Makeup Artist Series - How To Apply Individual Lashes on Clients

Hi Bellas,

I'm back with another post!  This is a tutorial strictly for my blog readers.  This year, I asked for blog suggestions and many readers asked for picture tutorials, so here you go!  My friend and fellow makeup artist Casey came over for a quick lesson on applying individual false lashes.  She has an upcoming wedding and she wanted to make sure to learn this skill before hand.  Often times, I mentor aspiring artists in my area.  They assist me on gigs for experience and I offer advice, lessons and guidance.  If you're interested, please email at makeupbyren@yahoo.com for details.  Anyhow, I thought it would be a great experience to document through pictures and do get a quick blog post out of it.  This post is geared towards aspiring artists, but you can definitely use it to apply individual lashes on yourself.

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Casey brought over her friend as a model to practice on.  If you're applying lashes on others, it's important to have someone to practice on.  It's very different from applying lashes on yourself.

Moreover, I made a clarification to Casey that applying individual lashes is very different from lash extensions.  The kind I will be teaching are temporary lashes using the same glue you would use for strip lashes.  It lasts throughout the day but you'll need to remove it at night.

Individual lash extensions use a special semi-permanent glue that can last from a few weeks to a few months.  This is a process that should only be completed by someone certified in that area.  You don't want to mess around with something like this unless you're specially trained - I've heard horror stories about eye injuries caused from unskilled technicians.

Why use individual lash extensions vs strips?  Individual lashes look more natural and they feel lighter than strips.  The only take-away is that they take longer to apply.

Now, back to the topic at hand.  This tutorial shows you how to apply individual lashes (not lash extensions). Let's get started!


Here's What You Need:
-Pack of Individual False Lashes - You'll see ones that look like 1 hair and ones that look like a cluster of 3 or four hairs - these are called Flairs and I recommend using these.  Try getting a pack that has the short, medium and long variety.
-Tweezers
-Lash Glue - I prefer Dark Tinted glue
-Precision Lash Curler
-Mascara

How to Apply Individual Lashes

1) Apply eye makeup to the client as normal.  Finish off with a line of eyeliner.  This is to hide where the band of false lashes appear.  Be precise with the line.  Sometimes with strip lashes you can get away with a not-so-perfect line because the band will cover it anyways.  This is not the case with individual lashes - be precise.

2) Place a dot of glue on a surface like a palette or even the plastic packaging.

3) Based on the client's lashes and their preference decide how you want to place the lashes.  Go from short to long on the inner and outer corner to do a cat-eye effect.  You can place longer lashes in the middle for a wide, doll-eyed effect.  Or you can even just add a few lashes to the outer corner for lift.  If the client has obvious sparse areas, go ahead and fill those in.

4) Pick up a clean pair of tweezers and pick up a flare.  Position your grip so that you will comfortably be able to place the lash without straining your wrist.  For example, I'll hold the tweezer with my thumb on top and pick up the flare so that it is upright.

5) Dip the dot of the flare into the glue.  The glue shouldn't be on the lashes, just at the tip of the knot.

6) Place the flare in the sparse area - it could be on the skin right above the lashline or even nestled within the client's lashes.

7)  It's sometimes easiest to divide the eye into sections then go back and forth between eyes for symmetry.  For example, start with a longer lash at the end corner, follow up with a medium lash in the middle.  Then cut the distance in half with another medium lashes, and so on.  Remember to go back and forth between eyes so that you can keep balance.

8) When you're done, make sure to check out the lashes from the front and sides to make sure you haven't missed anything.  If you use clear glue, make sure to go over any shiny spots with black liquid liner.  If you need to, you can also reapply a line of liquid liner at the base of the lashes to disquise the flares.

9) Take a clean pinky finger, and rest it against the top of the lashes where the tops of the flares are.  This will hold them into place so that the mascara wand doesn't lift them away.  Then apply mascaras as usual in order to blend in false lashes with real lashes.  Take a look from the side - are all the lashes blended in together?  if not, repeat.

10) I highly recommend  a precision lash curler.  This curler is great because it has no guards on the sides which can mess up the lashes.  You can crimp sections of the lashes and give them lift and secure the hold between false and individual lashes - it makes such a difference.  I cannot live without this product in my kit - it's a must-have for me.  I'll be picking another one up soon.  I got mine from www.alconeco.com .

This is the easiest way I've found to apply individual lashes.  It definitely takes a little bit of practice but it's worth it when you have this skill to offer to clients.  I've heard that some artist apply the lashes from underneath.  I've found that to work better on clients with straighter lashes but that's a bit more advanced for this basic introduction.  If you have any more tips or questions, leave them in the comments below!  I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a video on this, let me know if you think it's needed.

Show my girl Casey some love and check her out at her newly relaunched blog.

Ciao Bellas!

Atlanta Makeup Artist