HotandFlashy has tested more than 50 eye makeup products, and her record speaks for itself: the vast majority approved, only a handful skipped, and an approval rate of 85%. She has named a handful of products as category winners, from drugstore palettes to a lash glue that survives a swim. Very few landed in the mixed column rather than a full skip, which shows she is quite generous with eye makeup when it earns it.
What does HotandFlashy recommend in eye makeup?
The thread running through her approvals is wear time. She keeps coming back to products that stay put from morning to night without smudging or flaking. She praised the L'Oreal Extensionist Mascara for lasting all day and coming off easily at night. She loves the NYX Mechanical Eyeliner Pencils partly because they hold on the waterline without bothering her contact lenses. On palettes, she looks for versatility. The Natasha Denona I Need a Nude Palette earns repeated praise because the shades sit naturally on skin without reading orange or chalky. The ColourPop Stone Cold Fox Palette wins her over by balancing cool tones with enough warmth to work across a range of looks. Value matters to her too. She is just as enthusiastic about a five-dollar liner as a high-end palette, as long as it performs.
Hot and Flashy's eye makeup picks, in her words
"I really, really love this mascara."
"One of my all-time favorite palettes is the Stone Cold Fox palette. It is one of their mega palettes. It is just a stunner. A cool palette, but it does have enough warm tones in there and it's gorgeous. I used it today."
"I'm using for lash glue the Velour Brush On Lash Glue. This is an on-hold, you can cry, you can sweat, you could probably jump in a pool and your lashes will not come off with this glue. So this is an incredible glue that I love."
"This is Holy Grail mascara. I do still love this so much. Used up one of these, have repurchased, and am still using [...] this. This has really become my most reached for best love mascara."
"I will definitely use mascara. I'm going to use my new favorite Maybelline Sky Tubes."
"E.L.F. is a drugstore brand that really makes fantastic eyeshadows and they make these tiny little bite-size palettes. The color payoff is so beautiful, the shimmers are so beautiful. I mean look at those shimmers, the mattes are so beautiful. This one's kind of like a warmer color way. They have this beautiful kind of pinky purple one called rose water. That one is so stunning. I use that one a lot this year."
How many eye makeup products has HotandFlashy reviewed?
HotandFlashy has reviewed 59 eye makeup products, for an approval rate of 85%. 50 approved, 2 mixed, and 7 skipped.
What has HotandFlashy skipped in eye makeup?
When she does skip a product, wear time is almost always why. She gave the Merit Eyeshadow Cream Pots a skip because the formula settled into her crease within a couple of hours. She felt a minimalist product should not need a primer just to function. The Maybelline Colossal Bubble Mascara started well but left chunks on her lids and smudged under her eyes by midday. The Benefit Precisely My Brow Pencil, despite glowing reviews elsewhere, was too hard and chalky to use without pressing painfully hard. She also skipped the e.l.f. Lash 'N Roll Mascara, finding the formula too dry and the curl and volume well below what her favourite mascaras deliver.
"I loved it at first because it went on and made my lashes really big and really bold, but there was just like little chunkers all over them that I knew were going to come off later in the day. And sure enough, they did and they were like on my eyelids and under my eyes and it also smudged beneath my eyes."
"Looking at the eyeshadow, that's probably the thing that I am the most disappointed in. It does probably need a primer to work. It's all worn off, it's gathered in the crease, it doesn't look good. I would like it if it would have done its job without potentially needing a primer or anything else to help it. I think it looked bad at 4 hours. So the eyeshadow is definitely going to be probably the fail of this video for me."
"It had moved and settled into my eye crease within a couple of hours of putting it on and it really didn't last throughout the day. I loved the color of this though, it is beautiful, but I think with this you do need to lay down a primer first, which I don't think you should have to do since it is minimalist makeup."
"Like there's not a ton on the brush. And when you're pulling it out, the squeegee is very squeegeeish. [...] One coat is not dramatic, not anything major going on. My favorite mascara is still the Cali Ray Come Heller High Water. This doesn't really curl my lashes as much as I thought it should, and it didn't give me like the length and the volume that I get out of other mascaras. There's a little bit of smudging right under one eye. I think that's the mascara."
What should you take from HotandFlashy's picks?
If HotandFlashy's record tells you one thing, it is to put wear time first. She has real warmth for eye makeup that delivers on its promises through a full day, and she is genuinely pleased when a drugstore product matches a luxury one. Her named winners span price points from e.l.f. to Natasha Denona, so following her lead does not have to cost a lot.
Watch HotandFlashy say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High MascaraNamed a winnerWatch at 8:35
- Natasha Denona I Need a Nude PaletteNamed a winnerWatch at 18:37
- Tartelette In Bloom Amazonian Clay PaletteNamed a winnerWatch at 7:35
- ColourPop Stone Cold Fox PaletteNamed a winnerWatch at 10:10
- e.l.f. Bite-Size Eyeshadow PalettesNamed a winnerWatch at 17:44
- Velour Brush On Lash GlueNamed a winnerWatch at 28:17
- Maybelline Colossal Bubble MascaraSkipped itWatch at 18:15
- Merit Solo Shadow Matte Eye Color in StudioSkipped itWatch at 15:51
- Merit Eyeshadow Cream PotsSkipped itWatch at 23:18
- e.l.f. Lash 'N Roll MascaraSkipped itWatch at 16:18
- Tarteist XL Tubing MascaraSkipped itWatch at 12:53
- Makeup by Mario Master Mattes Longwear Cream EyeshadowSkipped itWatch at 17:07
- Benefit Precisely My Brow PencilSkipped itWatch at 9:57
- Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky TubesRated itWatch at 17:16
- Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Eyes MascaraRated itWatch at 20:29
- L'Oreal Extensionist MascaraRated itWatch at 13:03
- Rare Beauty Neutral Eye Collection Essential Nudes Eyeshadow PaletteRated itWatch at 5:05
- Rare Beauty It's Always an Optimist Weightless Eye PrimerRated itWatch at 10:05
- L'Oreal Infallible Faux Brow Tint PenRated itWatch at 18:28
- e.l.f. No Budge Eyeshadow SticksRated itWatch at 5:40
- Maybelline Lash Sensational MascaraRated itWatch at 17:04
- ColourPop That's Taupe Pressed Powder PaletteRated itWatch at 6:52
- Urban Decay Naked Shaped Eyeshadow PaletteRated itWatch at 27:17
- NYX Epic Wear Retractable EyelinerRated itWatch at 10:32
About this expert
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This guide reflects what HotandFlashy said across her videos about 59 products in eye makeup, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.