I'm fairly sure "mascara" isn't valid as a intransitive verb (transitive would be applying mascara to something), so "when they mascaraed as people" would still

I'm fairly sure "mascara" isn't valid as a intransitive verb (transitive would be applying mascara to something), so "when they mascaraed as people" would still be incorrect. Wearing mascara would be "when they were mascaraed as people". (Although it's probably a typo rather than a word choice error, so <shrug>.)