Fascinated by lashes!

source: soshallo

Weirdly enough, my lashes grow straight down, which means that when I apply mascara, if I don't curl them, they just look "meh" or sometimes (depending on the mascara I use) they even look like I don't have any lashes at all. That's where false lashes come in. Actually not really because by curling my lashes I'm quite satisfied with the result, but since I've tried false lashes and seen how much more they add to any look, I can't really go back. I do my makeup without applying false lashes quite often but when I do, I usually pack on the mascara, I don't make them clumpy but I try to still make them stand out. Like so:

It took me a very long time before I learned how to actually apply them properly and also to keep them on, because I used to put them on and then pull them off just before leaving the house thinking "it'll look too fake, and everyone will see they're not mine" or they'll fall off while I'm talking to someone.

But by practicing a lot I managed to get a few techniques to apply them easily, quite fast and make them look realistic too.

Here I'm gonna show you my favorite lashes and less favorite ones and the different techniques I use for different kinds of strip lashes (I don't like the individual ones or the ones that come in little "bunches" of 3 or 4 that you can glue on just because I'm not that good at using them and for me comfort is key so...).

So I'm gonna start by the less favorite ones and try to explain why that is.

Usually when I wear lashes, I like them to blend in with my own lashes, these, for some reason, don't.

I also usually curl the lashes before applying them and these, despite being a bit curled already (not enough IMO) won't budge no matter how long you try, I didn't try heating the lash curler before doing it because I was quite sure they were gonna melt.

This is how they look once applied:

Oh and I also forgot to mention that very visible black band that you can see on my lashline right there.

I don't like that either.

These are my Favorite:

The first reason is the clear band, I really like it as it's not noticeable at all even with neutral looks, you don't need to cover it up with black liner.

They are also very easy to curl which is a big plus for me.

Here's how they look applied.

 I feel like they're even less noticeable without eyeliner actually or with a very thin line of liner.

 Here they're applied cut in half, this is the way I usually use them when I'm in a hurry and also when I'm going for a simple neutral look. 

  

Here I cut it in half and glued it to the outside part of my lashline.

I also only applied mascara on the roots so that it wouldn't stand out beside my own lashes and voila!

These are my second favorite but they're only second because of the colour of the band otherwise they would be my absolute favorite because I don't know if you can tell, but the band is made of thread actually and that makes it super flexible, which means no more wiggling and twisting the lash band to give it the shape that you want, I just take these out of the box apply the glue and put them on. They also curl as easily as the previous ones, what's not to like?

Here's how they look once applied.

And here's how flexible they are.

You can see the thread band, click for a bigger picture. (works on all the pictures btw)

These are the ones that I like less of those that I do like because the band is quite stiff so it's a bit more work to apply them and also because the band s a bit thick. I guess, being  a newbie at lashes I'm not comfortable with these yet.

I don't have any picture of me wearing them but I guess you can do a similar look to this with them.

The liner will need to be somewhat thick and dark though. I think that they could be great for a photoshoot.

I'd love to get some feather lashes to do some interesting artistic looks like this one. They really inspire me.

I only have one kind of lash glue and it's the Duo Dark Tone one, it's my absolute favourite because the lashes stay put until I decide to remove them, and also because it's a dark colour glue so I don't need to touch it up with liner if I don't feel like it.

 source: Starcosmetics NZ

So this is it, I will also update this post with a video or pictorial of me actually applying my lashes, full strip and half strip so that you can see the entire process. 

Stay tuned and take care until next time!

See you! Bye!

Sonam

International Makeup and Skincare Swap: Thailand/France Part 2 (loooooong overdue!!! =/ )

Hi! I hope you will like this. It's the second part of my International Swap post and also a bit of a general review.
I won't pretend to be completely objective because it wouldn't be honest. I've been wanting to do a swap for a while now and now that I have, I can't wait to do it again =)

Ok, so let's get into it.
These are the rest of the products that I recieved.

This is a nice baby pink but not the kind that looks off when your skin is too tanned (like mine is right now) it actually blends very well and it has a nice shiny finish and best of all, it's not sticky at all.

Thes two onail polishes are quite opaque and you can get away just by applying one coat, especially if you use a base first. I use the Seche Vite base and it's perfect, they stay on pretty long too, about nine days with minimal chipping. I say they're keepers.

This lipstick is quite shimmery and a soft pink, it's quite moisturising and comfortable to wear but I must admit that I wouldn't buy something this shimmery. I still surprised myself reaching for it a lot though (three times this week, and it's been like that since I've got it actually) it's growing on me =)

These shadows are really nice because they are buildable, you can do a subtle sheer look by applying a subtle wash of colour to your lids or you can make it more intense by simply patting it on. I use my fingers and it works great. I'm really impressed by the staying quality of these even on the lower lash line.

This blusher is the one I reach for when I want to add a touch of colour to my cheeks but still keep it subtle or when I use a bronzer that isn't matte. Again, this has amazing staying power compared to blushers I've used so far and it is also buildable.

I used this polish to create some nail art on my toe nails and so far so good, it's been about a week already. I also didn't need to add a top coat because it has this nice glossy effect and you can get away with just applying the polish alone.

This mascara is the BOMB, really. It makes my lashes look like I've just slapped on a pair of fake lashes and the part that I like is that it doesn't dry too fast, so you can layer it and also it's really jet black which makes your eyes pop even if you're not wearing any eyeliner. It's amazing.

This mascara is extra black too, but I use it less than the In2it one because of the brush, I don't really know how to use it and the few times I tried I got mascara all over my face (my nose actually), so if someone knows best please help?

Usually I keep sample perfume in my bag now I keep this one, it's the perfect size and the smell is nice and fresh, it's also subtle enought to blend with whatever perfume I may have spritzed earlier during the day which is a huge plus.

I took a while before trying this because I'm not really the lip stain kind of person, I prefer lip balm and lipstick. But this blends perfectly with any lip product so when you wanna give it a boost, like if the lipstick you're wearing is kind of nude and you want to give it more of a red tint you can use this on top and blend it, it also doesn't dry as fast as the lip stains I've used before so that's a plus because I you go a bit overboard you get the time to fix it.

Now the following items disappeared as soon as I saw them, they just got there photo time and gone. =P

Pizza shaped candy

Chocolate flavoured mini crunchy cookies.

I had never tasted either of these but they were delicious. Thanks again Jeanette for spoiling me so much with all this. This has a been a very nice first swap experience, I can't wait for the next.

Until my next post.

See you! Bye!

Sonam