Reworking Cheap False Lashes - For When The Student Loan Is Dwindling (Or You Feel Like Being Money Savvy)

So, cheap stuff is great, right? I mean, yeah it is. Being a student, money is always a problem, so being thrifty is important. I don't know that buying false lashes constitutes as thrifty, but I'll leave that up to you. I just can't not buy a pair of lashes that cost £1 (of which the Sultry and the black and purple lashes are), or in the case of the spotty lashes, not buy lashes that are that cool looking (hot damn). Lashes are typically around £5, which is fine, as, if you take care of them, they can last a good long while. And you do get what you pay for (in most cases). Mac lashes are £10 because they tend to be real hair, have light, almost invisible bands that are comfortable and look darn good. Now, you're not going to get this with £1 lashes, it's not gonna happen. The likelihood is that they will be synthetic, the band tough and uncomfortable and the shape just all wrong. And this is where this blog post comes in. Let me guide you sweet children.

 The Sultry Lashes are £1 at Primark, the Festival Lashes are £2 at Primark and the Black Eyelashes are £1 at Sainsbury's (Halloween is my darling).

 For these little improvements, you will simply needed some nail scissors (not the curved ones, that will only bring you pain) and a spooly to comb the lashes through at the end.

Also I recommend something to catch all the waste. As you can see, it is more than a little bit messy.

Firstly we have the Sultry Lashes, these are simple, light, but sort of really dull. And the edges are pokey, like, it hurt to wear these initially.

They add a little length and a little thickness, nothing dramatic.

My main issue is that they are a consistent length throughout, I prefer variation.

Start with trimming the lashes to fit your eyes. I always like going a little shorter than needed, as I prefer the inner edge to start a little way back from the inner corner - sort of just before the iris starts. Always cut from the outer edge - it's like false lashes 101 - mainly because you want the inner corner to be short and cutting it away will only leave longer strands.

I cut away two sprigs, as it were, of the lashes, leaving a more comfortable fit for my eyes.

I started by trimming the inner corners down, cutting the hairs into a v shape pointing upwards (as the picture shows, as I'm feeling my description is not all that helpful).

I then cut these same upward facing v's into the rest of the lashes, aiming to have it longer at the outer edge. This didn't really go to plan, so I made it more or a curved shape, just with added texture. To add the texture, I used the scissors perpendicular to the band, snipping swiftly and moderately randomly across the length. Sort of how a hair dresser stops the ends of your hair looking like a straight line. Be careful with this, less is more, as these lashes ended shorter than I initially intended. Alternative advice would be just to trim down the inner corner, to make it fit more easily with your own lashes.

To finish, comb through the lashes with a spooly to dislodge all the excess little hairs that have been chopped off.

The finished result.

 An all together more natural look. Although I wish I'd kept the outer edges a little longer.

These lashes would be great for everyday because they are so light and so subtle.

 Next up are these wonders from Sainsbury's. They're part of the Halloween stock, so they'll not be around for ever. It also means they are not the best.

 The band is thick, so to wear them effectively it's best to bend the lashes into a curve before applying them.

 Now, whilst these lashes are great, they are altogether too long for me to ever wear them. To the trimming!

 Again, start with trimming the outer edge to make the lashes fit you eyes. I cut off two bars of colour. (I promise this is the outer corner, the other lash did not have that skinny bit of black at the end).

 I forgot to take a photo of how much was cut off before I did the trimming. Sneak peak.

 Now, this is going to look waaaayyyy to short, I promise you it is not. These lashes are really long, so I needed to cut off a lot to make them wearable. Do the same action of cutting perpendicular to the band to create the v shape (I'm a fan of spiky lashes).

I wanted to keep the look of the original lashes by keeping the black bands shorter than the purple. I cut each section into a v, leaving the purple sections longer, but still having a graduation of length along the lashes.

 And the final result.

 The hairs are a lot thicker than the typical lashes (being cheap and synthetic and all), so these will never look natural, but I have a feeling that's not the look you would be going for anyway.

 I rather like how these lashes came out, I might even wear them on Halloween.

 And finally these beauties from Primark. They're a little pricier at £2, but I can manage because of all the pretty. Being feathers, they're soft, but delicate, so no tugging! I pulled a feather out, but lash glue repaired it swiftly and easily.

 Stupendous.

