover than most.
Having said that, my lashes had definitely lost their mojo towards the end of the day. I usually apply my makeup at around 8am and by 4pm my mascara looked tired, and the curl had massively reduced. There was still no smudging though.
If I was someone who likes to wear a natural mascara look, I would have probably liked this one a lot more. After all, one coat is enough to separate and curl my lashes and add a bit of definition.
But I am a thick lash girl and, whilst I definitely don’t want clumps, I do want volume and fullness. And unfortunately, this mascara can’t give that to me because it just dries too quickly. Plus, I can’t say I noticed they were particularly conditioned either.
Having said that, there are definitely some video reviews showing impressive volume from this mascara. Unfortunately though, most of them don’t show whether the results last throughout the day.
@elizabeth__cee I’ve never loved a tubing mascara the way I love this one!! Restored my faith in tubing mascaras truly @milkmakeup #milkmakeup #milkmakeupkushmascara #kushmascara #kushhighrollmascara #tubingmascara #mascarareview #tubingmascarareview #smudgeproofmascara
What other users are saying
A Reddit thread showed that some people experienced one of normal Kush mascaras transferring. Disastrous-Farm-5276 wrote, “it’s the worst mascara I’ve ever tried. Doesn’t last and smudges under my eye (worst raccoon eyes) after a few hours,” to which Makeupch1c3 replied, “you def need a tubing mascara,” and I agree, in my experience, the Kush High Roll Mascara doesn’t smudge or transfer at all so the issue seems to have been solved within the Kush line.
There have been lots of positive comments about how well this mascara lengthens and separates. On Cult Beauty, AloAlo writes, “this one is really nice. Makes my lashes long and separates well.” Whilst I do agree with this, I do wish it provided more volume at the same time.
Some consumers really aren’t fans of how they used to market the mascara, thanks to its emphasis on hemp. “The whole campaign is cringe. It screams ‘stoner girl XD 420 blaze it <3’ so it’s a hard pass for me solely on that aspect,” says beautybinch. And, “the advertising is so cringe but hey, people will swallow it,” adds eisenkatze. It is worth noting that this brand has since toned down this angle in their marketing.
Overall value for money
At £32/$28, this mascara isn’t exactly a ‘buy-on-a-whim’ sort of product.
In my humble opinion, you’d have to really love it or have heard amazing things about it to spend almost £30/$30 on a mascara. I’m afraid I just can’t tell you it’s amazing or life-changing or all the things you want to hear before spending that kind of money so, respectfully, I will have to pass on buying a top up.
However, if you like a (very) natural, separated lash-look, it’s worth considering.
The takeaway
Overall I think this is a decent mascara for the right people. Natural lash lovers wanting ample separation and a curl, buy away! But if you’re addicted to a fuller finish or you like to build up your mascara layers, it probably won’t work for you and you should spend your £32/$38 elsewhere.
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