KK's Lash Bash!

I finally discovered how to use false lashes recently after about a fifteen year learning curve. Soon after, I learned what kind to buy and how not to make my eyelids a sticky gross mess of balled up latex goop and uncreatively smudged liquid liner. I mean, there's a difference between a big hot eye mess and a smoky eye -- right? Maybe??

So when my pantyhose pal @KimPossibleX (don't ask - but if you did ask, the answer would be really funny) wanted to know what kind of lash glue to use, I decided to put all my findings up to this point in a post. A video featuring my very own personal eyelids will be available soon! 

Lashes
I swear I've been failing at the lash game in many ways for years. It was only when @Cat_Marnell, former beauty editor of Lucky mag recommended Target's Sonia Kashuk lashes that I finally started WINNING in the falsies department. (hey, I'm just like Chuck Sheen! Except these are fake LASHES...not fake, uh...porn star parts.)

I started buying the Sonia Kashuk demi-lashes with glue kit, which they must be discontinuing because they're on clearance. Waaaa. Hopefully an even better version of it is coming. (It's also the first brand where I didn't feel like a spiky caterpillars had taken up residence on my eyelids for an entire day.)

By far, I think the widest array of lashes I've found is at Sally Beauty Supply. My local store even beats out Sephora.

I prefer my false lashes to start off looking pretty natural for everyday wear because you then pump 'em up with mascara. Leave the big drama lashes for night. Or costumes. Or drag queens. The demi ones seem to work for me because you don't have to cut them awkwardly. That's one of the many places I've gone wrong over the years.

I also don't like paying a lot per set because they don't have a long shelf life and I use a new set after maybe three or four wears. I probably shouldn't re-wear, but I don't like tossing money in the trash. So I just make sure to remove the glue and mascara and run a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol over them after taking them off.

Speaking of glue
Lash glue is not a happy subject and is the reason why a lot of people try them once and give up.

As everyone says...use a thin line of glue. Wait till it's tacky. In my experience, that means 15 seconds. It's too dry by the 30 seconds I had heard for years.

Slide them directly (straight) in over your lash line. I used to do this at an angle and they would be uneven and fall off. BAD!

It takes two hands and a magnifier mirror for me. Once they're positioned correctly, I use both hands to push the band into my eyelid (yes, I probably put a little too much force on my eyeball here. Hopefully I won't go blind but if I do, it will be for Beauty, the most noblest of causes! Whatev...).

Before you ask, I have tried individual lashes and I think a pro is needed to apply those. Also, the glue they require is like Super Glue and I didn't feel like gluing my eyelids together. I heard that's how Roy Orbison went blind - in an individual fake eyelash glue mishap. (Of course, I could be totally wrong here.) While I could then write some cool tunes and sing in a falsetto, other parts of my career would probably fail miserably. So strip lashes it is.

Glue Brands
Sonia Kashuk glue is killin' it for me. I finally have my go-to product. It has survived stressful days of travel, altitude changes, and the BIG TEST - hot and sweaty Zumba! class.

And it dries perfectly clear. They all don't, even though they all promise transparency. Much like politicians. *sigh*

Professional false lash wearer Kim Kardashian uses Duo, a surgical adhesive which doubles as lash glue and is sold at Sephora. It also comes in black, which I'm eager to try.

Another question I fielded recently is what kind of glue to use if you have a latex allergy. I asked my Twitter commuity for an answer, which was given by LA-based makeup artist @makeupbyangie - try the non-latex glue by Darkness. It's available on ebay.

Even if you're not sure you're brave enough to wear them in public yet, it couldn't hurt to pick up a pair and play with them at home. Once you learn how to put them on and get brave enough to wear them in public, your lashes will feel naked without them!