Beauty Fix: Faking fuller lips, applying false lashes and other makeup tips for Halloween (and beyond!)

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.comor ask away in the comments below. or ask away in the comments below.

I’m terrible at applying glue to false lashes. What’s the best way to do this?
Practice unfortunately makes perfect, so if you’re the type of person who only busts out falsies during Halloween or holidays, it’s tough to nail down the glue application part of the false lash process. Dousing false lashes in glue can lead to a disastrous application. Excess glue tends to dry clear, but it can cause lashes to slide around your lash line, resulting in an uneven application with longer drying times. Enter DUO’s new Brush-On Adhesive ($12, sephora.ca), which is the well-known surgical adhesive every pro turns to for safe, skin-friendly application of false lashes, but now in an extremely user-friendly brush-on format, which provides control and precision when brushing the adhesive onto the spine of falsies.

My Halloween costume involves exposing my skin. What’s a fast way to get my skin camera-ready?
If speed and time is of the essence, then forego your usual preferred self-tanner (and definitely stay away from a tanning bed), and opt in to an express product like St. Tropez Tanning Essentials’ new Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse ($54, sephora.ca). Go through your exfoliating routine and slap this foam tanner on with an applicator mitt (essential for even application in heartbeat). The foam will dry in a couple minutes and colour will develop in as little as an hour. The beauty of this formula: the longer you leave it on, the deeper the colour will be. One hour is a healthy glow, two hours is a golden shade of tan and three hours is a dark tan. Simply shower at the end of your desired time frame based on the corresponding shade you desire. No more going to sleep and waking up to the stench of DHA!

How can I fake a bigger pout?
Whether it’s for a costume or for everyday life, optical illusions are your best alternative to fillers or surgery. Using a neutral lip liner that matches your lips, line your lips on the immediate edge, overdrawing ever so slightly and blending inwards to the center of your lips. Top with a neutral lipstick like Dior Diorific Shock Colour Lip Duo Lipstick in “Delicate Shock” ($39, Dior counters), which combines a matte lipstick formula with a lighter shimmer formula into one functional bullet. Beginning with the matte side, apply the lip colour to the new edge of your lips and then finish by dabbing the shimmery shade on the centre of the mouth to give the mouth dimension and the illusion of a fuller pout.

What’s the best way to build up volume with mascara?
Aside from the obvious answer of opting for a volumizing mascara formula, I was recently told by Rimmel London Makeup Artist Vanessa Jarman to try stippling mascara on to lashes. Jarman explained that the stippling action deposits more product onto lashes and then can be worked through the lengths. Try this technique with Rimmel’s mascara, ScandalEyes Rockin’ Curves Mascara ($8, drugstores), which has a broken-heart-shaped brush, angled and tapered in order to reach all corners of your lash line in order to distribute the mascara through your lashes, leaving you with lifted lashes full of volume for major impact.

My skin is dehydrated and cleansing seems to irritate it. What can I swap out for my current cleanser?
Dehydration can be caused by excess caffeine, excess alcohol, not enough water or skincare that just isn’t suited to your skin for the current season. If you’re using a foaming cleanser, stop this very instant and try a cream cleanser to prevent skin from being stripped of the natural lipids it currently has. Live Clean’s latest addition to its Fresh Face range is the new Hydrating Creamy Cleanser ($15, at drugstores), which is exactly what dry skin (or normal skin that’s dried out a touch due to a temperature drop) needs. The formula contains kaolin clay to draw out impurities without compromising the skin’s lipid barrier. It’s also enriched with lavender, cucumber, orchid extract, milk thistle and aloe to soothe skin.

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