Clumpy or spidery Twiggy-style lashes are batting back into view. They add instant impact to any eye look and underscore the power of waving your wand. It’s been a while since mascara has been anything other than the support act for eye shadows and bold brows with some makeup artists skipping it altogether but expect to see that change. Exaggerated black lashes are back, as the latest beauty campaign image from Gucci shows.
In it, gap-toothed American musician Dani Miller (pictured) of punk band Surfbort plays muse for beauty that is about freedom, imperfection and eccentricity. Her clumped-lash look is achieved using Gucci’s soon-to-be-launched L’Obscur Mascara, with the brand’s global makeup artist, Thomas de Kluyver, turning the wand vertically to layer on the new buildable formula with a twist. Try getting clumpy at home by pinching your own mascara into place in sections before it dries.
For a classic look, wield the wand in the traditional horizontal manner, sweeping lashes up and coating them from the roots to the tips, says de Kluyver. Slant the fine-tip brush head to catch and fan the smaller lashes in the corners of the eyes, adding to your panoramic precision.
Check the mascara you’re using to make sure it’s still fit for purpose, discarding anything that is dry and flaky.
MAGIC WANDS
1. Gucci L'Obscur Mascara, $69, in an old-school glam pink and gold metal tube, boasts a creamy texture, gripping formula and intense carbon colour. Available at David Jones, Newmarket from March 15.
2. By Terry Lash-Expert Twist Brush, $54, transforms with a twist of the handle into a spiral shape for enhanced curl and volume. Shown here in a Paris special edition, available from Mecca stores.
3 Maybelline Falsies Lash Lift in Blackest Black, $27, for fibre-infused thickening and volume from a double-curved lifting brush, available at Farmers, pharmacies and variety stores.
4. Inika Long Lash Vegan Mascara, $52, uses plant-derived waxes and mineral pigments, with vitamin E to condition lashes, see Inikaorganic.com/nz.
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Advertise with NZME.5. Shiseido Imperial Lash Mascara Ink, $60, is a longwearing black mascara a precision brush for definition and separation. Department store and pharmacy stockists see Shiseido.co.nz/store/.
6. Sisley So Curl Mascara, $88, volumises, curls, holds and contains lash conditioners. In black, brown and the sort of deep blue you might expect a Parisian to wear. From Smith & Caughey's Queen St or Smithandcaugheys.co.nz.
7. Elizabeth Arden Grand Entrance Mascara, $60, for dramatic defined lashes in black or brown. Selected pharmacies and department stores including Farmers.co.nz.
8. Eye of Horus Bio Lash Lift Mascara, $44, with a double-sized comb to amp up the effect of this nurturing and organic formula. From selected beauty salons. Eyeofhoruscosmetics.com
ARCH EFFECT
Brow lamination is the latest salon service to know about if you're intent on ensuring your wayward arches are kept in their proper place. Think of it as a kind of hair perm used to keep brow hairs tidy for around a month or two.
Chemical solutions are applied to first soften and then “set” hair straight in the direction it has been brushed in. Brow conditioning agents add shine. If you favour, say, the popular swept up, feathered-out look, then lamination allows you to secure this without the need for daily grooming with brow gels.
Lamination is suitable for both women and men and is a trend that emerged out of Russia and spread to the West last year. So far only a small number of places are offering the service here. It can be combined with a colour tint to give a bolder, fuller look if desired.
For those not sure about microblading which tattoos on individual “hairs” or blockier stencil-like shapes lamination is cheaper and much less pronounced. Expect it to take less than an hour and cost upwards of $100.
Lamination does work best if there’s a decent amount of brow hair to start with but if your brows are gappy, then selective microblading (or daily pencilling) can infill the spaces.
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Advertise with NZME.LASH LORE
Feathery lashes remain a perennial celebrity favourite, for good reason. They extend the attention on the eye. So, too, a heavy fringe that owes less to nature than to nylon (or mink or silk). Play with your lash length subtly by adding individual false lashes interspersed among your natural ones, or go all-out for your red-carpet moment.
Pharmacy favourite Ardell makes selecting the right false lashes even easier, adding to its range of styles recently with extra options (priced at $17) created to cater for different eye shapes, including round and almond, deep-set and close-set, mono-lid or hooded.
