I Tried 8 New Drugstore Mascaras — & The Best One Is Only $5

Some people have Champagne spending habits when they're living on a Bud Light budget. I, on the other hand, have always been a bargain shopper — especially when it comes to my beauty routine. Although I have the kind of job that grants me the privilege of wearing and using luxury beauty items, if I did have to stick to a regular budget, there's no chance in hell I'd be willing to splurge on many things over the $20 mark.

That would mean having to ditch a few of my favorite things, like my go-to $124 Gucci perfume, or the face mask that revives my skin overnight (while also robbing me of $50 even faster than that). But my makeup routine would survive — because I fully believe that a lot of drugstore makeup is just as good as the expensive stuff, especially when it comes to mascara.

So when I noticed a flood of new mascara launches coming across my desk, I knew it was time to put my longtime theory to the test and see if there were high-quality formulas behind these modest prices. Ahead, my honest opinion on the newest mascaras to hit drugstore shelves near you...