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Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara.

Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara
Eye Makeup

About this product

A volumizing mascara with a fluffy bristle brush applicator designed to add volume and definition to lashes without clumping.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

76%

Yay

11 experts · Strong agreement
11Gurus
9Yay
1Mixed
1Nay
#10 in Eye MakeupSee the ranking →

What they liked

  • Builds volume with multiple coats
  • Separates lashes without clumping
  • Lengthening effect improves with use

What they flagged

  • Wand is oversized and hard to control
  • Messy application on lower lash line
  • Minimal lengthening on first use

What the gurus are saying

The fluffy brush wand earns consistent praise for grabbing every lash without the mess, it strikes that rare middle ground between too big and too small, making it easy to control and reach the lash base. Most gurus love the buildable volume and clean finish with no flaking, though a few find the brush can be cumbersome on lower lashes or create tiny clumps. Those with fine or sparse lashes may want to test it first, since the wand's size paired with its grab-power means application takes a light hand.
Synthesized from 11 expert reviews · most recent take August 2026

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
Yay
"This is from Rare Beauty and it's the Rare Beauty mascara in the shade black. I love the applicator for this. The wand is bushy but not too bushy like a toilet brush. It doesn't get all over my upper lids. It's not difficult to use. It's not too big that it can be cumbersome so you can't get it right down to the base of the lashes, but it's not too small that you poke yourself in the eye with it. It's one of those in-between, perfectly nice. It's absolutely fantastic. Grabs every single lash. And although this isn't waterproof, it sticks to your lashes, it doesn't smudge, it doesn't ball up or flake. It's just everything I want in a mascara. The volume that you get from this is amazing. I love a voluminous mascara. I cannot stand those mascaras that say they're going to deliver and then my lashes just look nonexistent. I like a hefty, heavy, voluminous lash look. And that is exactly what this gives me in abundance. I love it. Absolutely love it."
Yay
"Volumizing Mascara, which is a really good formula. [...] It's your classic warm brown. Here is the applicator. It's a nice fluffy bristle brush. [...] That's really pretty. I am partial to a brown mascara. I really, really like that. I do feel like this is just me being picky. I almost wish that the brown liner matched the brown of this because the brown mascara against the brown eyeliner makes the eyeliner look black and then it kind of doesn't look as cohesive as what I would want. [...] But do you see what I'm saying? [...] I wish they were more similar so that it would look more cohesive. [...] There's a little bit of fallout from the shimmer shade."
All 2 takes from Allie Glines
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"Volumizing Mascara, which is a really good formula. [...] It's your classic warm brown. Here is the applicator. It's a nice fluffy bristle brush. [...] That's really pretty. I am partial to a brown mascara. I really, really like that. I do feel like this is just me being picky. I almost wish that the brown liner matched the brown of this because the brown mascara against the brown eyeliner makes the eyeliner look black and then it kind of doesn't look as cohesive as what I would want. [...] But do you see what I'm saying? [...] I wish they were more similar so that it would look more cohesive. [...] There's a little bit of fallout from the shimmer shade."
Can I do it?! Trying Selena's Makeup from the VMAs..
"I was planning on using some falsies but after building up the mascara a lot, especially on this outer corner, I think I might skip falsies. I think it looks good as is."
Mixed
"This brush is huge for this size cap. I guess they give you a full-size brush even though it's the mini mascara. The brush is just so huge, a little difficult to control it. I think it gives enough volume, but it really didn't offer any lengthening because I feel like my lashes look really stumpy. The Rare Beauty is giving more volume."
All 4 takes from HotandFlashy
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"This brush is huge for this size cap. I guess they give you a full-size brush even though it's the mini mascara. The brush is just so huge, a little difficult to control it. I think it gives enough volume, but it really didn't offer any lengthening because I feel like my lashes look really stumpy. The Rare Beauty is giving more volume."
Testing Jones Road WTFoundation & Other Stuff | Over 50
"It's not my perfect mascara because it does have little chunkers in it and it doesn't give me that really super silky, curled but volumized look that I love, but it's not bad. The mascara is nice so far with only a couple of tiny flakes."
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"The Rare Beauty mascara is actually looking pretty good. I like this one much much better than the Anastasia. This mascara is definitely adding volume and length."
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"I tried the Rare Beauty mascara the other day and didn't love it. It didn't give me those nice sleek looking lashes that I like. They were a little bit like spider leggish and it flaked a lot throughout the day. So I wasn't a fan of that either."
Yay
"I like the rare Beauty mascara. Her lashes are very like they that she has space in between her lashes and it helps sometimes the mascara for Christina will clump the spaces and will connect the lash too much. Like a tubing on Christina will make her look like she has spider eyes."
All 2 takes from Caroline Hirons
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"I like the rare Beauty mascara. Her lashes are very like they that she has space in between her lashes and it helps sometimes the mascara for Christina will clump the spaces and will connect the lash too much. Like a tubing on Christina will make her look like she has spider eyes."
S2 Ep21: GLAD WE HAD THIS CHAT TAKES NEW YORK - 'The Lipstick Lesbians' Alexis and Christina Andr...
"I like the rare Beauty mascara. Her lashes are very like they that she has space in between her lashes and it helps sometimes the mascara for Christina will clump the spaces and will connect the lash too much. Like a tubing on Christina will make her look like she has spider eyes."
Yay
