I am an occasional cheapskate. I tend to splurge on people I love, spend a little bit more on things I know will make a good foundation for life (like skincare, and shoes, obviously); but then there are some things I’d really rather not buy for myself, unless I absolutely have to.
You can imagine my dilemma when my dearest Shu Uemura eyelash curler was pinched two weeks ago. I got it in a swag bag years ago, and I didn’t intend on replacing it until it fell apart, which I was pretty sure not anytime soon.
I had two choices: I could march into Shu Uemura in Singapore and fork out $30 for a new one, or I could suck it up and wait for a few weeks until I’m back in the US and spend $10 less on it.
And so, I decided on the latter.
The past couple of days haven’t been easy. I've been like a Real Housewife cut off from her plastic surgery allowance, close to wailing my dramatic heart out like a banshee until the thought of my crazy neighbors throwing cans of food out of the window scared me (not kidding--they’ve done it before).
Like my fellow xoVain-ers, I decided to be resourceful. I first fished out a blinged-out Forever 21 eyelash curler I got at a party that I’ve kept because it’s pretty. Someone I know raved about it, so I gave it a whirl. The curler is shaped a little awkwardly, and the hinge pinched my skin. Like I need more proof that not all pretty things are useful. Tsk.
What I’ve found to work actually work is... DRUM ROLL... a metal spoon. Seriously.
Using the same principle as curling the ends of a ribbon with scissors, position the outer edge of the spoon by your lashline, with your lashes in between your thumb and the spoon. With an upward motion, use the force of your thumb against the hollow of the spoon to create a curl in your lashes.
An even easier way is to first coat your lashes with heavy duty mascara, then run or pour some hot water over the spoon. Quickly dry the spoon off and make sure it won’t burn your eyeballs out of their sockets, then hold them in place with your lashes between your thumb and the hollow of the spoon for ten to fifteen seconds. Almost like having a heated lash curler without having to spend any money!
I'm patting myself on the back now, but I might give up any minute and give in to eyelash perm instead.
How far do you go to make sure you don’t have to fork out moolah for some beauty tools? Pray tell!