Buy Too Faced Better Than Sex if you want dramatic, thick, obviously-wearing-mascara volume from a single tube. The hourglass-shaped brush and the heavy formula are doing exactly what they were designed to do, and nothing about the result is subtle. Whether that’s a recommendation depends entirely on what you want your lashes to look like. essence Lash Princess costs a fraction of it and has spent years being described as its dupe, which is close to fair but not quite. The splurge, Westman Atelier’s Eye Love You, isn’t more dramatic at all. It’s cleaner, gentler and far better behaved, which sounds like a strange thing to pay triple for right up until you have sensitive eyes.
The verdict, up front
You want maximum volume and drama in one or two coats and you don’t mind a bit of mess getting there
You want comparable volume for a fraction of the price and can live with a slightly drier formula
You have sensitive eyes or wear contacts, and comfort and clean formulation matter more than maximum drama
What Better Than Sex actually is
It’s a volumising mascara, and the brush is most of the story. The hourglass shape is wider at the ends and narrower in the middle, which lets it load a lot of product onto the lashes quickly and fan them out at the corners. It is a deliberately generous applicator, and it deposits accordingly.
The formula is thick and creamy rather than dry, which is what allows it to build. That combination, a big brush and a heavy formula, is why one coat looks like two coats of something else. It’s also why it takes longer to dry, why it transfers onto lids more than most, and why people with hooded eyes tend to have a difficult relationship with it. None of that is a defect; it’s the direct consequence of the thing it’s good at.
Does it actually work?
For volume, yes, and it’s still among the best at it. Lashes look dramatically fuller in one coat and genuinely theatrical in two. The pigment is deeply black and the effect is immediate. It has stayed in circulation this long because it does the specific job it promises, and because nothing in the intervening years has done that job conspicuously better at the same price.
Its weaknesses are equally consistent. It flakes on many people by late afternoon, it transfers onto lids, and it clumps if you’re heavy-handed. essence Lash Princess replicates a surprising amount of the volume for pocket change, using a similar oversized brush, which is why the comparison has stuck around. The Too Faced formula is creamier and blacker and the brush is better engineered, but the gap is nothing like the price gap, and anyone treating the cheaper one as a downgrade should try it before deciding. Buying both and keeping whichever you reach for costs barely more than buying the Too Faced alone.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Genuinely dramatic volume in a single coat. Intensely black pigment. Excellent on short or sparse lashes. The brush fans out corner lashes well. Photographs beautifully.
Cons
- Flakes and transfers on many people by the end of the day. Clumps easily if over-applied. Not a separating or defining mascara. Can irritate sensitive eyes. Slow to dry compared to lighter formulas.
Who it’s for
Buy it if
Buy it if you want obvious, dramatic lashes and you’ve been disappointed by mascaras that promise volume and deliver a tidy, natural finish. On short or sparse lashes the difference is striking, and it photographs well, which is a real part of why it became as popular as it did.
Skip it if
Skip it when you want separation and definition rather than bulk, because this brush clumps by design and fighting that is a losing battle. Skip it too when your eyes are sensitive or you wear contacts, since the formula’s tendency to flake means small particles ending up where you don’t want them. And on hooded or oily lids, transfer onto the upper lid is likely enough that you should plan for it rather than hope.
How to get the most out of it
Wipe the wand on the tube rim before the first pass. The brush picks up far more product than any lash set needs, and most clumping complaints trace directly back to this step being skipped.
Wiggle at the root and pull through, then let the first coat dry properly before adding a second. Going back into wet mascara is how you get clumps and spider legs. If you’re prone to transfer, a light dusting of translucent powder on the lid before you start helps considerably. For removal, use an oil-based cleanser or a dedicated eye remover and give it time to dissolve rather than rubbing, since aggressive removal is hard on lashes and on the skin around them.
The dupe: essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara
essence Lash Princess is the dupe because it runs the same mechanism rather than a similar promise: an oversized, generously loading brush paired with a formula built to bulk up the lash rather than lengthen or separate it. The result on camera is close enough that the comparison has survived years of scrutiny.
Where it stops is texture and depth. The formula is drier, so it builds less smoothly and can feel slightly brittle by the end of the day, and the black is a shade less intense. The brush is plastic rather than bristled, which some people strongly prefer and others don’t get on with at all. But it costs a small fraction of the Too Faced, and at that price you can simply buy one and find out, which is not really true of the alternative.
The splurge: Westman Atelier Eye Love You Mascara
Westman Atelier’s Eye Love You earns the splurge slot by pursuing a different goal entirely. It’s a clean-formulated, ophthalmologist-tested mascara built around comfort and wearability, designed for separation and definition rather than bulk, and it neither flakes nor transfers the way the Too Faced does.
It costs more than three times the hero and many times the dupe, and it will not give you the drama. That is the trade, stated plainly. It earns its place for one reader: sensitive eyes, contact lenses, or a genuine intolerance of flaking, where the choice isn’t between more volume and less but between wearing mascara comfortably and not wearing it at all.
FAQ
Is Lash Princess really as good?
On volume, remarkably close, which is why the comparison has lasted. It’s drier, slightly less black and builds less smoothly. At that price the honest advice is to buy it first, because if it works for you the question is settled, and if it doesn’t you’ve lost very little finding out.
Why does it flake on me?
The formula is thick and creamy, which is what lets it build, and thick formulas flake as they dry out through the day. Oily lids accelerate it. Applying thinner coats, letting each dry fully, and powdering the lid beforehand all help. If it still flakes badly, the waterproof version holds up better, at the cost of a harder removal.
Does it work on straight or stubborn lashes?
It adds volume but very little curl, so straight lashes will look fuller and still straight. Curling first with a lash curler makes a much bigger difference than any mascara will. Waiting until the mascara is fully dry before curling is a bad idea, so curl first, always.
Can I use it with lash extensions?
No. Thick, creamy mascaras are difficult to remove from extensions and the removal process is what damages the bond. Most technicians will ask you not to use any mascara on extensions, and if you must, a formula made specifically for them is the only sensible option.
How we picked
A dupe has to run the same mechanism, so Lash Princess qualified on brush and formula strategy rather than on the internet’s say-so: an oversized applicator plus a bulking formula, reaching the same volume by the same route. The splurge had to do something the hero can’t, which ruled out every other volumising mascara and pointed at comfort and clean formulation for sensitive eyes. We weighted flaking and transfer reports heavily, because that is the complaint that decides whether people repurchase.
Bottom line
Buy Better Than Sex if you want unmistakable volume and you’re happy to work around some flaking and transfer to get it. Dupe it with essence Lash Princess, which gets close enough on volume that you would struggle to pick them apart at arm’s length. Splurge on Westman Atelier only if your eyes are sensitive or drama isn’t the point and comfort is.
It loses half a point for flaking, which has been the same complaint for as long as the product has existed. More honest verdicts live in our Buy, Dupe, or Splurge archive, and the rest of our makeup coverage sits in Makeup.
