It took me years to figure out how to properly apply a strip lash. The first hurdle? Finding fake lashes that looked natural-ish and not like I attached spider legs to my lash line. The second? Learning to get the glue to dry and how to secure the base by expertly tapping the tweezers—without poking my eye out. So when celebrity makeup artist Vincent Oquendo informed me that his celebrity-approved lash hack could cut my application time by 70 percent, double the thickness, and look so natural you wouldn’t be able to tell I was wearing fake lashes in the first place, well, I was all ears.
He calls the handy little trick lash stacking. “It’s a way to cocktail your lashes and add depth and dimension,” says Oquendo. “It’s been around for a hundred years with strip lashes,” but copying the technique with individual wispy lashes looks much more natural (so much so that I wear ‘em to work) and feels lighter on my eye. All you need is a pack of individuals with varying lengths to get the job done—Oquendo and I both love Kiss Lashes—a pair of clean, disinfected tweezers, and two minutes. To get the full breakdown, and shop my favorites, keep scrolling.
What Is Lash Stacking?
Unless you’re particularly genetically blessed (looking at you, Elizabeth Taylor), you probably have a single layer of natural eyelashes. While applying a single strip lash makes it look like you now have two layers, lash stacking individual wispies allows you to create anywhere from two to four layers of lashes. That's the appeal—you can add dimension, thickness, and density—as opposed to one uniform strip of falsies.
How Do I Create a Lash Stack?
Once you have roughly three individuals along the outer corner of your eye, you can start applying falsies directly onto other falsies. “Stack it over what already exists; it adds furriness,” he explains. But the key is to just have fun with it and stack until you're happy with the result. For a day at work, that might mean two additional layers of lashes, and a night out might call for three or four. To make it look more natural, Oquendo recommends “alternating lengths on top of and next to each other, which calls attention to the eye without looking too made up.”
You also don’t have to pre-plan your stack; you can work as you go. If your lashes are on the shorter side, you’ll likely want to start with eight millimeter individuals. If they’re on the longer side, don’t go any shorter than 10 millimeters. If you choose a no-glue lash, the process is so much easier. Just grab the wispy of your choice and place it underneath your natural lash. It should click into place pretty easily. If your lashes are oily like mine, “you have to place it, have a light touch with it, and then pinch into place with your fingers,” says Oquendo.
There’s no right or wrong way to curate your individual stack. Still, to keep that natural-looking appeal intact, Oquendo recommends keeping them within four millimeters of each other and using no more than five or six wispies per eye. For example, my personal cocktail is three 10 millimeter and two 12 millimeter individuals that go from my outer corner to the center of my upper lash line. Play around with length, number, and placement and soon you'll find the lash stacking combination that will help your eyes pop no matter where the day (or night) takes you.
Shop My Lash Stack Essentials
These pre-glued individuals make the false lash application process dummy-proof. The band sticks to my lash line instantly. The best part? I don’t have to deal with sticky lash glue on my hands, and my eyes get far less irritated. They also feel super lightweight on my eyes, to the point where I forget I’m wearing them.
This particular pair of tweezers is essential. It’s been designed with a non-stick coating, so the pre-glued lashes don’t get stuck during the placement process. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out the best way to grip the lashes from the plastic sheet (you want to clamp down on the middle of the lash), but once I had the maneuver down, it became such a fast and easy process.
If you don’t want to try the pre-glued lashes, then there’s only one lash glue that’ll do. This little guy has been around for decades and is genuinely my favorite formula out there. I have incredibly sensitive eyes, and this is by far the least irritating. Just make sure you leave the glue on the lash strip for around 30 seconds before placing—it needs time to get tacky.
Loyal to a strip lash? These babies are the best of the best. Not only do you get five wears out of each, but they’re also pre-glued and pre-trimmed so so there’s no mess in the application process.
While I prefer the lash packs that come with varying lengths, these are great supplemental wispy lashes to have on hand. They’re the thinnest and most natural-looking I’ve been able to find, and popping one or two on my outer corner always gives my glam just a little extra oomph.
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