Ahoy for lashes!!

Here we go again with the lashes...during my boot camp conditioning routine. I am currently using:

-vaseline

-castor oil

-extra virgin olive oil

-the oils combined

-the three ingredients altogether

-a Swedish pharmacy cream for extra dry skin enriched with peanut oil (worked wonder in the past on both my skin and lashes)

-a second type of vaseline (white, pharmacy refined) in the hopes that something will bring back my lashes. 

The Makeup Store treatment mascara is discontinued. Bummer. Face Stockholm has a product but it's kinda expensive right now, around €30; the SA's babbling that 'uhm well, yes...it does make your lashes grow...but doesn't make them longer....it's a conditioner for lashes thus will make them...longer...but not really, thicker i assume...but they will grow back....unless they have been yanked out...' convinced me not to get that product. 

And i'm also seeing some changes with my 'holistic' routine. Here's what they look like now:

Right eye- definitely not thicker but a tad longer and more luscious. I am not losing lashes either so hurray!

The left eye is the biggest troublemaker; when i removed the false lashes i also lost two bunches of my own lashes....i think there were more than twenty. Notice the gap and the two little hairs sprouting out...my lashes are finally growing back. Slowly but decisively. I had major lash rip off and two gaps actually...but the lashes around the 1st one are gradually getting longer and perhaps it helps at concealing the baldness...sigh. This is the worst feeling ever after getting a (short) bad haircut....luckily, mascara is much more accessible than hair extensions and looks better than wigs ;)

My lashes still look crappy with mascara on because they're fewer and adding copious layers of makeup makes them look crunchy and unnatural (eeeeekkk!!!! i hate the look!!!) but what's a girl gotta do.....

I'll keep my aforementioned regimen and perhaps muster the courage to pick up an eyelash growth product...heard about a 'good one' from a lady working in a beauty salon, hopefully it isn't something excessively priced...anyways. I'll come back in a couple of days and do an update on my lashes...i feel so down and bad without them :( sigh sigh and triple sigh.

Update on the lashes-week 2 and some rambling...

I've been conscientiously applying vaseline on my lashes every night now, for about two weeks and a half. The results, as i mentioned before, are not visible in the form of a shocking difference but there's definitely something going on. This week's lashes:

With copious layers of mascara but still longer than 10 days ago

As you can see, the vaseline + Borage oil technique seems to work well. I'm pleased with the results because, though i still want huge lashes (Lilash...!!!) that can curl up to the eyebrows, i'd rather have healthy lashes first of all. No kidding. I read Laura's post about her problems with RapidLash and those images were terrifying...add that up to a YouTube user's account of her tragic eyelash extension experience and you got yourself a very scared me. I mean i am definitely going to try Lilash...some day. For the moment i'm sticking with my vaseline stuff. Because the Makeup Store's Treatment Mascara is currently unavailable-they've pulled the product off for some 'reformulation' of the original version...which i am sure it won't be as efficient as the first one. Here's an image of a lovely Swedish blogger, faithful Treatment Mascara user:

Image from Kenzas.se

As you can see the effect is almost identical to the Lilash one-i'd say the lashes are a little less bushy but longer. I wanted to try this at first, then got caught up in the whole Shiseido mascara base frenzy and forgot about it. Now i have to wait for the new formula to hit the stand and who knows what's gonna be like (reformulated products are usually rubbish). Oh well.

Now, about some things i got yesterday.

I finally purchased the Garnier 2-in-1 Caffeine Anti- dark Circles Tinted Eye Roll-on and so far i am pretty darn impressed with it. Most reviews on Makeupalley rave about this product and consider it the concealer of the century since it's 'natural', thin and light, and it's a treatment as well, so there you have the 2-in-1-ness.

The first time i spotted this (a few weeks ago) i didn't actually want to purchase it. The color looked nice when swatched on the back of the hand, a light illuminating beige, very thin and wearable. I just had that thought in the back of my mind, what is this, a concealer or a treatment? It looks too light to cover anything, i'm going to end up with a glittery yellow halo under my eyes and the pigments are going to dry my eye area, not allowing the 'treatment' part do its job. I just didn't know how to take this.

But yesterday it was on sale so well...i did what i usually do. Grabbed it and never looked back...which i seriously think is what i am going to keep doing for a while. It is a little too early to write a review but this product is really surprising. I never expected Garnier (i don't like their products at all, except for their hair colors...and treatments) to do such a great job. The product works and it's so sheer yet delivers great coverage. Truly surprised. 

The second item of the ramble- a lip gloss from H&M, apparently very popular- the double H&M gloss in Queen of Peach (it's even on Makeupalley):

Given that i am currently in a coral lip phase i couldn't help at falling in love with this. The only problem- it doesn't look exactly like that on the lips, which is something that never happens with H&M glosses, despite their low-end-ness. Upcoming post on this one, soon.

