Lianne Clare

I've spent many years trialling out ALLLLL THA mascaras, lash serums, lotions and potions to give me longer, more voluptuous lashes. Everyone wants longer lashes right?

Lashes are a HUGE part of your makeup look.

Not only that but when someone looks at you, they're looking into your eyes. Lashes can completely change a look. But I could never get my head around false lashes... ohhh I've had it all; not being able to get them on properly, cutting too much off, not leaving the glue on long enough, them popping off halfway through the day, them sticking into my face every time I blinked and generally making a huge mess! Once I even poked myself in the eye with a pair of tweezers!! Waahh!! On the odd occasion I'd get them looking okay, halfway through the night they'd feel so uncomfortable I'd end up taking them off. It was safe to say I wasn't applying them properly.

beauty, makeup, lashes, false lashes, false eyelashes, fake lashes, Kiss Lashes, falseeyelashes.co.uk

It was only recently that I decided I had to crack this false lash malarky once and for all, because lashes really do make a huge difference to your look. Plus, I have quite hooded eyelids so false lashes help my eyes stand out a little better.

Practice makes perfect, right?

And after much practice, picking up a lot of tips and tricks on the way, I think I've finally cracked it...

I wanted to share with you my Tips to Apply False Eyelashes:

If you're a beginner, I'd definitely start by applying liner to your lash line, whether that's a small amount of eye pencil on your waterline smudged into your lash line, or a full-on cat eye with a liquid liner, lining the lash line helps to hide any gaps. It's also a good tip to apply mascara first, I will explain why later, but only a small amount is needed just enough to coat the lashes.

When removing the lashes from the casing, gently remove the lashes from the outer corner with tweezers or fingers, being careful not to break the band. Next, you want to tease the band a little by giving it a little wiggle to bend the lashes slightly to make the band a little more flexible and less stiff. You may want to roll them around a finger or thick makeup brush for a while to give a natural curve shape and stop them lifting once applied.

You're probably going to need to trim them down. Having huge lashes hanging over the corner of your eye isn't a great look, so you'll need to measure them and cut them down to a size that suits. Gently take the lashes with a lash applicator, or fingers (whatever is most comfortable for you) and place on the top of your natural lashes. Whatever you do, you don't want to place the lashes too close to the inner corner. A great tip is to take a pencil, hold it vertically against the edge of your nose and you want the lashes to start where the tip of the pencil is pointing. It's personal preference whether you trim from the inner or outer corner, depending on the style of lashes. Trim gently and ensure both lashes are the same size and keep placing them on your natural lashes as many times as you need, to check.

Next, glue. Apply a very thin layer of lash adhesive onto the band. Choose one that has a brush or wand applicator if you can as these are a lot more practical to use than those without. Make sure you coat the band from corner to corner, leaving no part of the band uncoated. Ensure that the outer corners are coated well as you don't want them lifting. Then relax for about 20-30 seconds. This is important as if you start to apply the lash before the glue is ready, it'll be much harder, probably slip and slide around and take much longer to get in place. You need to wait until it's slightly tacky so it clings to the lash line when you apply.

When you're ready, take a deep breath and go for it!

Using the lash applicator, or fingers if you feel more comfortable, start in the middle first, gently pushing the band as close to the lash line at the centre of your eye as you can, and looking down into a mirror, stick down the inner and outer corners, moving them around into shape. Remember to bring your mirror up and look straight ahead to check the lashes are in place and match well.

To minimise gaps between the false and natural lashes, bond them together with a lash applicator, or fingers. This is where the mascara you applied beforehand comes in handy, as it'll help set them together. Gently squeeze them together and then once completely dry, fluff them up.

It's a good idea to take the glue out with you, in case they begin to lift during the day.

And when you're ready to remove them, gently pull them from the inner corner, remove any dry glue from the band using tweezers or your fingers before replacing them back into their plastic casing. I read somewhere that dipping a clean mascara wand into oil and gently brushing across the band will remove any dry glue, I haven't tried that myself but anything that helps the lashes stay in good condition so you can get multiple uses out of them is great!