Double wing

So… you’ve always wanted to rock false eyelashes but you have no idea how to put the darn things on: they’re so light and flimsy you don’t even know how to hold them, and you are supposed to use glue? right next to your eye?

Traumatic memories of 1st grade and some obscure art project that ended with your hand stuck to your head and glue all over your hair flash right before your eyes. You shudder. You just cannot go through that again. You think: “well, i don’t really need falsies anyway…”

Fear no more: here’s the how-to, simple and to the point, all you need to know about false lash installation and operation. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be winking at the UPS man in no time!

You will need the following:

1. False lashes (duh!)

2. Eyelash glue. There are different kinds and colors, my favorite is the one that goes on white and dries clear. That way, if you goof and get glue on your lids no one will see it. No clean up!

3. Eyeliner: whichever kind you prefer. I usually do my liner before putting the falsies on. That way if you get a gap between your lashes and the falsies, it is not noticeable.

4. Mascara. You can use it after you have your lashes on to help blend the falsies with the real ones. I like to be able to reuse my false lashes, so I don’t get any mascara on them. I put mascara on my lashes and then i put the falsies on. It’s a question of personal preference.

5. Scissors, to cut your falsies if they are too long for your eye.

6. Tweezers, to hold and apply the falsies. They are completely optional, some people prefer just using their fingers.

7. A small mirror.

8. An eye. Or two.

Got everything? Great, let’s get started!!!

Step 1. Put eyeliner on.

Step 2. Measure your falsies:

without any glue on them, place them on your lashes. They should be tacky enough thanks to the adhesive they use for packaging, but they won’t stick to your eyes. You’ll get a general idea of where they are going to go.

Make sure you place them properly on the outside corner, right on top of where your own start.

Then look at the inner corner: do the falsies start at the same place your own lashes start?

If they don’t, they are too long for your eye and they will tend to lift in that area, which is where your lid moves the most. They will also feel really weird and they might even “pinch” every time you blink.

(Don’t be tempted to just slide them back so the the excess is on the outer corner. If your lashes are too long there they will make your eye look droopy, and that’s NOT a good look on anyone!)

Trim the excess and they’ll fit just right. VERY IMPORTANT: trim the outside of the lashes, NOT the part that goes on the inner corner because the individual lashes on that part are tapered to look natural, if you cut that part off they are going to look a bit funky…

Step 3. Now, let’s get down to business! Get some glue: I like to get a large bead on my finger or the back of my other hand.

Step 4. Drag the strip on top of the glue, and make sure they are evenly coated. Put a tiny bit more on both ends, since they tend to lift more.

Step 5. Wait for the glue to get tacky so that they don’t slide around once you get them on.

Then go ahead and holding them with your tweezers so that you can see better, and looking down into your mirror, place them on your eye, right at the base of your own lashes and as close to them as possible.

Note that they go on your eyelid, NOT on your actual lashes…

Place the middle part down first, and then stick the corners.

Once they are on, you can use the back of your tweezers to gently push down to make sure they stick properly.

They should look like this. See how white the glue looks?

Now don’t touch them! You don’t want to disturb their placement while they are wet, so go put some lipstick on or something else while they dry. You’ll know they are drying because the glue will start to become clear, like this:

Step 7. Once they are dry, you can go back to them, fix up your eyeliner if you want to cover up the glue and get some mascara on if you want.

There you go: perfectly applied false lashes to bat at all the cute boys… Enjoy!

Try it and let me know how you do…

I’m back after a very, very busy summer. There’s an understatement… :)

It seems like we blinked for a second back in the spring, and by the time we open our eyes again it’s fall! …even though the weather is a little bit, let’s say, unusual for this time of year (it is Columbus Day, after all).

I hope everyone had a great summer!

