Beauty tips: 5 tips for great looking lashes

Since discovering mascara at the tender age of 12, it’s become the one item of makeup I will never be without. I think eye lashes are one of those incredibly personal things – they help to frame your eyes and we all have those tried and tested products to help us make the most out of them. These are five of my top tips to get great looking lashes, both with mascara and without.

Give them a curl – lash curlers really are your best friend if used well. Start at the base of your lashes, press gently and hold for 5-10 seconds. Move them slowly up the lashes in stages, holding the curlers shut for a few seconds each time to get a natural looking curl that will hold all day. Shu Uemura's are the best I've tried; they're a bit pricey at £20 but they really work wonders!

Wiggle that wand – no-one wants clumpy looking lashes, so when applying mascara start right at the base of your lashes and gently wiggle the wand from side to side as you apply it. This should stop ‘3 eye lash’ syndrome from occurring. Make sure you leave a little while in between coats of mascara to give it chance to dry slightly – if it’s too wet, it’s much easier for clumps to form.

Tight-line at the base of your lashes – for a really full lash look without lots of makeup, tight-lining is a great solution. Tight-lining involves lining your upper lid from underneath the lashes so is a bit tricky to get the hang of initially, but it will ensure your lashes look incredibly full, without any tell-tale gaps between them at the base. Use a specific product designed for tight lining if you can (Laura Mercier’s cake liners are good) and have a few practice goes at home to get it looking good without poking yourself in the eye (been there, it hurts).

Remove your eye makeup properly and with a gentle remover – mascara can sometimes be an absolute b*tch to get off, so using a specific eye makeup remover is a must in my book. A lot of these are also infused with lash conditioners to help keep them feeling nice and soft after all the makeup has gone. Don’t rub your eyes as you remove makeup – not only can this help give you wrinkles around the eye area, it tugs at your lashes and can encourage breakage. Instead, soak a cotton pad with remover, hold it over the lid/lashes for around 30 seconds to start dissolving the makeup and then gently sweep away.

Help them to grow - to help lengthen lashes long term, enhancing treatment like RapidLash* is a great option. I’ve used both RapidLash and RapidBrow in the past and been really impressed with the effects. You’ll need to apply the serum once a day for a couple of months before you see any results, but it’s definitely worth the effort! My lashes seemed to shed less and also grew noticeably longer, to the point where I could make them touch my brows when I gave them a flutter.

What are your top tips for lovely looking lashes?

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