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As the standing lash enthusiast on staff at Allure, my one irksome shame is the fact that I had never mastered the art of applying false lashes before. I’ve done lash extensions and lash lifts, but as for false lash strips, my skill comes to a full halt. I can carve a cat-eye like Picasso and contour like Bob Ross, but dropping tiny wigs on top of my lash line (which is kind of what they are, no?) is akin to building tiny dollhouse furniture (another thing I have absolutely no talent for). It always sounds and looks easy in theory, but all my attempts thus far had been decidedly rookie.
As a beauty editor, I just can’t settle for janky-looking falsies — I simply will not. I love the look of long, feathery lashes, but extensions are tedious and expensive and lash lifts are also expensive, albeit less tedious. I just want to live a luxury lash lifestyle on a never-not-flying-coach-with-a-carry-on budget. Is that so hard to ask?
According to Joanna Simkin, no. Simkin is a makeup artist who’s primped the faces of Issa Rae, Kerry Washington, and even Zayn Malik, but more importantly, she can make drugstore false lashes look like this. So naturally, when given the opportunity, I asked her how a lash Luddite like me can wig-out my eyeball bangs to long, feathery perfection. Here are her expert not-so-secret secrets:
1. Prepare your supplies.
2. Trim each of the eyelash strips.