 The difficulties with these lashes is that they are so long I couldn't see the band to place it in the right place. The band is soft, however.

 To make the job of applying a little easier I trimmed a little off each end. Because of feathers being what they are, I could trim off quite a lot and not change the look of the lashes.

 See?

And these lashes are so pretty they need no other change.

And now to bed with me, it's 2:40 in the morning.

Bird Makeup - Utilising Crazy False Lashes With Even Crazier Makeup

So I recently wrote a blog post about a Nyx haul I did, and in that haul was this handsome pair of lashes with red feathers sprouting from their outer corners. Thus, this look was born.

I recently saw a showing of a performance of The Tempest at The Globe (the original performance being at the Globe, I saw a recording of it at a cinema, where it was so nice not to have to stand throughout the entire three hours). In this performance the actor who played Ariel had this really cool makeup on, which was a wash of red extending from his eyes towards his temples. I was inspired. So with this in mind and these beautiful lashes, I came up with this look.

 All the shadows I used are Inglot. The red is shade 382, the yellow is 343, the white is 373, the peach on the lid is 612 and the dark purple in the crease is 452. On the lips I used No 7 Lip Pencil in Fire, with Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 01 over that, followed by Barry M Lip Gloss in Valentines. On my skin I used a mix of Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation in Light Vanilla and Stargazer White Foundation. I blended the red eye shadow into my cheeks as a blush, used Sleek Contouring and Blush Palette to contour and used MUA Pink Shimmer Highlighter on my cheekbones, nose, cupids bow, chin and forehead. 

 For my brows I put Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on to a spooley and pulled it through the hairs. I also used Milk on my waterline and inner corner. I used Bourjois Liquid Liner for a Cat eye to better blend in the lashes. The lashes are, of course, Nyx Super Power. I also used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yellow as a base for the yellow shadow.

Et Voila!

Nyx Haul - For When Needing To Replace One Thing Turns Into Buying Four Things

So, Nyx's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk is a certified staple in my make up collection. It's a rare day that I do not reach for this product (sky falling? blue moon?). So when I was down to a measly stub it was time to stumble back to the Nyx website and do some buying. Because who just orders one thing from online? Not me, certainly. Like, I'm paying for postage, I better make the most of it. Thus, Nyx haul.

Now, I have a bit of a split position on Nyx products. Some I absolutely adore (jumbo eye pencils, yo), others I'm fairly ambivalent about (glitter cream palette, anyone?). I've tried their nail polishes, that, whilst having an incredible range of colour, are a bit so-so on the formula side. Their eye shadows are buttery and pleasant to work with, but I very rarely use single eye shadows any more. I'm pretty in love with their Glitter on the Go shakers, but they're being discontinued. So, with these past experiences, I cruised on over to the false eye lashes. I was not disappointed. I also bought a lipstick, because I just want to love them, because a lot of them are named after Greek Gods, and that is a very fast way to get into my heart (and also my collection - see also Nails Inc polishes named after London Streets).

First things first, we have these BEAUTIES. Like, hot damn. These are the parrot lashes. Who knew I wanted to look like a tropical bird? Now, wearable is not a word to be caught dead in the same room with these lashes. But that's OK. Wearable isn't everything and I love doing crazy editorial looks. Also costume parties.

Just take a minute to fully appreciate these lovelies.

Next up are the Super Power lashes. These are more toned down than the Parrot lashes and I can conceivably see myself wearing these out. Because red and black are match made in the fiercest heaven.

I'm just in love.

Now we have the lipstick. It is called Hestia, who is the Greek Goddess of the Hearth. Now, this lipstick is far from homely. It's sex in a creamy and well pigmented formula. I often find Nyx Lipsticks a bit too creamy, I feel like they're just going to slide off my lips, despite having a respectable amount of staying power. I just feel like the formula is just sitting on my lips, rather than sinking in and feeling a little more natural. However, this lipstick felt a little nicer, to the degree that I will be reaching for this lipstick a lot. Because, guys, this colour. Dark red lips I feel are my spiritual lipstick home. I constantly get drawn to them, when buying and reaching for one to wear.

The ease of application caught me off guard. I was expecting to have a streaky and unpleasant mess with my initial application, but I got a nice even coverage that I went over to just build the colour a little. I'm one happy bunny with these purchases.