Thursday 17 September 2009

Blinking Marvellous


I'm always on the look out for time-saving beauty tricks and, with London Fashion Week fast approaching I decided to explore the beauty world's most recent phenomenon: eyelash extensions. Artificial lash lengtheners have been available in the past but were awfully expensive. These days, Britain is catching up with the States in terms of ‘fast beauty’ and the appearance of stands such as Nails Inc. are a testimony to our re-discovered love of grooming.

I’m a self-confessed fan of falsies for parties and such but they can be such a fiddle. The thought of someone else applying them and not having to wear mascara was seductive to say the least. In my lunch break, I ran to the Blink Brow Bar in Harvey Nichols to have my (rather stumpy) eyelashes lengthened to Bambi proportions.

The receptionist was friendly and the liveliness of the bar instantly filled me with confidence – people were being threaded left right and centre (this is another treatment Blink does brilliantly). I assumed my position in one of the comfy chairs and enjoyed the feeling of being recumbent on my lunch break – it was a welcome change from my usual post of the desk.

Therapist Kanan talked me through the procedure and asked what length of lashes I would like (they come in four lengths, 8, 10, 12 and 14) and I insisted on the longest available. She agreed and got to work. I had an allergy test against the glue the day before so knew there were no problems there but I felt a bit apprehensive as I am ‘funny’ about people going near my eyes. I needn’t have worried though as, after the first couple of lashes, you quickly get used to the sensations, it doesn’t hurt at all. The false lashes are inserted between your natural ones and the whole process takes about an hour. You can get different colours too, blondes often go for the brown shade to look natural but I went for black because I am a drama-addict. The ‘chic’ lashes I had also come in blue.

The results were really astounding, more natural-looking than strip falsies but still just as dramatic. I love how sweeping false lashes make your cheekbones look higher and your eyes look so much larger. A useful tool in flirting too – a bonus I sorely need at the moment!

Caring for them seems to be fairly straightforward; avoid excess heat, oil-based make-up etc. You can’t use mascara, but you definitely won’t need it when your lashes are this long. Apparently the inserts will start to fall out at the tail end of a fortnight but you can have them fully removed for £10 by the experts at Blink (or wait it out, it’s your choice).

This really is an incredible treatment and I would recommend it to anyone, especially low-maintenance girls who want to look great for two weeks with minimum hassle. Addictive.

I love blinking I do.



Chic lashes at Blink cost £60
For more information and a full list of different treatments, visit
http://www.blinkbrowbar.com/

My normal eyelashes (without mascara)


Vivre la Difference! Right eye eyelash extensions complete

The lashes at a party (with Nail Inc's brand new colour shades on my fingers)

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