False Eyelashes for the Lash Challenged – Part II

This post is Part II for those of us who are challenged when it comes to false lash application. The 30 day lash challenge, if you give it consistent effort will most certainly improve your skill and comfort with putting on falsies. In Part I, I described the challenge concept, provided a list of supplies you would need, and shared a list of six YouTube videos which I thought would be useful. My sincere thanks to these ladies for creating great tutorials on this topic. I have also created a board on Pinterest with links to the videos mentioned and images of some of my lash favorites. In addition, Sephora has just introduced an update to their Virtual Artist capability which will allow you to virtually try on a pair of lashes to see how much they can do for your look – the link to a short video on this enhancement is also on the Pinterest board titled I’ve Gone Lash Crazy. I hope you find the Pinterest board useful – feel free to share with others. Here now are my seven tips to lash success.

Eye look inspiration featuring the Black Magic mink lash from Esqido

1. TIME MANAGEMENT – Allow yourself plenty of time in the beginning – trying to rush will only frustrate you. If you need to apply lashes in the evening because you just don’t have time in the morning it is OK, your time practicing will count regardless of whether you wear the lashes for 10 hours or for two. If you do them at night, you remove the time pressure and you can play with different eye makeup looks while you’re at it. Remember that it will take less time to re-apply a pair you’ve previously fit and worn than a brand new pair, and you’ll feel better about reusing a pair of inexpensive lashes for a few hours than a brand new more expensive pair. An additional thought is to do your brows and eye makeup first, your lashes next, then you can do the rest of your face in the remaining time.  Hey with great lashes you can amp up your look enough to skip something else while you’re learning!
2. PREPARATION – Be prepared by having your supplies ready so that you can work efficiently. If you need scissors or tweezers and you need to stop what you’re doing to go find them you’ll feel unnecessary time pressure and waste your valuable time.
3. PERFECT THE FIT – Remember that you need to fit every brand new pair which takes a little extra time, but it will ensure that your lashes look and feel good. Remember to allow a bit of room at the inside corner of the eye so that the lashes are not poking you, and to make sure the lashes aren’t so long that they extend beyond your natural lashes at the outer corner. More than once, I’ve had to go back and trim a wee bit more from the outer edge because when they are too long you’ll either be uncomfortable, or the extra length will visually drag the eye down. You don’t want either of those outcomes, but it is still better to cut off too little than too much since once you cut, you can’t undo it. The old adage measure twice and cut once is true, but it is better to cut twice than to cut too much. By the way, you do need to fit each eye individually since our eyes are not perfectly symmetrical – I know you know that…just a friendly reminder.
4. APPLY ADHESIVE AND WAIT – I know it is tempting to apply the lashes too soon, but you need to let the glue get tacky. Refer back to tip one, no matter what don’t rush this step or else you’ll have a hot mess, and potentially mess up your carefully applied eye makeup. I learned this one through the school of hard knocks…don’t go there. Also, when you apply the glue, be sure to either hold the brush below or to the side of the lash. You don’t want glue dripping down onto the lash accidentally.
5. PLACING YOUR LASHES – This is an area that typically creates frustration so take a deep breath and remember these things. One of the first videos I watched said to look down into your mirror…this is absolutely true. Trying to look straight on just doesn’t work. Here is the other thing though, with your eyes looking down, you need to lift your chin up. If you are using a mirror on a stand you’ll need to adjust it to almost be flat horizontally. I invested in one of those Simple Human lighted magnifying mirrors and it works so well for this. My other tip is to use your tweezers to place the lashes. Make sure they aren’t sticky from glue or else you won’t be able to get them off the tweezers and onto your lash line. This is why I suggest having alcohol wipes handy to clean up any boo boos on your tweezers. A damp Q-tip is good if you accidentally get glue on your natural lashes. Last tip – before you begin to place the lashes, be sure they are oriented correctly (this requires conscious effort for me) and think of them coming down for a gentle landing from above (like an airplane), not approaching from straight on.
6. LINE ‘EM UP AND SMUSH – Now that the lash has landed, using your tweezers or fingers, you want to pull the lash towards or away from the inside corner to get it where you want it and then get the inner half as close to your natural lash line as possible. Then you want to align and secure the outer half. Once I have the lash where I want it, I like to take my Japonesque lash tweezers to press or smush the falsies together with my natural lashes to be sure they are well adhered and blended together.
7. FINAL TOUCH UP – Your last step is to do any needed touchups once the glue has dried. If the lashes aren’t curled as much as you’d like, give them a quick squeeze with your lash curler. If you are wearing inexpensive synthetics you may want to add another coat of mascara to help blend the lashes. But NEVER use mascara on mink lashes. Last, you may need to touch up your eyeliner, or if you see gaps at the lash line between your lashes and falsies you can use a small brush and a bit of black eye shadow to fill in.

You are done, bat your eyelashes and give yourself a big pat on the back! Keep up your practice routine and you’ll be able to apply lashes with ease before you know it.

P.S. If you’re interested in trying a pair of mink lashes like the pair shown from Esqido, they do offer a referral program.   If you are interested in purchasing their lashes and use the referral code from this link, you will receive a $5 credit on your order and I will also receive a $5 credit on a future order.

