Putting on Falsies - The Whole Process De-Mystified!!

What a struggle it has been for me to put on false eyelashes!! Of course I turned to You Tube and watched a few tutorials but do you think I learned anything? Nope....there are some things in life you need to experience and fail at before you get the hang of it. This is one of those experiences.

I was inspired to take on wearing false eyelashes after seeing a cousin of mine wear them and I purchased some online - cheap as chips they were, and can last up to several uses if you treat them well. So allow me to take you on my journey.....perhaps you too can pick up a trick or two after reading this.

Let me start with the falsies themselves....you can buy them at any beauty store for a very reasonable price if you look around. There are some fancy styles of varying thickness as well as lengths and there are simple ones which mimic natural looking lashes or elaborate ones. For some reason, I have always associated false lashes with drag make-up and the whole over the top look which cannot be practical for everyday use. I was wrong. I have spotted a few ladies around my work area wearing falsies to work too!

I have some which I purchased from an online seller at http://forum.lowyat.net/StuffForTheLadies but I found some very usable everyday falsies for an absolute steal at a store near my home one day and all I went there for was to do my grocery shopping! See the picture below? These cost RM3.90, are flexible (you want them to be pliable so they fit the curve of your lashes without the ends popping up halfway through your day!) and very natural looking. The brand on these were Opoola Eyelashes and the number on them was 040. The lashes came with a tiny tube of lash glue which I did not use - rather, I used black colored eyelash glue which I purchased from SASA. If you look closely, the lash on your right (in the first picture below) is slightly shorter in width as I snipped off a little to experiment the fit. They sit very nicely in the box and will not move around because the band that holds the lash is slightly sticky and the lashes will stick to the plastic backing.

The pictures below shows my eye with the eyelash on. Do you think they look natural interspersed with my own lashes?

Now for the how-to! First you need to assemble your equipment. Get your glue and squeeze out a little on the cover (pictured below) - here I used the plastic cover that the lashes came in.....don't worry about getting it dirty as once the leftover glue dries up, you can easily peel it off and there will not be any residue on the surface. Use a bobby pin or orange stick (the one's you use to push your cuticles back) or in this case, I used a plastic stick. Carefully peel off one lash. Pick up some glue with the stick, and apply this to the entire length of the band. Ensure you add a little extra glue on the ends of the band if you need to - this ensures that the ends stick firmly to your lash line. If you do not put enough glue on the ends, they tend to lift off or peel off as you begin to blink and will feel uncomfortable.

There are several types of glue on the market with varying prices. The best brand I know is DUO which SASA Singapore carries. I have not seen this brand at our local SASA. There are different colors also which you can choose from: transparent, white and black. White glue will turn transparent when dry and the black glue can get messy if you do not wait for it to dry a little before applying your lash.

Once you apply your preferred glue to the band of the lash, you need to wait for at least 30 seconds to a minute until the glue gets tacky - this means it should dry a little and get thicker. My mistake was putting on the eyelash as soon as I applied the glue.....the result? The eyelash did not stick well and the ends kept coming off. I spent 20 minutes last Sunday as I was getting ready to attend the Easter Service....I also got black glue all over my eyelid which messed up my eye makeup! I gave up after struggling with it, until I attempted it again, this time using a different approach. My fear was that the glue would dry up and the eyelash would not adhere properly to my lids. Boy was I wrong!  

So now assuming you have put on the glue, give it a minute, or less  if you blow on the glue several times. Once the required 'setting' time is up, hold the lashes firmly in the middle and put it just above your natural lashes. Angle it so you get this middle part and the middle of your natural lashes aligned properly. You will find that the false lashes will stick to your skin. Next gently grip one end of the lash and push it down, again along your natural lash line, followed by the other end. If indeed you waited long enough for the glue to get tacky and thick, you will not need to worry about the glue smearing all over your lid and the lash will stick properly.

In the picture below, you will see a lash gripper, which I found at the beauty section of my local grocery store. I used this earlier to apply my lashes, but you can do just as well with your fingers or a tweezer.   

The next step and quite crucial to the whole process is to use a tweezer or even the back of an eyeshadow brush to gently push the tops of your eyelids down on the freshly applied lashes to further 'seal' it in place. As you can see from the picture above, I placed the metal grip a few millimeters above my false lashes and pushed downwards. This motion pushes the skin just above the eyelash inwards and ensures that it sticks firmly in place. Do this along the entire line of the lash and you are done. 

Open your eyes carefully, as some glue may have seeped onto your bottom lid, thus sticking them together. If that happens, gently pull off the glue. Once you are done using the lashes, gently peel them from one end to the other and peel off any dry glue from the band before you put them back into the original box. These can then be used again. You may need an oil based remover to remove the glue residue from your lids.

Below you will see the set of falsies and metal applicator which I bought  for a steal at RM10.90. The metal applicator does not hold the lashes very well as the tips do not meet fully when pushed together but it takes some getting used to and I have only used it once. The funny thing is, I purchased this for RM10.90 and then took a walk to check out what was new at a SASA store close by and the very same item was selling for RM15.90!! Can you believe that? Such an elevated price! So one other thing you can learn from this is to first check if you can get the item you want from SASA cheaper somewhere else....who knows, you might save yourself a few ringgits, like I did!

So for those of you who have been wanting to try out falsies, do give it a spin. Like me, you may need to try a few times until you get it right but nothing ventured, nothing gained!