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Dear Devan,
Ever since I started
crossdressing with full makeup and hair, I've used false eyelashes, or, as
the packages read in French, faux
cils. Sometimes I'll scale back
on the size of lashes that I'll apply, but they all go on the same
way. I've found myself envious of the crossdressers and drag queens
who are blessed with a lush, tropical forest of their own grown eyelashes
that drink mascara up and plump up without any falsies - [frown smiley here]
My own skimpy ones don't look much better with just mascara, altho
I'll apply it just in case the artificial ones come off. Sometimes,
with a pair of modest-length lashes, my friends will compliment my makeup
skills by asking / commenting on my own lashes, not realizing that there's
a little glue between them and my eyelid!
I've learned that DUO adhesive
works best - be careful, tho - for strip eyelashes you probably shouldn't
use the more permanent 'surgical' glue (made for the individual lash-hair
clusters, I think); just use their regular white/dries clear, or dark
tone if you're a person of color. I usually knead the tube a bit to
help make sure it's mixed well (sometimes it seems a bit too runny!), then
gently run a bead of it along the band of the eyelash strip. The
adhesive that the lash manufacturer has placed on their band to hold them
on their little platform should probably be gently pulled off before
applying fresh adhesive.
I wiggle / flex the lash-band to
keep the glue pliable as I blow on it to speed up its drying to a tacky
state. After about 20-30 seconds, I'll attempt to place the lash
strip by going in real close to the mirror, holding the lash in my
fingertips, and aiming for the inner corner of my eyelid. I'll
help things with a pair of angle-ended tweezers using them to more
accurately place the lash strip against the top of my own lashes.
You'll still be able to move the lashstrip's location around a bit to get
it closer as long as the adhesive hasn't gotten too tacky yet. I'll
use the blunt end of the tweezers to press the lashline more securely to my
skin, tho you could use your fingers, with a chance of getting glue on
them. There's a definite 'karma' to eyelash applying - sometimes I've
struggled for a half an hour for something that should take hardly 10
minutes - if they go on quickly, things are "going well" in my
venture of creating my femme self!
Definitely for me lashes are one
of the final things of my makeup routine (late in the list like lipstick
is) - as Tuesday said, a line of liquid eyeliner acts as a good base for
placing your lashes.... it'll help to hide their baseline. Some drag
queens insist on applying their eyeliner afterwards to 'cover over' the
lash-band, and even of merging the artificial lashes with their own by
applying mascara to both together once the falsies are applied. My
problem with all this is that the mascara'll get all over your hands when
you pull 'em off (from the outer corners, please) at the end of the night,
and also when you pull the previous wearing's glue off. Thank God for
baby-wipes to clean up with!
My favorites (which may be a bit
too big for women whose eyes would probably be physically smaller than my
own) are Ardell brand no.111's, which I can buy at my local Brooks (formerly OSCO)
drugstores for less than $3.50 a pair. But, just recently, I've
picked up some by Bliss, which the GlamourBoutique near Worcester has for about the
same price. The Bliss lashes come in thicker, longer versions, which
helps make my eyes bigger when I'm trying to present my girlself on stage
in charity shows. I think that the MAC lashes are overpriced by
comparison, altho I buy other stuff from their makeup lines.
I hope this helps you,
Devan. I just wish that the artificial lashes for beneath-the-eyes
worked for me - that's where my 'bald spots' are, in that lower line......
Love,
Daphne in Boston
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