Mascara

Anyone who knows me knows I am allllll about the lashes.

I have been a mascara junkie all my life and I think mascara is probably the one product I could never give up. I have been known to use 3 different types in one application, and I am struggling with the new task of using a disposable wand every time I do an eye. Its so hard. I mean half the reason we buy a mascara is because of the brush, right?

This has forced me to work on my application so here are a couple of pro tips that I have picked up over the past few weeks:

1. Use two disposable brushes per application (I know, its expensive, but if you are studying to be an MUA and you have to use them, you can pick up big bags of these from Ebay or other online stores for buttons, girls).

2. Comb through the lashes with one brush and wiggle from side to side PRIOR to application, to separate the lashes. Curl 2 times with a lash curler.

3. Dip one wand into the tube. Have your client (or friend... whatever) look downwards toward your shoulder and make sure you get your wand right into the base of the lash. Don't be afraid to lift the lid (gently of course!) at the eyebrow so you can really get in this. This is where most people go wrong. I absolutely cannot stand seeing black lashes that have blonde roots. Its horrid! Once you have the brush into the roots, wiggle from side to side several times and deposit as much colour on the lash as you can. Quickly brush with the clean wand before the formula dries. (quick tip - if it dries and becomes hard to work with, pull the cotton off a cotton bud and heat up the bud gently with your drier so the plastic warms. Hold against the lashes to warm the formula up again. It sounds crazy but it works)

4. Carefully apply more mascara from the top side of the lashes and wrap the lashes around the wand as you go.

Ok, that kind of sounded more like surgery than mascara application, but it really does make a difference if you take your time and get it right.

For personal application, I LOVE big wands for volume and skinny wands for length and definition. I curl my lashes first, then I apply mascara to the top side first, winding the lashes around the brush. Then I go from underneath.

My favourite mascaras?

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide (blackest black and protective formula), Maybelline Great Lash (good basic mascara with a wand that will get into the smallest areas) and Maybelline Colossal (fabulous volume)