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Ever feel like channeling your inner Twiggy? The 60s was big on lower lash makeup and for good reason – it increases the depth and size of the eyes. Anyone who decided to comb some mascara through their bottom lashes after doing the upper set can definitely relate to this. 

But applying mascara on your lower lashes really necessary and important for a strong eye game? Here’s where expert advice comes in!

Daily Vanity asks professional makeup artist Ginger Lynette Leong for her take on bottom lash makeup and ways it amps up your look. Ginger has been the makeup artist of Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio, as well as popular local celebrities Denise Keller, Beatrice Chia, and top model Sheila Sim.

She positively suggests, “If you have bottom lashes, yes, please apply [mascara on them]”, implying that we are all born with two sets of eyelashes for good reason! One set without the other would make us look unnatural and bare, so enhancing both sets with mascara is actually very natural and helps balance out the look.

But what key enhancements does bottom lash makeup offer?

  • Applying mascara on the bottom lashes alongside the upper widens and brightens our eyes, which enlivens our face. “The most important function of applying mascara is to open up your eyes so even when you are tired, you don’t look so tired,” Ginger says. Since any amount of mascara on our eyelashes makes us look brighter and less tired, then applying mascara on both sets of lashes will give a fuller boost to the vitality of your face.
  • It makes our eye makeup look more proportionate. Ginger tells us that “bottom lashes completes the whole look”, as mascara on the bottom lashes rounds off your eye makeup look, especially when you’re wearing obvious eyeliner, eyeshadow, and upper lash mascara. You want to define your lower lashes, too, so as to balance that heavy eye makeup look.
  • Do your bottom lashes if you want to draw more attention to your eyes. “They look more captivating when you apply [mascara to] bottom lashes”, explains Ginger. Accentuating both the bottom lashes and the upper lashes defines the outline of the eyes – like petals to a flower.
  • Since mascara on bottom lashes essentially adds more definition to the eyes by highlighting the lower part of your eyes, you can still achieve the highlighted-lower-eyelid effect even if your bottom lashes are sparse. Ginger advises, “People who have very short or even barely any bottom lashes can try to use eyeliner or eyeshadow on the bottom eyelid [and] smudge it to complete the look”.
Twiggy bottom lashes

Source – Twiggy-style tiny drawn-on triangles for bottom lashes!

DV Tip: Alternatively, whether you have a good set of bottom lashes or not, you can apply eyeliner along your lower eyelid in a line of tiny inverted triangles, giving the effect of thick, long bottom lashes – an iconic 60s Mod look.  

Ginger’s tips for applying bottom lash mascara

  • Ginger suggests that we “go for mascaras that contain bristles that will separate your bottom lashes so they look soft and natural”.
  • She also suggests, “If you want to give your bottom lashes a second coat, dab off any extra with a tissue paper prior to that”.
  • Ginger prefers the “vertical application method”, which involves using the tip of the mascara applicator bristle to apply the product onto the lashes. However, she says that the technique is dependent on each individual’s preference, and as long as the lashes don’t clump together and the mascara doesn’t stain the eyes, there isn’t a specific technique that you have to strictly follow.

Mascaras suitable for the bottom lashes as recommended by Ginger:

Left to right: MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash mascara, Rimmel London Lash Accelerator mascara, Shu Uemura Mascara Length and Waterproof, Laura Mercier Long Lash mascara.

  • Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Mascara (SGD14.35 on the on Amazon)