Love Those Lashes!

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 at 5:22 AM

In addition to lips, our eyes are also quite important. How we dress them with makeup can determine how long people stare at our eyes! Ok, that statement has not been verified scientifically, but I can attest that the more beautiful your eyes are the longer people will gaze at them!

Mascara on our lashes helps to define the look of our eyes and gives us that glamorous look. For my thin, spidery-looking lash ladies, mascara is definitely your friend!

There are 3 basic formulas of mascara…

Thickening: This is a type of mascara that coats each individual lash from root to tip with particles that add volume to your lashes and help them to look thick and full.

Lengthening: This is mascara that contains plastic polymers which cling just to the tips of the lashes, making them appear longer.

Defining: This type of formula coats the individual lashes, keeping them separated and defined. Defining mascara is a more natural look.

There’s also waterproof mascara formula; however, women with allergies, sensitive eyes, or delicate lashes (e.g. they fall out easily), should avoid using this kind of formula because it can be harder to remove. This means a lot of rubbing would be involved which will possibly pull out your lashes, and we definitely don’t want that! Waterproof mascara is also the most irritating of all formulas. So, please be careful.

You may not have thought of this but the shape of the wand (or brush) is also important to creating your mascara look. If you’re having trouble figuring out the formula (the words can be too tiny for us near-sighted folk) the shape of the brush can shed some light:

A crescent-shaped wand helps keep your lashes curled when applying mascara.

A fat, bristly wand thickens your lashes by coating each and every lash.

A wand that looks like a screw, one with smaller bristles at each end, allows you to give definition to your lashes by painting each lash from the root to the tip.

A double-tapered wand, one with small bristles at each end (top and bottom) and tapers to fatter bristles in the center. This brush works nicely in defining each thin, sparse lash while adding a little bulk.

Application: To apply mascara, open your eye and look up at the ceiling. You can brush the mascara on the lashes in an upward motion (from the base to the tip) on the underside of the lash (close to the ball of the eye) or the topside of the lash (close to the eye lid). It’s always best to put on two thin coats of mascara rather than one clumpy-looking coat. And if you’re not sure what kind of lashes to create, I would go for the voluminous mascara look first. Most women want and like that look which is why many purchase fake lashes.

IMPORTANT MASCARA TIP! Do not pump the wand in the mascara well (the container)! This pushes air into the well which will dry out your mascara in a heartbeat and you’ll have to go to the store to purchase another one. What you want to do is stick the wand in the well and then twist it a few times to get more mascara on it. Then pull the wand out and apply. But NEVER, EVER pump the wand!

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