Making the Most of Your Eyelashes: Beauty Tips and Tricks

Lush, thick lashes are in this season and never really go out of style. If you are just not that adept with false lashes or want to maximize your own lashes, here are some eyelash and mascara tips to employ:

You can condition your lashes with a commercial product, there are several on the market, or just use a slight bit of Vaseline or olive oil on a q-tip. Holds the q-tip close to your lashes and blink or butterfly kiss the tissue with your lashes so that you do not get too much oil on the eye itself.

There are some products that do promote lash growth, including Revitalash. It makes the lashes longer and darker in two months but it is expensive. However, it almost always works for everyone and you may not even need to use mascara. It will even fill in bare patches on your lashes even after chemotherapy.

Use an eyelash curler. It will make your eyes look wider, more alert, and more youthful. It's like an instant eye lift. Always curl lashes before applying mascara instead of after applying mascara so that you do not get a funny clump.

When removing the mascara wand from the tube, do not pump it up and down and this just gets more air in the tube and oxidizes your mascara faster, which makes it dry out.

If necessary, blot your mascara wand with a tissue to remove the excess.

Lightly powder your lashes to give mascara a coat to cling to.

You can increase the duration of your curl if you lightly heat your eyelash curler with a hair dryer for a few seconds. Let it cool slightly, and it will be like a curling iron for your lashes.

When curling your lashes, curl twice for a rounded curl instead of spiked up lashes. First, place the open curler near the lash roots and place your lashes between the curler rims. Gently squeeze for 20 seconds and release the curler. Squeeze again at mid lash for another 15 seconds. This looks much curlier and more natural. Remember to try to look up instead of in the mirror in order to make your lashes look the longest.

When you apply your mascara, hold the brush near your lashes and wiggle the brush slightly against the lashes, combing out any clumps immediately before they set. Make sure to concentrate on your outer lashes. Try to apply mascara to each individual lash on the bottom lashes instead of sweeping the brush back and forth. If you do go back and forth while applying mascara to your lower lashes, make sure to comb the lashes outward at the last stroke.

Do a second coat on the top lashes only.

Have a q-tip dipped in eye makeup remover ready to quickly clean up mistakes without disturbing the rest of your eye makeup.

When you remove your makeup, avoid rubbing the eye so that you do not pull out lashes. Instead hold a tissue with eye makeup remover over the closed eye to dissolve the makeup for about 30 seconds so that your mascara comes off clean.

For many people, Maybelline Great Lash is a great all purpose mascara. For others, they prefer brands available at Sephora like Fusion, Too Faced, and Shu Uemura. These upscale brand mascaras often address more specific eyelash needs and have great staying power.