A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

…is precisely what I thought when I downloaded these images.  Truth be told, I was trying some different angles because I knew the usual above eye-level (wobbly chin minimizing) camera angle would completely obliterate the lashes that I worked so hard to apply.

So then I did some shots with the camera pointing up at the lashes, but they were no good ‘cos you could see right up my nose and I’m neither denying nor confirming reports that we had a bogey situation.

So, for the love of God, please don’t think this is an actual pose.

But what I wanted to say was, wheee Red Cherry Lashes!

If you don’t know about Red Cherry lashes, you’re missing out.  It’s more likely that some of my lovely UK readers won’t have heard of them purely because availability isn’t quite so good here in the UK.  I bought these (Red Cherry #600) last week from BuyEyelashes.co.uk and they arrived a few days later.  I do own some other pairs but being the non false lash wearer that I am, I haven’t gotten around to trying them on yet.

Let’s take a closer look at the lashes.

100% Human Hair.  I’m sure this is supposed to be a good thing, they do feel very fluttery and naturalistic but is it just me who wonders exactly where this human hair comes from?  I know you’re thinking India or the Far East but I don’t mean that.  What I’m really thinking about, is the possibility that I’m wearing someone’s bum hair on my face.

Looks good though doesn’t it?

The bands on these Red Cherry #600s are beautifully pliable and thin enough to work with comfortably.  I applied the lashes above with the help of my new Japonesque tool which I bought after Liloo said we all needed one.  It does make a difference, but I’ll blog about that later.

Red Cherry 600s are priced at £3.10 from BuyEyelashes.co.uk, or I have used this eBay seller before for Red Cherry lashes.

So, there we have it.  Bum hair, ridiculously thick eyeliner (that thing where you make it thicker to go over a booboo) and a picture that makes me look like I’m about to make love to myself.

Have a lovely weekend special people.

I was born with feet for hands.  Not literally you understand, I mean I don’t actually have toes for fingers… but dexterity wise?  May as well have.

Because of this, I don’t wear false lashes very often but I’m always left wanting to buy some whenever I visit my local CCO.  There’s this SA in there who’s simply stunning (total girl crush) and she always wears perfect false lashes, full and flirty with no hint of Katie Price… they darken her lashline and open her eyes.

Anyway, after my last CCO jaunt, I came home and got straight on the net to satisfy my urge for lashes that I’ll probably never wear out of the house and I came across these:

I favour flirty, natural-looking lashes over the thicker types which I really struggle with and these looked perfect!  I bought two pairs from eBay and they cost around £2.50/£3.00 each once shipping had been added.  Bargain!

Have some piccies…

The boxes aren’t numbered which is a bit of a silly oversight, so I had to do some detective work.  These are #461 – they’re very curly and the band is super-fine and flexible.  The lashes feel soft… really nice for a natural look.  The band is quite long though, I had to cut about 4 knots in to achieve the right length for my lashline.

These are demi (half) lashes, #079 – the band is thicker and slightly stiffer but softens up well with a bit of manipulation.  I’m in total love with these because they really extend my eye outwards and give an almost cat-eye effect…. slinky!  I’m buying a couple more pairs of these this weekend to make sure I have some for wedding season!

Because they’re only half length, I also find them easier to apply… less band, less chance of sticking them to my eyebrow right?!

Excuse the messy brows, I’ve nearly managed to grow them out (whoop!) – I’m booking myself in for a mahoosive threading session next week.

Anyway, back to the lashes, these are the 1st pair (#461), you can see that the curl is strong and the lashes, fine and a touch feathery.

All in all, I’m really pleased with my bargain discoveries from Elise!  You should note that they don’t come with any glue and unlike simillarly-priced Red Cherry lashes, aren’t human hair.

What are some of your favourite false lashes and how often do you wear them?

If you’re looking for beautifully silky, thin banded, flexible lashes…. you should close this page.

If you’re looking for robust, striking, shockingly cheap lashes that you can use to fine tune and hone your lash applying skillz, read on!

