BLOG

The Art of Dyeing Eyelashes

8.28.12

Ever heard of eyelash dye? Neither had I. That is, until I discovered I was allergic to mascara. After months of being plagued with a red, bumpy rash along with red, painful eyes — neither of which were a pretty sight — I finally connected them to the black goo we all spread on our lashes.

The next three weeks I became a mascara test-monkey. I tried chemical laden and natural varieties, ones that created tubes around the lashes, and ones that swore to be ultra-hypoallergenic. Nothing worked. Like weeds, the rash and eye pain always returned, just to different degrees.

By the time I reached the very last tube, I was in a panic. A flat out, cold sweat panic. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, a life without mascara isn’t that big of a deal. But three weeks before your wedding, it is. Bare eyes and a wedding dress go together about as well as jean shorts and tiaras. So I frantically searched for a solution. And searched. And searched. Until I finally stumbled across a little known alternative: eyelash dye, also known as eyelash tint.

Women in the know have been using eyelash dye for years for one simple reason: it saves them the messy hassle of having to remove caked on mascara. Not to mention, it’s always there. You can swim, workout and even wake up looking as though your lashes are freshly coated, or even better, as if they’re naturally that beautiful. But there’s one catch: eyelash dye isn’t exactly the easiest to apply. At least, that’s what I kept reading. Reviewer after reviewer kept commenting on the awkward process and the even more awkward potential repercussion: dark, dyed rings around the eyes, or even worse, splotches. And some stated it didn’t work or wasn’t worth the effort.

But when you’re backed into the corner, you’ll try just about anything, especially when the top-rated and least chemical laden at-home eyelash dye kit, 1000 Hours, costs less than your usual mascara. And that includes shipping from Australia. So I pressed the buy button, crossed my fingers and prayed it would work.

But even with all that praying, I was nervous. So nervous I put off trying it for a week. But finally I gathered up the courage and marched into the bathroom along with my mom and sister, two very brave, albeit foolhardy, volunteers.

Completely inept, we prepped the skin around our eyes and applied the dye expecting disastrous results, mainly because we looked flat out ridiculous with paper towels hanging from our eyes. But 10 minutes and a few cotton balls later we were absolutely shocked by what we saw. Our eyelashes looked amazing. Dark and glossy. As if we had naturally long, dark eyelashes.

Even the next day, when I first looked in the mirror, I was shocked by my reflection. It looked as though I had the most perfect eyelashes. But not the most perfect mascara, and that’s important to note.

Eyelash dye only makes your eyelashes darker, not thicker. So if you want the dramatic appearance of 10 coats of mascara, eyelash dye isn’t for you. It simply enhances the eyelashes you already have, making the blonde unnoticeable tips noticeable.

So if you want a natural look for everyday wear, to swim and workout without raccoon eyes or simply to avoid the hassle of removing mascara, you may want to give it a try. And if you do, I’ve learned there’s a definite art to dyeing eyelashes. An art that’s nowhere near as difficult to master as some make it out to be.

1. Pick the Right Color. While it may sound crazy, I ordered the blue-black color. Reviewers said it was the darkest and swore it didn’t look the least bit blue. And I’d have to agree. My eyelashes don’t even come close to resembling a smurf. They’re the blackest of black.

2. Load up on Vaseline. To avoid the black-eye look, smear a thick layer of vaseline around your eye. The vaseline protects your skin from the dye. But be careful, it also protects your eyelashes. So don’t get any on them. Of course, saying that and doing it are two entirely different things – especially with the lower lashes. So to be sure I didn’t get even a drop of vaseline on them, I used a credit card to hold my lashes up. Then I placed a paper towel cut to the shape of my eye on top of the vaseline. It did the trick, but looked a bit crazy.

3. Use a Different Wand. The application wand included in the kit is useless. Thanks to other reviewers suggestions, I used a go-between, which is a special mini-toothbrush, and it worked perfectly.

4. Glob it On. Apply the dye as thick as possible. If you don’t coat your lashes well, they won’t get very dark.

5. Don’t Panic. A misfire left me with a big blob of dye above my eye. Fearing I’d look like spot for the next week, I freaked out. But the vaseline does its job, and there wasn’t even a trace of dye above my eye when I wiped it all off.

6. Reapply. Depending on how quickly your eyelashes replace themselves, you’ll need to re-dye your lashes. Typically, it takes anywhere from 3 – 6 weeks.

If the process sounds too intense for you, numerous salons offer eyelash tinting as one of their standard services. Just know, it will cost much more and some complain that dye gets in their eyes during the process, which stings.

One Response to "The Art of Dyeing Eyelashes"

  1. Hehe oh my goodness. Where do you live that you had never heard of eyelash tinting and what are those directions!!
    It sounds so funny and innocent the way you explain this all.
    Come to Australia, we give one hell of an eyelash tint and never any dye on the skin..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>