How are you doing today? I’m feeling a lot better but still, sitting in front of the computer screen for too long makes me dizzy. It’s strange because I rarely get sick but I guess the strange weather finally got into me.
To my hardcore fans, you know I am a bit obsessive when it comes to mascara (and my eyes as well.) Like many Asian girls out there, my lashes are neither long nor full. They are a bit longer than they used to but the lashes are straight and sparse. At age 10, I discovered a tube of mascara from my mom’s dresser (Lancôme if I remember correctly) and my life changed forever. After some practices on my friend and myself, we finally concluded this thing is awesome! Not only my lashes looked longer but hers also looked amazing. But mom was quick to take the tube of mascara away from us and told us not to mess with her beauty things.
So it was no surprise that I bought a tube of mascara as my first makeup item (Almay at Sav-On for a dollar.) The first tube of mascara was thick and goopy. My lashes clumped and smudged. I had raccoon eyes by noon but I could not stop myself from finding the “IT” mascara. To these days, Cover Girl LashBlast and L’Oréal Voluminous come closest to HG material but the quest still does not come to an end. Since I’ve been reviewing mascaras, I decided to compile all the tips and tricks I’ve learned all these years and make it into a post.
Mascaras I currently useMy Makeup Blog’s Mascara Tips and Tricks
1. Get yourself a good eyelash curler
Believe me, ladies, your eyelash curler is your best friend, not a torture device! Although there are so many eyelash curlers out there with different prices from cheap to steep, please make sure you get a high quality one that your pocket can afford. As they are considered hardware, a good curler lasts forever.
If you have a good stash of cash, Shu Uemura curler ($19 USD) is a good buy. If you love drugstore products, Revlon curlers ($5-6 USD) are also fine. On top of that, you can find replacement pads for Revlon for cheap.
2. Curl your lashes before applying mascara
The best way to have believable lashes is to “walk” your curler from root to tip in a pumping motion instead of pinching it right at the root. That way, your lashes do not look bent (and wonky!) If you get the lash curler to work for you, you’ve won half of the battle.
My opinion on heated lash curler: do not use it! I used to have one after hearing Kimora Lee Simmons raved about it. The result: brittle, broken lashes- not cute! Although the heated lash curler makes the curl on your lashes last longer, it also dries them. The heated lash curlers are like flat iron: the immediate result looks nice but in the long run, the accumulated damage is not peachy.
3. Remember to wipe the wand
The next few tips make a big difference: they are the reason why you buy that mascara at the makeup counter after a makeup artist worked his/her magic on you. Then once you go home, you can’t replicate it and your lashes ended up looking so-so.
Although mascara formulas and wands have improved significantly, clumping of the lashes is still a big problem. Having a clump is frustrating since mascara is the last thing to complete the eyes. But most times, clumping almost has nothing to do with the formula or the wand (unless the formula is really bad and takes a decade to dry!) It’s the excess material on the wand that causes the problem. The round plastic piece at the opening of the tube is there to remove the excess from the wand but most times it is not sufficient.
If you’ve watched makeup artists at work, you find them to have tissue papers around. In mascara’s case, they are handy to blot the excess off your wand. Since I started blotting mascara, clumping has reduced to nil. So I urge you to give it a try, you will like it!
4. Practice le zig zag
I learned this tip from a MAC makeup artist named Ian; he’s the only person whom I bought the only MAC mascara in my life so far. The mascara was sub-par, even people who lives in camp MAC can tell you that. But this guy Ian had his way with the wand and after the application my lashes looked a whole lot fuller.
How did Ian do it, providing that he used a so-so mascara and a disposable wand?
Apparently, he mastered the art of wiggling the wand in a zig zag, yeah! (Remember “Wannabe” by Spice Girls?) Instead of just applying the mascara in a straight line, Ian wiggled the wand like a slithering snake to the length of my lashes, from root to tip. Practicing this tip only will pump up your lashes about 4 more times when using the same mascara. Come on, give it a try!
5. Change your mascara often
It always irks me when seeing another woman using the same old, same old mascara for ages. Mascaras have a short time span (3 months) so unless having an eye infection is what you aim for, please change your mascara often.
However, what’s the point of going back to Old Sucky (not Old Faithful) that gives you spidery lashes, girlfriend? There are so many good mascaras out there, why sticking with something that does not work? If you’re not in this category, I congratulate you! If you are, please, for the love of God, get a Voluminous mascara and start enjoying it.
6. Play mix and match
After years of searching for the perfect mascara that lengthens, curls, and volumizes my lashes, I came to a conclusion: I’m chasing a mirage, we’re not there yet (although quoting President O, “Yes, we can!”). So, instead of hunting for the perfect one, why don’t it just mix and match the good ones I have?
Guess what, ladies? It works! Back when I had CG LashBlast and Maybelline Colossal Lash, I mixed them: LashBlast for volume and length, and Colossal for curl. It worked every single time: my lashes were dark, long, and perfect – so perfect that they almost looked fake! The downfall is I have to spend twice (but two kick-ass drugstore mascaras are still cheaper than a department store rendition, anyways.)
If mascara is your interest, I hope this entry will help you. To be honest with you, I find drugstore mascaras are just as good as department store ones. Also, when I need to change mine every 3 months, buying drugstore mascaras makes more sense since they’re a lot cheaper.
I hope you have a wonderful week. As usual, stay gorgeous!
Love,
Your Makeup Blogger
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