In following my recent obsession with drugstore makeup - cause the economy is still not great and I refuse to spend $25 on a single eyeshadow - here we have a look in which only drugstore makeup has been used: a wonderful L’Oreal HIP shadow duo in “Electrified”, L’Oreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black, and my newest obsession: Eyelure false lashes in “205”. Yes, this lashes are the bomb! they are double lashes, the equivalent of stacking two strips one on top of the other to get them really thick, really luscious, really dramatic. They are gorgeous, and best of all, only $5.99! *Love*

Seriously, it was about time. Why didn’t Sephora think to do this earlier?

I’m blabbing about the new “Colorista” summer color palette from Sephora. Honestly, if you only want to buy one item of makeup this summer that’s going to see you through everyday, work, weekend, fun and/or special events, THIS is it!

Forty (40!) eyeshadows, both matte and shimmery, that cover the most wearable neutrals to some pretty colorful brights, to downright smoky colors…

If that wasn’t enough, it also comes with five cream liners, form your basic black and brown to a beautiful bright seafoam that I have been drooling over since I first got this palette in my grubby little hands.

But wait, there’s more! Six face colors (four blushes and two bronzers) in different finishes AND no less than fifteen lipglosses in every color under the sun.

Sephora has been releasing this palettes every now and then for as long as I can remember… the first ones were not that great in my opinion: the pigmentation was lacking, they were chalky and powdery, and let’s not talk about that awful synthetic smell that slapped you in the face as soon as you opened the cover. A waste of cash.

But I am a sucker for palettes, so I’ve kept an eye on them year after year and I have to say that every season they got better and better, and the two most recent ones were very close to great… This one takes the cake. Mostly because:

1- the quality of the shadows is so good. No, i’m not saying that these are the best eyeshadows on the market. Let’s be honest, they are not Chanel… nor do they cost as much. But they are pretty darn good enough for my equal-opportunity-eyeshadow-loving taste: they apply evenly, not too much fall out and they are soooo pigmented! I’ve swatched a few random ones on my arm to show you. I barely touched my finger to the eyeshadow and wiped it on my arm. The colors are intense and opaque, and I, for one, am impressed

2- have I mentioned that the whole palette is only $28? Yep, you read it right: $28. (Or, the equivalent of a pack of gum and a bottle of water at the Sconset Market!)

3- their clever packaging: this is no regular palette where the individual shadows are glued to the bottom and you have to cart the whole thing around with you. These shadows come in individual metal pans that stick to the palette because it’s magnetized. Oh yeah, magnetized! Which means, using the enclosed “tool” (ok, it’s just a pointy stick) you can lift each color you want to use and transfer it to the enclosed mini-palette and just put it in your purse, ready to reapply wherever you are! The mini-palette has a mirror and holds 6 round pans (maybe 4 shadows, a liner and a lip gloss?) and two face colors (blush and bronzer). There you have it, your whole face in a compact smaller than your wallet. And you can pop them out and get different colors for the following day! You just can’t beat that!

By far, the best buy of the season. :)

You can get it HERE.

Bigger pictures are HERE

LOOK: ELECTRIC BLUES

Yet another look using a Kat Von D palette (the last one for a while, I promise). This time, it was Metal Orchestra, a beautiful combination of vibrant blues and shimmery grays. Check it out HERE.

For more pics, go HERE!!!

I am in love with the Kat von D palettes: 8 beautiful, pigmented colors for $34 is a really good deal!

For this look I used the Memento Mori palette, which you can drool over HERE.

And you can see the rest of this look HERE

These are so cool! See the rest of the pics HERE!!!

Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips. They last on about 10 days and come off relatively easy with regular nail polish remover. Best part is: they have no DBP, Toluene or Formaldehyde.

I just wish my nails could have been longer so they could show the lace pattern better, but they have to always be really short for school. The strips come in lots of different designs and patterns and they were really easy to apply: unstick from the sheet they come on, stick on nail matching one end of strip to base of nail, smooth on, file excess strip off. Literally two minutes and I was done, no drying time!