how to avoid using mascara

Mascara is like the one makeup product I simply cannot live without.  I feel an anxiety attack coming on when I simply just think about the prospect of never having mascara again.  I love the feeling of topping off a fresh face of makeup with a stroke of black mascara and seeing my eyes glisten.

My mascara of choice is L'Oreal's Beauty Tubes.  Oh my gosh.  I can't get enough.  If I had a dollar for every time I spoke highly of the stuff, L'Oreal would owe me like, at least a thousand dollars...probably more like a million.

As much as I love my Beauty Tubes, lately I've loved being lazy even more.  I'm currently dying suffering from mono, and it's seriously the worst thing that has ever struck my insides, including all of the Taco Bell I've eaten over the years.  I like to get to work at 7:30, and I can't make myself crawl out of bed until, at the earliest, 7:00.  That leaves me a whopping 25 minutes to be dressed and in the car and another 5 minutes to get to work.  With the sloth-like speeds at which my body currently operates (I feel like I'm constantly moving through invisible water), most of that 25 minutes is devoted to pulling a dress over my head.

I've always been fairly low-maintenance, but I've recently discovered an even more low-maintenance way to fake beauty.  Following my new obsession with all kinds of natural products, I have learned that vitamin e oil can double as a mascara fill-in with just a little bit of effort.

Having mono, most of my energy comes after I've taken a shower.  I guess I just feel really refreshed and clean and am ready to conquer some sort of hygienic effort, so this is the time when I have to do most of my beauty preparations.  Since I take my showers at night, this requires me to get creative.

The tools for "fake mascara"are simple; you need some eyelashes (preferably your own), vitamin e oil, and an eyelash curler.  Most people don't have vitamin e oil just sitting around their house, but I always turn to Amazon to buy my beauty products (because I'm lazy, duh).  Make sure you are buying pure, 100% vitamin e oil and not a mixture of oils.  The vitamin e oil I have is actually synthetic (I did not know this at the time of purchase), so if you have a problem with processed oils, you may want to search around a bit more.  I, so far, have been very pleased but will probably look for a different brand for my next purchase.

This is all you need, and you're on your way to great lashes!

I'm one of those freaks that puts the oil all over my face (even with it's honey-like consistency), but if you'd prefer just your eyelashes, I'd just put a dab on clean fingers and rub it into your eyelashes.  I like to make sure I get a nice, thick coating to where my lashes are good and shiny.

Once the oil is on my lashes, I use my eyelash curler.  I clamp the curler around my eyelash base and squeeze five times.  Then, I flip the curler up.  This part is tricky, because you will need to be very careful not to rip out your eyelashes.  While my lashes are flipped, I squeeze ten times (have you noticed I'm OCD about multiples of five yet?), then release.  I then clamp in the middle of my lashes and repeat the process.

Obviously I do this on both sides, but the picture below just shows the difference the method makes.  It doesn't seem like much, but when I wake up and the oil has soaked in, I can tell a major difference!

This is with both eyes complete.

The next morning is the best part because I can wake up and have one less thing to worry about in my death-like state.  It's perfect for someone as lazy as me, especially someone who is lazy and feels like they are dying.

 

I had to edit the sleep out of my eyes.

I haven't noticed a long-lasting effect on my lashes yet, but considering the whole process takes about two minutes, I don't mind doing this every night.