I tried & tested the best DIY lashes for £10 – £5 ones made me look like a pantomime dame but the another were amazing
LASHES can make or break that made up look whether you’re glamming up or going for au naturel.
Head to social media and you’ll see a flurry of women with eyelash extensions so big they can barely lift their eyelids, the sort that risk being blown away by the wind on a bad weather day.
And their popularity continues to soar.
CompanyHouse reveal that the number of live companies registered with the word ‘lash’ in their name has increased significantly in the UK – the use of the term grew from just three in the 2000s to 1,350 in the 2010s.
But with the average set of false lashes costing £75, many have swapped salon lashes for DIY versions.
As someone obsessed with the latest beauty trends, I decided to give them a go myself as a novice to fake eyelash and see just how wearable they are.
I tried four different types from two different UK brands, Amor Lashes and iLash, which claim the lashes will stay in place for at least five days at a time.
All of the lashes can be reused multiple times if cleaned thoroughly in between wears but finding a lash which is wearable from the office to bar has always felt like an impossible find. Can these lashes deliver?
Here’s my verdict…
iLash
The Desire Set, £7
Going into this experiment I was concerned that most of the lashes on offer would be massive and make me look like a pantomime dame, unfortunately I wasn’t wrong.
The Desire Set is their biggest curl yet meaning it’s constantly hitting up against your brow bone no matter what you do.
Applying them was easy thanks to the length as you get a good grip, but I was left feeling stupid with just how giant they were, making my eyes look tiny.
The Minimalist Set, £10
This at-home lash company was started by Jayden, an experienced lash artist who wanted to bring it to people’s homes for a more cost-effective approach.
Most of the lashes cost around £10, but you can use them time and time again, and some can be found on sale for as little as £5.
This particular set of lashes was one of the only ones I found online that actually look natural.
How to apply at home lash extensions
- Start with clean, dry eyes and give your natural lashes a curl with lash curlers.
- Apply the bond that comes with the lash extension kit underneath your lashes 2mm above the waterline.
- Make sure you don’t coat it through your lashes like you would a mascara.
- Take the long blunt tweezers to grab your lash extension and start from the outer corner of your eye applying the lash cluster under your lashes, not on top.
- Continue to do this for the rest of the eye.
- Clamp the eyelash extensions and your natural lashes with the tweezer together for a uniformed look.
- Wait five minutes and apply the sealant to the top of your lashes and under the lash extensions and clamp together again with the tweezers.
- To remove the lashes, use the remover (or an oil based cleanser) and massage into the lashes until they gentle peel off.
- You can than wash your lash extensions and let them air dry before using them again.
When I first applied the Minimalist set, I did find it a bit fiddly because of the length but I got them on in around ten minutes – much quicker then heading to a lash appointment.
Once on, my lashes looked much fuller and had a small amount of length to them, I was pleasantly surprised with how comfortable they were to wear.
Amor Lashes
Tease Mixed Clusters £9.99
Bristol-based Lucy Pearce started her lash company, Amor Lashes, back in 2017 to re-invent the false lash game.
The business boasts a line of mixed clusters to create your own look or sets if you know exactly what your looking for.
The Tease Mixed Clusters come in three sizes 10mm, 12mm and 14mm so you can create doe-eyes or cat eyes, whatever you fancy.
They were pretty easy to apply and although they were lengthy, they didn’t have too much volume making them fine for everyday wear if that’s your style.
However, one again I just found them too be too long on me, I would have much preferred to see less of each length in the box and add an 8mm for a more natural vibe.
Dream Big Set £9.99
You can buy the Dream Big set alone or as a pack of their four best-selling lashes which including; Winging It, Dream Big, Iconic and Showstopper for £22.99.
I decided to go for these as to be honest, they looked scary in the packaging alone and I wondered how they’d hold up on my round eyes.
The fluffy lashes had volume and length and as soon as I got them on I knew they weren’t for me.
The length once again made them super uncomfortable to wear, and the fact they were almost the same length even in the inner corner meant they became irritating in a couple of minutes.
Final thoughts
I really do think there’s space for at-home lash extensions and can see why they’re so popular.
As someone who has always struggle to put false lashes on, I found these to be much easier thanks to applying them to the underneath of the natural lash and the fact the clusters have larger bands than regular fake lashes.
The one way these can be improved is by offering smaller lengths to their lashes – yes we want to glam in the evening but many of us want something more subtle for everyday wear.