Yup. I have not applied mascara to my lashes in, oh, about five months now. Realistically, maybe twice in five months when we went someplace special.
Moi! Sans Mascara! Ya can’t tell if I’m wearing it or not!
Didn’t bother wearing it when we were in Paris. Nor did I bother applying it during the Holidays. Nor at work.
In France last month! No mascara but lots of lip gloss!
And the infamous drive home from Cincinnati on Christmas Day. No mascara!
There are reasons for this as well as an observation.
First , let’s talk aging. The process has done a number on my lashes. Yeah. It has done a job on my brows too but I can fill the brows in in no time. The lashes are different.
As a child, I was blessed, thanks to genetics with extremely dark and lush lashes. I will never forget in eighth grade when one of the nuns asked me if I was wearing mascara. I also remember answering her “You know my mother. Do you honestly believe I’m wearing mascara”? Instead of being punished for giving a mouthy answer, Sr. Mary Maurice just walked away. She knew I was not lying.
It’s that “nun” look. Judging. Then when you tell the truth. Still judging!
Even as a young adult in my twenties, I rarely wore it. My natural lashes sufficed well. It wasn’t until my forties that I started wearing this dark, gooey, substance in a tube to enhance the lashes I had of yesteryear. And as I hit menopause, among other bodily changes, it dawned upon me that these dark hairs lining my eyes, weren’t as lush anymore. In fact, they misplaced themselves to my chin. Hence, the importance of a tweezer in every room in the house, in the car and in the office.
It’s not lady whiskers. It’s just that my eyelashes have moved to my chin!
I experimented over the years. Apparently, the Maybelline “Great Lash” did not live up to the advertised promise and, seemingly, a full tube was needed to achieve one lash being great.
NO WAY did Great Lash ever make my lashes look like this. That mascara is the worst!
A small fortune was spent on Lancome mascara—which did a decent job but $36 every month or so was way out of my principals. Magazine ads would falsely advertise various mascaras to have your lashes be as thick as the hairs you wax from the bikini line. Caveat—at least the UK had regulations for a tiny side note stating the ad had been enhanced.
Unless you use three tubs of this, your lashes ain’t gonna look that lush. Even on younger women!
And over the years, to make my lashes look full and lush and just like the ones I grew up with I went through many brands.
My current stash of mascara that I don’t even use anymore. The L’Oreal Voluminous is actually the best of the group. It gives volume but by afternoon, you have raccoon eyes. Everyone raves about Thrive mascara but it’s okay. Overpriced. Voluninous Million Lashes–it’s never been used. And Lash Paradise also by L’Oreal–my daughter loves it. It’s good but again, it smears.
I also went through carrying Q-Tips in my purse because in winter, the wind would, and still does, make my eyes tear up. That means runny mascara that needed to be wiped off my under eyes. In summer it sweat, or rather that glistening glow from the heat, would melt the mascara making me search the bowels of my purse for yet, another Q-Tip. Also to wipe the smearing from the bottom of my eyes. And I didn’t use mascara on my bottom lashes for almost a decade! This was runoff from my top lashes.
This would be me after a walk on a windy day. This would also be me in the summer.
Don’t even suggest waterproof mascara. It takes a serious cleaning crew to remove that stuff.
Actually, forget cleaning crew. I would have to sandblast waterproof mascara off my lashes!
And so, I decided to quit mascara. Just quit. Stop using it altogether. And I have no shame nor do I have regrets.
These days I take a gel liner and line in between my top lashes and sometimes line above. It depends what kind of mood I’m in. Then I take another gel liner—one that won’t smear, and tightline. The products last all day. In summer, sometimes the liner from my waterline transfers very lightly to my bottom waterline but it doesn’t look bad.
That’s what I do. I simply line my eyes and waterline!
Point is. I’m tired. As much as I love wearing makeup, and trust me, I do. My makeup makes me feel good and assists me in looking better. It is as simple as that. However, the less I can use these days, the better off I am—price wise and time wise.
I did use Latisse and the generic solution some years back. After six or eight weeks of use, I was happy with the results. But it was pricey and I stopped.
Latisse, as well as the generic brand, work. But it takes time and money. I’m too cheap and too lazy.
I did try lash extensions once. But the maintenance was both expensive and way too time-consuming and there wasn’t really much of a difference as I went with the more natural look.
I went with a more natural lash extension and it looked fine but to maintain the lashes was time-consuming and expensive and I didn’t know what the long-term effect would be on my natural lashes.
I did experiment with false lashes for a moment. The application process was too messy for me. Then I tried the magnetic kind. I’ll be honest—of all the choices available, the magnetic lashes were decent. The only issue was that the magnetic force was never strong enough to last all day. And so, I gave up.
Me. With the falsies. They would fall down and forget about the glue!
My “get ready” time in the morning is precious to me. Because I need to be at the hospital early in the morning for work, I arise at 5:00 AM. Between 5:00 AM and 5:15 AM, I head to the bathroom to do my thing. Then from 5:15 to 5:30 AM it’s that 15 minutes of “putting my face on” while my husband makes coffee. And he knows how to make the best cup of coffee!
When I wore mascara, it was a five-minute process. Mascara primer. YES. I fell into that trap. Then the first coat of mascara. Let it dry. Then the second coat. Let it dry. Then the third coat.
It was ridiculous. As I dive deeper into the aging process, time is now of the essence. Mascara is not. I want time to be my bestie and not my rival. The “less is more” with makeup is something I take into heart.
My five-minute face. Brow gel. Eyeliner. Neutral shadow. Tinted moisturizer. Guerlain’s Meteorites powder to finish and lip balm. Honestly, there’s no need for mascara anymore!
No more foundation either. I think I may have written about this in the past but I’m not ambitious enough to look through archives. Tinted moisturizer has taken the place of foundation…and this is to be continued in my next post!
Are you still wearing mascara? Are you happy with the results? Be honest! I want to know what you think!