I’m a sucker for a good before and after. Instant gratification, dramatic results, the feeling like you’re in the most entertaining part of a romantic comedy, it’s all there. Fortunately, the best beauty products deliver—but the challenge is going through Sephora one swipe at a time, finding the lipsticks and mascaras with results that make all other products pale in comparison. Unfortunately, those mega-noticeable results sometimes come with an equally heart-attack-worthy price tag—and annoyingly, oftentimes it’s worth it. But other times, the Internet spotlights an underdog so cheap, so available, and so unassuming that its insane effects feel entirely out of nowhere. And that’s where Essence’s Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara comes in.

Now, let the record show that I love a good deal as much as anyone, but I also love gorgeous, glossy packaging. So a mascara with the word “princess” in the name that’s emblazoned with a turquoise bodice takes some persuasion for me to all-out worship. Yet ask and you shall receive, because one Reddit user just served potentially the most convincing photo of a drugstore mascara’s results ever. Take a look.

According to user EllieDaisyLouise, who posted the photo, all she did was curl her lashes and layer the mascara onto her “short, straight eyelashes.” Comment after comment raves about getting similar results from the Lash Princess and Essence’s other mascaras, so I had to try for myself.

A look at it on both my lashes

The findings? Holy wow, Reddit. I cannot emphasize enough how much the wand looks like every other mascara wand on the market, with nary a bell or whistle in sight—and pulling it out, I was ready to chalk this one up to some Internet, David Blaine magic. One coat seems normal, with some length and darkening, but no more than any other mascara. But if you keep going, it builds, and builds, and then you have seriously stunning, eyebrow-grazing, Reddit-thread level results.

It’s incredible. And just in case, I passed the tube around Glamour’s beauty editors to confirm.

On Amber you can really tell the difference in the before and after

Amber, our beauty editor, called it magical and offered this tip: “Make sure to wiggle the brush as you apply it, otherwise it can and will clump.” While Lindsay, our senior editor, applied four swipes, then wiped the brush clean on a napkin to go back through. “It started clumping by the third swipe, but after I went through with a clean brush I was able to wiggle the wand in between and really build up the length. Enough so that someone stopped me to say, ‘Whoa, your lashes!'”

That said, it won’t quite give you the same fanned-out look if you don’t have naturally long lashes or ones that don’t hold curl, as some others on the floor reported back. (Sorry, guys.) Otherwise, it’s no fluke: this $4.99 mascara might just be the drugstore’s best-kept secret.

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–I Fell for a Lancôme Mascara Named After Mr. Big and Now I’m a Cliché With Great Lashes

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