"This is by Rare Beauty and I absolutely adore it. It has a super fluffy brush and I find that two coats of this makes a serious impact, but there's no gloss, there's no cakiness, there's no clumping. It just looks like really nice long lashes. In fact, I haven't used any other mascara since I did that video. I do wish it came in more colors, I prefer a brown or specifically a blue, but this is a beautiful mascara."
All 2 takes from Skin Obsessed Mary
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"We're going to go in with coat number two see if we can really maximize length it feels curling wow okay holy cow that is fabulous and you know if it's daytime I don't generally put anything on the bottom lashes oh my gosh that's great that's great we put a little bit it is technically nighttime oh that is good oh that's good"
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"This is by Rare Beauty and I absolutely adore it. It has a super fluffy brush and I find that two coats of this makes a serious impact, but there's no gloss, there's no cakiness, there's no clumping. It just looks like really nice long lashes. In fact, I haven't used any other mascara since I did that video. I do wish it came in more colors, I prefer a brown or specifically a blue, but this is a beautiful mascara."
Yay
"I'm going to use the Rare Beauty mascara"
Yay
"Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes mascara, that's a new favorite of mine. I actually only got the trial size, like a little sample size, and I used that thing so quick. It was my daily go-to every single day. I took it on vacation with me. I love that mascara. I got every last bit of that mascara before it was completely dried up, so really a huge fan. It's such a good mascara. It's a solid formula but it volumizes."
Yay
"I'm using the Rare Beauty mascara and you want to do a motion exactly like in that video of rolling through, starting right at the base of your lashes."
Yay
"I finished the Rare Beauty Mascara. I actually really like this. A lot of celebrity skincare and cosmetics you are paying a premium for, but this is actually really good, I really liked it a lot, and I really like the packaging too. It is easy to use."
All 4 takes from Dr Dray
HUGE SKIN CARE EMPTIES! SUMMER 2022 🗑 DERMATOLOGIST @DrDrayzday
"I finished the Rare Beauty Mascara. I actually really like this. A lot of celebrity skincare and cosmetics you are paying a premium for, but this is actually really good, I really liked it a lot, and I really like the packaging too. It is easy to use."
NEW SKIN CARE AT SEPHORA 🛍 DERMATOLOGIST @DrDrayzday
"I've been using the Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Mascara that a viewer sent me and I really like it, I've been really happy with it. It has a nice lengthening effect. It's $20, which doesn't seem too bad, not like Maybelline prices, but for celebrity anything at Sephora I would say that is not too horrible."
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"Still loving this Rare Beauty mascara, I think it's gotten better with time, as mascaras often do. It's a little bit more elongating, I found, as I've made my way through it."
Vlog: AN OLD SKIN CARE FAVORITE 😍 SWIMSUIT TRY ON 👙 @DrDrayzday
"A viewer sent me this Rare Beauty mascara in the shade black. I really like the packaging. This is really just a review of the packaging, because with mascaras you can't judge on the first use, but it gives very fluttery lashes, and I feel like after the third time you use it is usually when it's the best."
Yay
"I know that this is a new mascara and I think I might have to get my hands on this. I love that they actually tested it on different lashes because mascara works very differently for those different people. Hearing that it's like an all-in-one kind of scares me, but I do think that we should have different mascaras for people with straight lashes versus curly lashes versus people who just want color versus people who want volume versus people who want length. It's nice when you see a celebrity that creates a line that actually cares. I don't agree with all the products and they don't all work for me, but like she actually gives a damn about her products and that's really unusual and really refreshing."
Nay
"I received these mascaras in PR and they just didn't work for me. They didn't hold my lashes and I didn't really like the applicator. I was initially like, 'Oh, I might like this,' but it just didn't work for me. I tried giving it another shot, letting it dry out for a few weeks, but my lashes just don't trust it. I have extremely straight, flat lashes that don't want to hold a curl, so if a mascara can't work on me, it's not going to work on most people. Not a fan of these, unfortunately."
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All 2 takes from Alexandra Anele
Hmm ok... NEW Rare Beauty
"The mascara is a no for me. I don't like the wand. It's too big and fluffy. If you have really skinny lashes that have a lot of length and you're looking for volume, it seems to provide volume, but on my lashes, it just kind of got clumpy. I do like that it's like super black. The brown color is fine. It's like more of a neutraly brown. It's not like too warm or anything. But I just I don't like it. I'm not going to use it. It's not for my lashes. It just gave me a very messy application on my lower lash line. I have much better mascaras that I use. So yeah, it's definitely a pass for me on the mascara as well."
They’re just not for me bro
"I received these mascaras in PR and they just didn't work for me. They didn't hold my lashes and I didn't really like the applicator. I was initially like, 'Oh, I might like this,' but it just didn't work for me. I tried giving it another shot, letting it dry out for a few weeks, but my lashes just don't trust it. I have extremely straight, flat lashes that don't want to hold a curl, so if a mascara can't work on me, it's not going to work on most people. Not a fan of these, unfortunately."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara?

A volumizing mascara with a fluffy bristle brush applicator designed to add volume and definition to lashes without clumping.

Is Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara worth it?

Mostly yes. 9 of the 11 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 76%.

What is Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara's Guru Score?

Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara holds a Guru Score of 76%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 11 expert reviewers we have collected.

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