What? I told you they were cheap…

I decided about a month ago that I wanted to learn how to apply false lashes (as you do) and so I started buying up pairs of Ardells that I found in T.K. Maxx.  Lovely lashes they are indeed but at £2.99 a pop – not the best for a n00b who doesn’t know how to apply OR (more importantly in terms of lash preservation) remove the damn things without destroying them.

I went through 6 pairs before I decided that what I needed was the eyelash equivalent of a WWII Nazi Panzer tank.  Something that would withstand my ham-fisted attempts at elongating my own lashline.

Enter these false eyelashes from eBay seller GlamLabel.  The seller, based in HongKong dispatched immediately… but unfortunately the post is painfully slow from the far east at the moment, so they took over a month to arrive.  Not the seller’s fault… but something to be aware of if you thought you’d be able to buy them in time for the New Year.

You get 20 pairs in two sets of 10 pairs each.  One is a more natural “day” lash, whilst the other is more dramatic and appropriate for going out.  The lashes feel plasticky… they’re quite coarse and need softening up before wear.  To do this, I spend five minutes flexing them which works well to loosen up the band and make them easier to apply.

Application was actually a bit of a doddle… I genuinely believe that this is down to the fact that they aren’t as soft, fluffy or good quality as more premium brands.  They didn’t flop about as I was trying to apply the glue and they didn’t buckle under the pressure of my sausage fingers trying to smoosh them about on my eyelid to get them in the right place.

See that crappy dangly end?  Yeah… chop that.  Infact, because the band is thicker and the lashes heavier than good quality ones, I chopped them about 3 lashes from the outer edge to make the band a good bit shorter.  I didn’t want them stabbing me in the outer corner of my eye.

What d’ya think?  As always with false lash photos, they’re far more obvious looking in the photo than they are in real life.

I can feel them while I’m wearing them though not enough to be irritating and to be fair, I could feel the Ardells too…

Ignore the funky brows… at the time of taking this photo they were still a “work in progress”.

This set of 20 lashes cost me the same as one pair of reduced Ardell lashes… until I’m a false lash maestro, I know where I’ll be spending my money!

Do you buy cheap false lashes or do you only invest in quality?

Halloween must be a busy time for false lash manufacturers right?  If you’re dressing up for the occasion, you ain’t nothing without a pair of falsies to flash at passers by.  Stop sniggering.  Don’t be dirty.

Ardell have released 6 new pairs of false lashes to mark the spooky holiday… introducing Fright Night Lashes!

1. Spider Woman Lash Set
2. Dark Angel Lash Set
3. Cleopatra Lash Set
4. Fairy Wings Lash Set
5. Enchantress Lash Set
6. Pixie Dust Lash Set

They retail at £6.99 each and are available exclusively from Clinton Cards, Birthdays and Pure Party stores.  The sets are reusable if handled with care.  I think I want the Dark Angel set… I like the little flicky bit, but… I’m notoriously BAD with false lashes.

Do you dress up for Halloween, what are your plans this year?

With bananas that like to masquerade as fingers, I’m not particularly adept at the whole false eyelash thing.  The number of times I’ve attempted to falsify my lashes can be counted on one hand.

I need to practice and improve my technique because a well-chosen pair of lashes can make a huge difference to an overall look…

…not well chosen.

It was with interest then that I read an eye health warning from The Eyecare Trust.

“Failing to follow a good hygiene routine when wearing false lashes puts you at risk of suffering irritation and nasty eye infections such as conjunctivitis and bacterial keratitis.”

Iain Anderson, Chairman of the Eyecare Trust continues: “Common symptoms of these eye infections include: red, sore or gritty eyes; a watery discharge; sensitivity to the light; headaches; blurred vision and in severe cases, reduced visual acuity.”

Whoulda thunk it?

Here are The Eyecare Trust‘s top tips for using false lashes safely.

