Kayla Young
Most of us weren’t born with a set of long, luscious, fluttery eyelashes, despite what spending a few minutes on Instagram would lead you to believe. A good set of fake lashes, whether they’re magnetic or glue, makes eyes look bigger, brighter, and more youthful.
When it comes to lash enhancements, there are two basic kinds: salon-applied lash extensions and lash lifts, and fake eyelashes you can apply at home.
Now for the obvious reasons of convenience and cost, fake eyelashes are the much more popular alternative.
And when it comes to fake eyelashes and mascara, the burning question is – Do you put mascara on before or after fake lashes?
You should be applying mascara before fake eyelashes. In this article, we are going to tell you why, as well as give you some tips on how to apply falsies like a pro.
Contents
Do You Put Mascara On Before or After Fake Lashes?
Apply a coat of mascara to your natural lashes before applying your fake lashes.
You should avoid applying mascara to your fake eyelashes because they’ll be harder to clean. And all that extra cleaning will wear them out a lot faster.
You’ll get less use out of them.
Depending on what your fake lashes are made from, chances are they will be thicker than your natural lashes.
Mascara on a fuller set of falsies can cause clumping and the fake lashes to become stuck together.
It’s probably not the look you were going for unless you like the spidery look (which can look good, of course!).
Do You Need To Wear Mascara With Fake Eyelashes?
You can of course wear fake eyelashes without mascara!
But brushing a coat of mascara across your natural lashes will allow your fake lashes to adhere better to your natural lashes.
If the idea is to make them look natural, you don’t want two obvious sets of eyelashes!
Applying mascara before your fake lashes will allow you to achieve a more natural, seamless blend between your natural lashes and your falsies. This is particularly true if you have lighter-colored natural lashes.
How to Apply Fake Lashes (with mascara)
Before we get into the details of how to apply fake lashes, the #1 rule is to avoid using waterproof mascara. The ingredients in waterproof mascara that make it waterproof can break down the adhesive in your falsies.
You’re running the risk of your lashes popping off well before you planned.
Those same ingredients will make your fake lashes much harder to clean later, which will cause a lot of wear and tear and can damage them. This will ultimately result in your fake lashes not lasting as long.
Tip #1: Start with a clean slate
Just like you wouldn’t put more makeup on top of yesterday’s makeup, you need to make sure your face and your lashes are clean. Dirt, oil and residual traces of leftover mascara will make it hard to get your fake lashes to stick and stay on.
When cleaning around your eyes, use a water-based makeup remover. Oil will break down the adhesive in your fake lashes and they could end up falling off before you planned to remove them.
Tip #2: Do the rest of your makeup first
It’s just easier not to have to work around false eyelashes and you won’t accidentally get makeup on the falsies if you apply them at the end.
Tip #3: Curl your natural lashes
much like the debate of mascara before or after fake lashes, there’s also a question of whether to use an eyelash curler before or after applying fake lashes. Curl your natural lashes before applying mascara and the fake eyelashes.
Curling before applying mascara will keep your lash curler cleaner and less likely to harbor bacteria. Your lashes are also less likely to stick to the curler, causing pulling, lash loss and damage to your lashes and lash follicles (and fake eyelashes).
Whether you are using a [amazon_link=”B00YRBWSNK” “link_text=”traditional eyelash curler” link_icon=”amazon” /], or a [amazon_link=”B09BMRT84L” “link_text=”heated eyelash curler” link_icon=”amazon” /], you should curl your lashes before applying mascara.
If you’re using a heated eyelash curler, it’s all the more reason to curl only your natural lashes before applying mascara. Heat will damage fake eyelashes.
Tip #4: Loosen the lash spine
Especially if you’re using a new set of fake eyelashes, they usually come out of the box straighter than the natural curvature of your eye. Wrap the strip either around your little finger or the handle of a makeup brush for a minute before applying.
Loosening up a stiff lash strip beforehand will ensure that the inner and outer corners won’t be popping up later.
Tip #4: Trim if you need to
Fake lashes can sometimes be too long, so you may need to trim them.
Measure the fake lash strip to your eye by placing it where your natural eyelashes begin at the inner corner of your eye. You can then use a set of tweezers to mark where you need to trim them at the outer edge.
Don’t trim them next to your eye!
The excess lashes should always be trimmed from the outer corner, not the inner corner, so make sure you are measuring the right lash to the right eye!
If you are having trouble getting the fake eyelashes the right length or they don’t seem to be fitting properly, you can also opt to cut them into a few pieces. Then you can stick the pieces on individually, offering you more control.
Tip #5. Adhesive
Fake eyelashes come either as a set of lashes that need to be applied with a separate adhesive, or they come with adhesive already on the lash strip.
If you are using pre-glued fake lashes you can skip this step.
If you are using a separate lash adhesive, apply the adhesive to the fake lashes (never your natural lashes) using a clean cotton swab.
This is the important part: once the adhesive is applied to the lash, wave it around for a few seconds to let it set a little before applying, so it’s tacky, not wet.
This will ensure it doesn’t slide around and get the lash glue in places you don’t want it.
Tip #6: Apply the fake lashes in the right place
You should be applying the fake lashes as close to the lash line as possible, not on the eyelid. It’s easier to start in the middle and then get the corners into place.
You may also find it easier to get the false lashes closer to the lash line if you are looking down.
Using a hand-held mirror in front of your main mirror (so you can see what you’re doing) can help to position it in the right place.
Tip #7: Add eyeliner
You may want to opt to add an extra sweep of black eyeliner after you’ve applied your fake lashes to camouflage the strip, but this really comes down to personal preference.
If you do choose to add eyeliner, make sure you use an oil-free gel or liquid eyeliner, as eyeliner pencils can pull at the skin on the eyelid and can dislodge the lashes you just spent all this time reading about how to apply.