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False Eyelashes for the Lash Challenged – Part I

Over the last year, I’ve been working to up my makeup game and must admit I’ve become a bit of a makeup addict.  When doing a full face look, the eyes are a key feature that we want to enhance, and ideally we do that with well groomed brows, artfully applied eye shadows, and lovely long lashes.   While my brows are passable with regular shaping and using a few strategic brow products, my lashes are undisputedly another story.  They are naturally short, stick straight and stubby.  I’ve always felt robbed in the genetic lottery since my younger brother has always had beautifully long, naturally curled eyelashes.  It just isn’t fair, although he tells me that fair is a word used by sissies and crybabies. One result of this sorry condition is that for the last couple of years I’ve spent a crazy amount of time and money on eyelash extensions.  For a number of reasons, late last year I said enough is enough – I removed the extensions, and began using Latisse while sampling a variety of mascara products.   While the Latisse did help, I think it really only helped restore my lashes to their normally short, straight condition.  Mascara and eyelash primer do help, but can only take me so far which led me to try falsies again. I’ve made a variety of attempts to apply false lashes over the years which have only led to frustration and disappointment.  This time around I sought help from a number of YouTubers who provided helpful, informative videos.  My subsequent attempts were still rather amateurish, and if I wanted to wear falsies for a night out I needed to allow plenty of extra time and still gave up (or ran out of time) in frustration on occasion.  Recently I decided that I needed to resort to desperate measures.   Everyone (at least everyone who has mastered this) says that false lash application is a skill that can be learned with practice.   I needed to find out if it was really true, and just how much practice was enough? I decided for the month of June that I would challenge myself to apply false lashes every day in order to master the skill.  Taking the time to apply lashes daily was a huge commitment, and after a week of this I decided that perhaps a day or two off every week would not negatively impact my mastery.  Despite taking an occasional day off, the time commitment was significant, and at times I found myself applying lashes in the evening before fixing dinner and removing them at bedtime a few hours later. With all of that background, I will say that the challenge was a success, and I’d recommend this approach to others.  With consistent, sincere effort you can greatly increase your skill and confidence with false lashes. Here are my suggestions on how to approach this sort of challenge. Step one – commit to the challenge and stock up on your lash challenge essentials.   In order to get started on your challenge there are a few things you will need.  OK, maybe more than a few, but you likely have many of these items in your bathroom (or other makeup room) already. You need inexpensive lashes to play with.  I have used the Ardell 110 and Demi Wispies with success, although other lashes can be used.  I recommend these styles to start with because they will look relatively natural, and they have a very light, almost invisible band.   That band in my view is key to success as a thin, light band is easier to apply when you are starting out (they’ll be more comfortable too!).   A multipack with four pairs will run around $10 US if you have Amazon Prime.  If you’re not into Amazon, you’ll likely find these at your local drug store. A small pair of scissors for trimming new lashes to fit. Eyelash curler — you know the “old school” type that you try and clamp over your eyelashes without pinching yourself. Oil-free eye makeup remover–oil free is important as the oily type will prevent you from reusing your lashes. Bottle of rubbing alcohol–great for sanitizing lashes or removing gummy glue residue from your tools. Q-tips. Alcohol disinfecting wipes (optional but helpful). At least one pair of tweezers.  I have shown two types of tweezers in the photo, and I especially like the longer pair from Japonesque for smushing together my lashes and the falsies, ensuring that they are well adhered and blended together. Makeup mirror of choice, I love the lighted magnifying mirror by Simple Human, but any mirror will do. Black eyeliner (liquid or gel) to line your eyes and disguise the lash band. Black mascara to coat your own lashes or to help blend synthetic lashes.  You never want to use mascara on false mink lashes. Lash glue – I have a few thoughts on glue.   I use the white glue that dries clear which I think is better than using black.  Why???  When you’re starting out you’re bound to get some on your eyelid or other places where you don’t want it so the clear will help with cleanup and minimize do-overs with the rest of your eye makeup.  I also like that the Revlon glue comes with a brush so you don’t have to worry about making a mess while squeezing it out of the tube.  The alcohol wipes (mine are from Beauty So Clean), q-tips, and rubbing alcohol will really help with cleaning up any mishaps during application and for cleaning your lashes after wearing. Finally, you may want to begin experimenting with some of the nicer, higher end lashes during your challenge.  I would use these for outings as the month progressed, and actually tried a pair of mink lashes towards the end of my first week.  Again, look for styles with lighter bands to make application easier.  The Koko Lashes are a premium brand, but well priced when compared with other similar lashes. I like the Misha (shown above) and the Ari styles.  Mink lashes are a step up both in cost and in durability (when properly cared for), and they look super natural.  They are cruelty free so no need to worry about harm to these animals.   I’ve bought several pairs of these from Esqido (see notation below regarding their referral program). Step two – Que up some of my favorite You Tube videos on false eyelash application.  The links are at the bottom of this post.    Plan to check back in via the comments space below and let me know if you’re going to try the challenge and how it is going.  I’ll create a follow up post with my personal tips for how to make the application process easier. Note:   All products mentioned were purchased by me with my own hard earned money.  I have not received any compensation from anyone, and the opinions here are my own.  Esqido does offer a referral program.   If you are interested in purchasing their lashes and use the referral code from this link, you will receive a $5 credit on your order and I will also receive a $5 credit on a future order. Favorite YouTube Tutorials How to: Apply False Lashes by Makeup Shayla LustreLux video on How to apply false lashes and All about false lashes False Eyelashes 101: Select, Apply, Remove, Clean by emilynoel8e Jaclyn Hill on How to apply false lashes How To: Apply False Lashes for Beginners by ashleydbeauty