1. Wash your hands before applying fake lashes
2. Use a good quality adhesive
3. Never stick them to your own lashes (always glue them to the eyelid and following the manufacturer’s instructions)
4. Never wear more than one pair at once
5. Clean them thoroughly before reuse
6. Throw them away at the first sign of wear and tear (most lashes have a lifespan of around four wears)
7. Store them in a clean / dry case
8. Never share your lashes with anyone else
9. Don’t stick jewels or other embellishments onto the lashes
10. Always remove them before you go to bed.

Do you adhere to the guidelines?

I woke up to an email this morning announcing the arrival of Get Lashed lashes for sale on the Nails Inc. website (like that website isn’t tempting enough already right?)

Choose from 8 available styles:

L-R: Get Cute, Get Natural

L-R: Get Gorgeous, Get Kissable

L-R: Get Glam, Get Flirty

L-R: Get Funky, Get Playful

Prices vary from £7 up to £13 depending on style.  Personally, I’m loving the look of Get Kissable!

Which of these styles would be perfect for your Christmas parties this season?

As a total false lash virgin, I was excited but cautious when approached to test out some lashes from the Revlon Fantasy Lengths range.  What’s in a name huh?  When the parcel arrived, husband thought I’d been making one of *those* orders… and was relieved to discover nothing but false lashes as far as the eye could see.

I considered turning down the offer, wondering if perhaps I wasn’t really false lash material… I mean, I could rock the ooh la la lashes whilst walking down to the post office but it’s not like I go anywhere that calls for such lash fluttery.

But then I realised, as a total novice… I was infact perfect to test out how these babies perform (and apply).

I got sent 2 types… the self-adhesive variety and scary glue-on ones.

Let me start with the scary glue ons… well, my first attempt was an unmitigated train wreck.  I may aswell have just saved myself half an hour of tedious positioning and glued one to my forehead and the other to my chin.  Shu model I ain’t.

I’d also managed to coat the lashes in so much of the glue that was included, my only option was to bin them.  Girls, don’t be all cavalier and think that you can apply the glue directly from the tube.  You can’t.  Get over it and find a q-tip to snap in half.

2nd attempt was a little better.. still wonky, but at least I didn’t glue my own lashes to my lid this time.

To be honest, I was pissed, grumpy and slightly fearful that 3rd time lucky would mean 3rd time glue your eyes shut… so I gave up with those ones.

The lashes themselves are lovely, I thankfully didn’t need to trim them and the thing I noticed most was just how lightweight they were.  I thought I’d really notice them on, but they felt like a natural extension to my own eyelashes.

See? *flutter flutter*

I moved on to the self-adhesives…

E.A.S.Y

How can there be so much difference?  Was it practice?… or are self-adhesives that much kinder to adjusting little mistakes?  Either way, this application looked halfway decent and I even left the house in them.

I asked my husband if he liked my eyelashes.  He looked totally confused.

After a couple of misunderstandings later he elaborated on his puzzlement by saying that he didn’t realise I had falsies on.  Yes, ladies and gentl ladies… my natural eyelashes are that amazing.

Oh ok, ok, I’ll grudgingly admit that it might be because Revlon Fantasy Lengths are pretty darn natural looking…  or of course, it could be option 3… my husband is a bloke who just doesn’t notice anything.

Anyway you wanna see?

Please do bear in mind, that this is genuinely my third ever attempt at applying false eyelashes.  Regardless, just try to stifle your guffaws ’till you’ve moved on to someone else’s blog and I can’t hear you anymore.

Now, my left eye (your right) – I think I got pretty darn perfect?  Other one, not so much… I placed them a little too high.

The band was very easy to cover over with a slick of liquid liner and the lashes themselves stuck steadily for around 6 hours before I noticed a teeny amount of lift on an outer corner (but that could easily be my fault).

I would say that these self-adhesives are marketed more towards novices like me.  I’m not scared of them anymore and would deinitely purchase them for special occasions.

The glue-on ones?  Not unless I had someone else to apply them for me.  Or hands that don’t pretend to be bananas.

Do you wear false lashes?  Any application tips for me?