Lashes.

I'm a sucker for eyelashes. I think I hinted at this in our introductory blog post. False lashes, lash extensions and mascara. I think I love lashes the way many women (and men?) love shoes. Don't get me wrong... I love shoes too... but today, it's all about the lashes.

I wasn't a particularly girly teenager. This was probably, mostly, because I was overly self-conscious and lacked confidence but certainly, being a teen in the late '80s and the '90s meant that 'grunge' was a big part of style back then. And eyelashes weren't particularly important... eyeliner maybe, but lashes, not so much in my world? Girly or not, in the '90s I took style cues from the likes of Juliana Hatfield, who herself admits to having been very self-conscious, and also Lisa Loeb. I think I still do.

Now it is almost twenty years later and the internet is in my life. As Caroline was saying in her post about fashion and style blogs, I can take style cues from wherever I like. Amongst the thousands of average (and below average) blogs there are some excellent tips to be found. Lisa Eldridge is my current favourite but more about her another time. And so back to my point about eyelashes. I've tried and tried to use false lashes without much luck. Gluing my eyelashes together is about all that I've achieved until now. A few days ago I came across the best tip, I think, on the internet, for applying false lashes. The recent Beauty Department post is the only place that I have ever seen anyone suggest (carefully) applying the lash glue to your lash line rather than the false lash strip. It makes positioning the lashes much less slippery and a whole lot easier. Of course this will only interest anyone who has ever tried (and failed) to apply false lashes though, I'm sure. Check out The Beauty Department for more info.

Still on the subject of lashes, after battling with bits and pieces falling out of the bathroom cabinet over and over again I realised I have an awful lot of mascara (amongst other stuff). I don't strike myself as a person who owns twelve mascaras! But I do. Let me justify having this many mascaras. Firstly, I find it hard to go past a magazine that comes with a free mascara so a number of these were 'free'. I may not have read the magazines yet but I have the mascara. Secondly, facebook is sometimes a great place to enter competitions to win such things. I have to say that I think at least seven of the mascaras pictured here were free with purchase of a magazine or won from facebook comps. That still means I have bought about 5 mascaras in the last year though.

What am I going to do with all this mascara? I can't give it away seeing as I've 'tested' them all now. How about a few before & afters? You know I love a good before & after.







So today I present to you the Maybelline One by One Volum Express Mascara in Satin Black. This is a limited edition mascara I 'won' on facebook. I liked it before I took these photos but after looking at the pictures I can see the effects even more clearly. Definitely makes the lashes look longer and thicker in my opinion.


The thing about shoes and lashes (and earrings too) is that they fit you even when your jeans are feeling a bit tighter than usual. If only eyelashes made the sound Amber Dempsey's eyelash implants made on The Simpsons.