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As a lover of all things makeup, I feel like my lashes sometimes hold me back. Whether I’m rocking a bold colorful eye, or a no-makeup makeup look, I tend to crave long, striking lashes that can carry a look, whether they’re meant to be the main event or not.
The truth is: My lashes are super short, and don’t stand out as much as I’d like, but short of getting lash extensions I’ve never been sure what to do. So, for a little help, I tapped makeup artists Camara Aunique and Molly R. Stern for their best tips and tricks to make short lashes double in size.
How to make your eyelashes look longer, according to celebrity makeup artists
1. Apply your mascara tip to root: Aunique, makeup artist to Ava DuVernay and Angela Bassett, does this trick in two steps. First, she applies her mascara to each eye, from root to tip. Then, she adds a second coat, beginning to add the mascara at the tip of the lashes, and then working her way down to the root, which she explains lengthens and draws out the lashes.
2. Line your upper water line with black: Both Stern and Aunique recommend applying a black liner to your upper water line (AKA, the pink part under your lashes) and then smudging it into you lash line. For this, Aunique turns to the MAC Cosmetics Kohl Power Eye Pencil ($19) in the shade Feline.
“It’s not necessarily making the lashes look longer, but it’s defining the eye,” says Stern, makeup artist to Cara Delevingne and Reese Witherspoon says, “which is what the eyelashes do when they’re painted.”
3. Line your upper water line with white or beige: “The black on the water line gonna give you more of a like sexy, smoldering eye where the white or nude is going to give you a brighter eye,” Stern says.
She suggest taking the lighter liner to both your upper and lower water line, which makes the lashes seem darker and bolder by creating contrast and dimension.
4. Draw a few lashes on your inner and outer corners: Taking a page out of Twiggy’s book, Stern likes to take a liquid liner with a super fine brush, and draw a few little lashes on the inner and outer corners of the eye.
“It’s all about subtlety and having a lot of Q-tips and a lot of eye makeup remover on the side,” says Stern. “It’s not like you’re getting into going to theatrical makeup school. It’s just basically almost extending that corner lash by a little bit by accentuating it with a liquid line.”
Flick one or two little lines on the outer and inner corner of your eyes. You can also add a few lines to your lower lashes. Stern’s go-tos are the Laura Mercier Caviar Intense Ink Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner ($28) and the Chanel Intense Longwear Eyeliner Pen ($35).
5. Curl your lashes: “I really think curling the lashes makes a big difference,” Stern says. “It gives even the short lash some curve and some extension just by the fact that you’re redirecting, you know, the natural sort of where the lash lays.”
6. Try a natural-looking false lash: Aunique has her own eyelash line, and recommends the Julee Lash ($18), which she explains is super light and natural looking. She adds that because the band is super light, they’re easier to apply.
“[It’s perfect] for someone that just wants to have something to apply and just look like I have voluminous lashes, that’s not too overpowering for the face,” Aunique says.
7. Pop on a few individual lashes: If you can’t master the strip lash, Stern recommend popping one or two individual lashes, like these Ardell Soft Touch Knot-Free Eyelashes ($9) on the outer corner of your eyes to make you feel really fluttery and sultry.
8. Condition with a lash-lengthening product: Stern swears by Epicuren Discover Eye Makeup Remover ($32) which contains peptides to help thicken and grow the lashes.
“I’ll wash it off, my makeup, at the end of the night, or my clients makeup at the end of the night, and I’ll take just a little bit extra and kind of massage the lash line with it,” Stern says. “I am totally noticing a different I’ve been using it for maybe for like six months.”
9. Use a mascara with a thin, fine-tooth wand: “When you have short lashes finding a mascara wand that has that like super tiny wand,” Stern says. “Precision helps when you’re dealing with, you know, something that feels short.” Aunique loves the Rimmel London ScandalEyes Wow Wings ($8) mascara and the Clinique High-Impact Mascara ($20).
10. Use a lash primer: “It works more in the realm of thickness and volume versus length,” Stern says. “It’s like, it’s like when you put conditioner on your hair it fills the follicles of the hair, so it makes them feel a little thicker.” Her fave is the DiorShow Maximizer 3D ($30).
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