False Lashes: Never leave home without them…and how to put them on!

I love a bold eye, especially when paired with false eyelashes.  However, I am not very good at putting them on…but no worries as Corrie Dubay is back with tips on how to apply fabulous falsies!

I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for gorgeous eyes! I mean, who doesn’t love a great smoky eye and a full set of lashes!?!?! Yes, please!

Next to “How do I cover my beard shadow?” the second most popular question I get is: “How the f*ck do I put on fake lashes?? PLEASE HELP!!”

Never fear!! I’ve got a few awesome tips and tricks that will help make the whole thing less intimidating and frustrating for you. And!! With a little bit of practice (Yes! You must practice!)…you’ll be a lash master in NO time!

When I apply lashes it’s one of the last things I do. Why? Because I don’t want to have to work around them. Especially when I’m working with larger, fuller lashes – it can be really hard to get your eyeliner just right or glitter on the lid without getting it tangled up in the lash.

So – after you’ve done your eye makeup (primer, eye shadow, liner, etc.) choose your lash. The more dramatic the eye, the fuller and more dramatic the lash I tend to go with. There really aren’t any rules when it comes to makeup (guidelines, yes. Rules? No way!) so you can really wear what you want. However, I try to find some sort of balance between the eye makeup and the lash.

An example would be – if I do a very natural, daytime eye makeup, I really don’t want some giant lash clogging up my nice, simple look. Now – on the other hand – if I’m heading out to the club and rocking a dramatic smoky eye, I need to use a lash that has a little oomph to it. Otherwise – my lashes will essentially disappear…therefore, looking a little unbalanced. Or, you can think of it this way – if you cannot see the lash against makeup that is behind it – you might want to consider bumping the size, fullness, etc. up just a touch.

Next! Use a good glue. There are several lash glues out there – and let me stop right now and say: WEAVE (or hair bonding glue) glue is NOT safe for your eyes so don’t use it!!! Wanna keep your eyelashes, and most importantly, your eye sight?? Use glue that is specifically for eyelashes!!) Okay back to what I was saying. Use a good glue – my favorite is AdGem (from Mehron). It is a latex-free, very moisture/water resistant, clear drying glue…and works awesome! There are others – DUO, Ardell, etc. but AdGem is my favorite. I find it works the best and can keep a pair of the biggest lashes on all freaking day! If you are a newbie to this – I suggest a clear drying glue over a black glue. If you mess up with a black – you’ll see exactly where you messed up.

The next step is to gently remove the lashes from their packaging, ideally from the outer edge. I suggest removing by grabbing the outer edge in case we accidentally bend or pull a few lashes off. If we do – it’s no big deal as we oftentimes have to trim the lash to make it fit, and we typically want to trim from the outer edge. 

Next, hold the lash up to your eye, following your natural lash line. If the lash extends way beyond where your  natural lash line stops, then we want to trim it (it will be much more comfortable to wear if it fits your eye properly) from the outer edge.

Now we’re ready for glue. Instead of applying the glue directly on to the lash from the tube – squeeze a little bit out onto the lash carton (see image 1). Then – break a Q-tip in half (image 2), dip the stick end into the glue and apply to the edge of the lash band (image 3).

Using something other than the tube to apply the glue to the lash will save you a lot of frustration. You have more control with the amount of product you are applying, you wont get glue all over your fingers, lashes, etc. Trust me! It’ll make things MUCH easier for you.

Once the glue is applied to both lashes. Set them down. Do not touch them for at least 45 to 60 seconds (image 4). Normally during this time I line my lips.

You can tell when the glue is starting to dry when it looks like it’s getting thicker and starting to turn clear.  We want the glue to start to dry before we even try putting them on. If the glue is slightly dry before we apply, the lash will stick to your lid and you wont have to worry about dropping it and you can typically get the corners to stick down very easily.

When I go to apply the lash (I use a tweezers for this because I cannot get my fingers in close enough), I pick it up and set the false lash on my actual lash, getting the band as close to my natural lash line as possible, but sticking it to my lid (we don’t want to glue them to our lashes). Once the false lash is in place, I can adjust it to get it positioned correctly without it falling off or gluing my eye shut. Until the glue fully dried, you can manipulate the lash as you need to make it comfortable.

Once my false lashes are in place, I touch up my eyeliner quick and add a light coat of mascara to my natural lashes to blend them in with the false ones (I only apply mascara after the false lashes are on, not before). I try to avoid putting too much mascara on the false lashes to extend the amount of times I can wear them.

To remove – gently pull the lash off starting at the outer corner. They should come right off. If not, take a Q-tip and a little makeup remover and gently rub along the lash line – it will loosen the glue and you’ll be able to pull them off.

Just a few more notes before I wrap this up: one, you CAN re-wear them multiple times if you carefully remove them from your eye, remove any excess glue (just gently pull it off – don’t use makeup remover) and put them back in the case they came in. Storing them in their original case attached to the carton (there’s usually enough glue residue to get them to stick) will help them keep their shape longer.

Lashes with thinner bands are more fragile and won’t have the same life as a pair that has a thicker band (so handle gently). You can clean your false lashes using a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol, but again – do not use makeup remover. It messes with them and will significantly shorten their life span.

And there you have it my dears! An overview (albeit a little lengthy) on how to apply false lashes without going crazy or gluing your eyelids shut! Easy, peasy, right??? 😀

As per usual – any questions, please feel free to shoot me a message or drop by the store.

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