Fake lush lashes sans fake lashes

Suffering from allergies and having sensitive eyes has its problems. As someone who was blessed with long lashes albeit not of the particularly thick variety, I was then dealt the cruel blow of fair coloring. Yes, they are long, but they are invisible. I've experimented with salon tinting, which turned out a lovely color, but considering it did nothing for volume, I was hesitant to maintain the color monthly. Home tinting with a kit was difficult and I admit, rather scary not to mention the logistics were difficult to manage. Try keeping one eye closed and the other open for 15 minutes, while terrified of accidentally blinding yourself with foul smelling chemicals and you'll know what I mean. To top it off, the end result was a barely noticeable difference. I was slightly more mousy- lashed than blond. Not a success!

So, back to the wonderful world of mascaras I went. As a fair skinned blond I have always found brown mascaras have a nicer effect, less harsh than the more common black. I also have a preference for non water-proof mascaras. They can be so difficult to remove, it hardly seems worth the impending wrinkles all that rubbing could cause.  I've tried some of the less expensive brands, the best of which I found to be Maybelline Define-A-Lash Washable Lengthening Mascara. It didn't irritate my eyes and the color was a nice deep brown dark enough to define without looking hard. The brush was novel, not the traditional type of application brush with bristles, but a kind of plastic brush (for want of a better description) which was intended, I believe, to prevent clumps. 


However, I was still after that luxurious full lashed effect and eventually I found it in the Lancome Hypnose range. They are wonderful. They can be applied sparingly for a more natural daytime look or generously for a lovely feathery, million lashes dramatic look. I really cannot rave about it enough. They never clump, never irritate my eyes, even when they are watery from allergies and are so easy to apply in order to achieve the desired level of sophistication. Finally......... defined, come hither eyes.