When asked to choose her favorite beauty products of all time, Emilia Clarke hardly hesitates. “Honestly, I'm a mascara girl,” she tells InStyle. “If I could have just one thing… it’s mascara.” The Game of Thrones star favors Clinique’s High Impact Mascara, which reigns supreme of any she’s tried. “It’s so good,” she shares via Zoom, with her lashes — long, glossy and notably clump-free — proving the point in real-time. 

If you’ve yet to slick it on for yourself, now’s an excellent opportunity: For a limited time, you can snag it on sale for $20 at Nordstrom. 

Shop now: $20 (Originally $23); nordstrom.com

The Clinique High Impact Mascara is an ultra-buildable, flake-free formula. Designed to bolster both length and volume, it coats lashes in rich, inky pigment via a soft, straight bristle brush. Ophthalmologist-tested, the product is devoid of parabens, fragrance, and other potentially irritating ingredients found in many mascaras, making it a stellar choice for sensitive eyes, contact-wearers, or quite literally anyone. Perhaps unsurprisingly, High Impact is a best-seller for Clinique — since the original launch, it’s been spun off into a waterproof and extreme length version as well. 

Clarke, who has been an ambassador for the brand since 2020, attributes the mascara’s excellence to its layer-friendly formula. “I think that’s the key,” she says, “that you can build it.” Multiple mascara coats are a must for the Mother of Dragons: After prepping with a lash curler, (she likes this discontinued option from Saie) Clarke piles “way more [mascara] than any makeup artist ever.” Even so, High Impact resists flaking, instead leaving a fluttery fringe in its wake, regardless of how many coats are applied.

Like Clarke, shoppers swear by Clinique’s High Impact Mascara, which has thousands of five-star ratings at Nordstrom. One reviewer, who called it the “best overall mascara ever,” said it made lashes “thicker” and “longer” without clumping or flaking. Another shopper prone to burning, itchy eyes with “basically all” mascaras wrote that Clinique’s was the “only one” that didn’t irritate, and called it a “rare find.”

Shop Emilia Clarke’s go-to Clinique High Impact Mascara while it’s on sale for $20 to try the buildable, flake-free formula for yourself. After all, the actress clearly knows a thing or two about lashes.