Occasionally dispensing with facial makeup may make you appear fresh and honest, but there's no occasion when you can get away with badly cared-for eyelashes, beauty experts say. To give eyelashes an elegant upwards curve and set them in scene with perfect mascara, you need to develop the right care routine.
To achieve that you need to understand some eyelash basics.
"Their important function is to protect the eyes," explains Ricarda Zill, a make-up artist and advisor for Germany's trade association of skincare product manufacturers, the IKW. "Their fine hairs prevent small particles of dust from getting into the eyes." Make-up artist Rene Koch adds: "They act like a sieve."
Koch recommends using castor oil to keep eyelashes healthy. He applies the oil with a small brush - after any make-up has been removed. He advises using castor oil once a week. There are also special mascaras you can buy that contain care agents. "It's very important to clean eyelashes every evening," says Zill. The best way to get an elegant turn-up into eyelashes is by using an eyelash curler.
"Always use the curler before applying the mascara, otherwise the hairs might break off," warns Zill. Apply the curler close to the hair roots and then press it together for five seconds. "Pre-warmed curlers will give the ultimate curl." If this sounds like too much of a chore, you can also get an eyelash perm. The hairs are rolled around a small curler and painted with a perming solution. Another option is the lash lift, in which each lash is stroked upwards along its full length.
"With eyelash lifting, the lashes are stuck to a silicone pad and then treated with a perm solution," explains Zill. Eyelash perming and lifting use similar chemicals and last about eight weeks. After curling the next step is to apply mascara but which mascara should you buy? The aim is to get long, luscious lashes where the colour doesn't run.
"Choosing a mascara begins with deciding how long and thick the lashes should be," says make-up expert Peter Schmidlinger from Germany's VKE consumer association. Mascaras that add volume are recognizable by their short, thick brushes, according to Zill. "On the other hand, mascaras that add length have long, thin brushes." Koch recommends using waterproof mascara only if you intend going swimming. Otherwise using mascara with a very high level of oil is the better choice. It won't smear no matter how hard it rains - or if you cry. Mascara doesn't have to be expensive. "You can use an inexpensive mascara as they can be just as good as the expensive brands," says Koch.
There are several ways to apply mascara. Schmidlinger suggests pressing the brush to the eyelash roots and then waggling it from side to side. That way you will get a fulsome base to the eyelash while the tips will be slender. Koch places the mascara brush first in the middle of the eyelashes and then brushes back to the eyelids. Then he waggles the brush from side to side, before brushing forwards.
Comments
Comments are closed.