Beautiful, youthful, flirty and effortlessly sexy, who wouldn’t want gorgeously long, thick eyelashes?

Every girl wants long, luscious, sexy eyelashes but not everybody is blessed with them. We can’t recommend false lashes highly enough for pin-up and boudoir sessions. Here are a few tips on how to put them on quickly and successfully if you choose to do them yourself.

While I don’t wear them myself (obviously 🙂 ) I’ve been told the whole process should only take about 2-3 minutes once you get a hang of it, so using false lashes is definitely a fast and easy way to instantly brighten up your eyes for a day of shopping, an evening out or {ahem} a boudoir or pin-up photo shoot.

Types of false eyelashes:

Some of the various types you may come across.

• Spikes give a retro, wide-eyed cutie look. Kinda like Twiggy, but more doll-like.
• Criss-crosses give a natural glam effect. Nice wide eyes, but not super heavy.
• Dense/full lashes give a retro look like Twiggy.
• Angles/sweeps give a cat-eye effect. Of course, angles/sweeps are often combined with other styles (often criss-cross, spikes and dense), so you get two looks.
• Natural/sparse lashes give a very natural look, they just add some fullness.
• Wisps give a glam look, a little heavy.

And length is EVERYTHING. The longer the length, the more glam and heavy your lashes will appear.

How to apply:

• Apply your eye makeup as normal. But DO NOT apply mascara or curl your eyelashes. TIP: While eye shadow is not ever necessary when applying false eyelashes, eyeliner is. Eyeliner helps break the gap between your natural lash line and your false lash line. Even if you do apply your false lashes correctly, and they are as close to your natural lash line as possible without actually being ON your natural lashes, there is still a small noticeable gap/difference. Eyeliner helps fill in the gap (no matter how tiny), and creates a more solid line/effect.
• Choose your lashes and trim them. To trim your lashes, place the lash along your natural lash line, then mark with your finger where you need to cut. Cut the lashes at your marked place with scissors. This is kind of an eyeballing step, so make sure you double check. You don’t want your lashes too short. You want to be able to comfortably wear your lashes without either end of the lash stabbing either corner of your eye. TIP: As for which end to trim from, if you are using an angle/sweep style, trim from the end with the shortest hairs. If it’s any other lash, trim from the longer end. Not all lashes need trimming… that’s why you measure.
• Now you have two choices: either apply the adhesive on to the full length of the base of the false lashes or, using a brush place dots of adhesive along your own natural lash line before pressing the false lash on to it. Wait 30 seconds to 1 minute for the glue to get tacky.
• Using tweezers, hold the strip lash in the center. Then place it in the center of your natural lashes. Then, again using the tweezers, push the inner side of strip lash in place, followed by the outer side.
• Double check to make sure the glue is fully dry, then apply mascara if you desire. Apply mascara like you usually do, but do it more slowly. You don’t want to risk dislodging the lash. Work from the base of your natural lashes upwards, trying to get both your natural lashes and the false ones. This is also the time to redo your eyeliner if need be.