Over the last few weeks, as the country has slowed down and stayed at home to accommodate our strange new reality, this column has been devoted to life’s smaller questions. Questions such as: “How can I get this damn two-week nail polish off at home?”, and “should I buy a home highlighting kit and set to work in the family loo, just as I did in 2002 while weeping inconsolably after Timmy O’Driscoll dumped me outside Curley’s sweet shop?” The answer to the latter, by the way, is no. Don’t highlight your own hair. These questions are not life or death, but they do reflect on our quality of life and the small things that we can control at the moment.
We have covered the issues that may be bashing the nation’s aesthetic confidence (hair is the major one there, it seems), and now we move on to eyelashes. Of all the beauty frivolities I have the pleasure of writing about here, lashes are probably the most (wonderfully) frivolous. You do not need to give your eyelashes a single moment’s thought if you don’t care to. However, if you want to do something to enhance them at the moment, you do have options.
The easiest of these is a home lash dye kit. Eyelure Dylash Lash Tint in Black (€12.99) is my preferred product as it is quick and easy to use. It does come in brown, but brown lashes are not worth having, in my opinion. If you are going to dye your lashes, black-as-priests’-socks is the only sensible shade. This will give you "more lashes" by darkening the fine, light hairs we all have, including the very tips of lashes, which can be lighter than the main body.
If you are a lash extension enthusiast in search of an alternative, try Lashify. This company is US-based (you'll have to buy from their website), but they offer imperceptible lash extensions that you can apply yourself. The lashes come in sections, and instead of sitting them atop your lashes as you would with standard falsies, you attach them to the underside of your lashes. There is no visible band, and the lashes are fluffy and beautiful. You can sleep in them too. Just avoid getting any oil cleanser on them, and ensure your lashes are squeaky clean before applying, to lengthen their hold. I love their Lashify Fluffy Gossamer Lashes ($25 at lashify.com), which look like the best possible natural lashes. The Lashify Control Kit ($145 at lashify.com) isn't cheap, but it's far cheaper than extensions, and you need only rebuy the Gossamers, which can be worn more than once.
If you are on the hunt for a good mascara, my two picks are Maybelline The Falsies Lash Lift Mascara (€11.99) for curled, plumped and big lashes, or Glossier Lash Slick Mascara (€16 at glossier.com) for a subtle but sophisticated lengthening effect.