I also got an eyebrow palette (got tired of the H&M one and just wanted to stray a little...), two face masks, a mud one and a revitalising one, a new mascara, actually two (Max Factor is 20% off this week), an eye cream and Silica hair supplements. Not a very big haul but definitely things i needed and wanted or had to try out :)

Update on the lashes-week 1

Okay so it's been a little bit more than a week (8 days) since i started regularly applying vaseline and borage oil to condition the lashes. The results aren't spectacular, but i can definitely see an improvement in my lashes, thickness and lusciousness-wise:

Scary pic, huh

Right eye-still a bit longer and THICKER lashes!

My right eye lashes are longer, yet a little bit 'chipped' in the outer corner,  as opposed to the left eye, where they're normally 'arranged' along the lash line (thicker in the outer corner), yet a tad shorter. 

However, I am definitely pleased with the results. So far not a single lash fell throughout my makeup (removing) routine(s), which is great-they're healthier and more robust. Hopefully a noticeable improvement will happen by the end of the month.

Fingers crosses and let's hope for the best!

Lashes and Vaseline- part 1

Ready, steady, go. I had a no-shopping, no-going out (free) day on my hands so i figured i could start the vaseline eyelash therapy.
Tools:
-an old mascara brush (amazing mascara btw, from a German brand named The Makeup Factory. the brush is identical with the Too Faced Lash Injection one, the mascara had a volumizing formulation and did beautifully).
-supermarket/pharmacy vaseline: two options, Klover vaseline or  pharmacy vaseline. I don't know why, maybe it's just me, but i think the Klover version works better. Though they're identical. So it's just me.

Great lip moisturizer & lip scrub medium as well:

Lashes and Vaseline

Today i am seriously starting to use Vaseline and 'lash conditioning cream' on my lashes, every night (and during daytime as well, if i have time/am home alone) and see what happens.

For the past month(s) i have been using vaseline (petroleum jelly, regular stuff) to condition my lashes and very good things have happened.

First, they appear stronger. The hairs look thicker and healthier. The lashes don't 'crack' anymore when i use mascara (seriously, i can hear the mascara wand rubbing against the hairs, THAT deteriorated they were- thanks to Rimmel Sexy Curves), they are not necessarily much longer but they look and feel thicker and, most important of all, stronger.

I usually don't experience lash fall, not even when trying to remove mascara bases or waterproof stuff (hello rubbing); i think i've lost probably 6-7 lashes in my entire life, during periods of time and not makeup-involving processes. I sometimes find a lash on the cheek, on the pillow case, stuff like that. I'd get very scared if i lost lashes during makeup removal and who knows what i'd be capable of purchasing *rolls eyes* in order to stop the tragedy from occurring.

While admiring the courage (and financial sacrifice) of everybody who's ever tried lash-growth products (i.e. Latisse, Jan Marini, LiLash etc), i must confess i'm not that brave. First off, none of these products is available in Sweden. Secondly, i never shop on e-bay or amazon or other sites like that; perhaps i would trust a lash-growth product transaction only on MUA swapping or from a friend only; i'm just not pro e-bay ever since one of my friends got an old Super Mario game instead of a PS2 console and another one discovered baby powder and corn starch in her Erno Laszlo, 'brand new and sealed' moisturizer. So yeah. Maybe i'm being a tad paranoid (i actually know i am) but i'd rather just use stuff available and safe to return/complain about etc.*digress digress digress*

Soooo i really think vaseline works. It's not a miracle growth product that would stimulate one's lashes grow in a week like Jack's beanstalk in a night; nevertheless it conditions, prevents fallouts, prevents both the hairs and the skin from dehydrating and makes them shinier.

At the end of the 'trial' period, a month that is, i am definitely going to purchase the Make Up Store Conditioning Mascara, a product that's been a constant presence on the Swedish beauty blogosphere. I can hardly wait to try that one and see what happens (highly recommended by several Swedish models and beauty bloggers).

However. I've been a little negligent in my vaseline-application therefore i decided to start the countdown. A month, four weeks. Let's see what happens after daily use of vaseline. This is what my lashes look like now:

Left eye lashes are thicker and a bit shorter than right eye's lashes

Right eye-longer but thinner lashes

I hope one of the two, ie Vaseline or the conditioning mascara, can help with the bleached tips and roots of the lashes. I hate having lighter hairs among the darker ones and the bottom lashes look like crap as well because of this- it looks bald and the skin shows through *sad face*. It looks like i need to apply eye pencil 24/7.

About dying the lashes- I've been put off (a long time ago actually) by some cautionary tales, and especially by my friend's experience. She had quite long and thick lashes but as a natural blonde, they needed mascara to show; she had them done at the salon and within two-three weeks, major fallout occurred. It depends on one's lash type and the natural response our bodies give to such treatments (allergic reactions to hair dye, perm solution etc) but still, i can't muster the strength to allow something that aggressive around my lashes.

So this is it. I'm going to set the date on September the 30th and evaluate the results. Fingers crossed!