Need some gigantic eyelashes sometime soon, say, for Halloween, and don't want to pay almost $10 for them? Well I got the tutorial for you! I found a tutorial on youtube on how to make your own false lashes with just a few materials that most people have around and got to makin'.
Materials:
- Another fake eyelash (this is just to give you a guide at how long you need to make the lash. You could also just take a small piece of paper and measure your eye that way)
- Eyelash glue (Not everyone will have this item; I didn't, but it's fairly inexpensive for a bottle of some, especially considering just how many eyelashes you can make with one tube)
- An old makeup brush (Mine had really stiff bristles so I would never use it because it poked my face all the time. Be sure to wash it before using it!(Thanks MissVass on reddit. I assumed this would be common knowledge but better to be safe than sorry!))
- a plastic work surface (I used a tupperware lid)
- Something to help you manage the bristles when you inevitably get glue on your fingers (I used a disposable eyeshadow swab thing. In the video she uses a spatula.)
- Black eyeshadow(not pictured)
- Hair spray(not pictured)
- A curling iron
- Scissors
- Any little things you want to add to it for decoration (feathers, glitter, sequins, etc.)
Using the other eyelash as a guide, draw a line of eyelash glue.
Take a little bit of the makeup brush and snip it off at the base.
Spread it out carefully with your fingers and place the cut edge into the glue. Use your "bristle managing" tool (in my case the eyeshadow swab thingie) to hold the bristles down so you can let go of them without taking too many back out. I found that the bristles kept sticking to my fingers, so that tool was very important. Repeat this a few times until you made them as thick as you want.
Use your tool to really press the bristles into the glue. You'll want to wipe down the tool every once in a while because as it gets more glue stuck to it, the bristles may want to follow it.
Once it's dried for a few minutes, put a dab of glue on the end of your tool and carefully coat the top of the edge of glue. Let dry.
Once dried, CAREFULLY lift the eyelash up, holding on to the edge of the glue strip.
Powder the front and back of the strip of glue with black eyeshadow.
Cut off excess glue strip. Be careful not to cut of too much, you'll lose too many bristles!
Trim the lashes into the shape you want. In my case it's shorter towards the inside of my eye, and thicker towards the outside.
Use a hot curling iron to shape the lashes. BE CAREFUL! I was using tweezers to do this at first to keep my fingers safely out of the heat, but I misplaced them as I was taking these pictures, so I'm using my fingers to show what to do. Luckily my fingernails are long enough. After they're curled as much as you want them, generously spray some hairspray all over them. Of course by the time I was taking pictures I had run out of hairspray, so I have no pictures of this process, sorry.
And here are your lashes! In this picture you can see the difference between the hairsprayed lash(left) and the un-hairsprayed lash(right). They keep their shape much better when they have a good coat of hairspray on them.
This is also the point where you would add decorative features if you want. Maybe some glitter along the glue line, feathers glued onto the bristles, the possibilities are endless!
Here are some action shots:
All in all, I really liked making these, and I plan on experimenting with more materials. Definitely going to make some that fit the theme of my Poison Ivy Halloween costume! The best thing is that you can trim them down a lot to make false eyelashes that you could potentially wear on less costumey occasions.
If any of you guys decide on trying these out, I'd love to see!
xoxo-chez