Do or Don’t: Ghost Lashes

I, too, have noticed that no mascara is popular now. At first I said no way—I’m 58, my skin was never great and now it’s aging, AND my long, dark eyelashes are one of my best features. I guess I’ve always had a more is more attitude when it comes to them.

Over the summer, I started becoming unhappy with my makeup in general. Foundation, no matter how I apply it, looks artificial and makes my wrinkles look worse. I have ptosis in my left eye which makes my lid droop more than the right (I’m really making myself sound like a catch here, aren’t I?) Mascara, eyeliner, nothing really hides it, so I’ve decided to leave it be. My face is my face, it’s the face I want and love, so full acceptance of it now is my goal.

I started taking super good care of my skin and I’m seeing results. Nothing expensive or crazy, just keeping it clean and moisturized with a vitamin C serum for day and a retinol serum for night. Feeling more secure about my skin helped me give up foundation altogether, and now I just use a little concealer at the corners of my nose and under my eyes and keep the rest of my face bare. It’s not perfect but it’s better than with foundation and now I don’t have to feel insecure about looking overdone. I look like me!

Oh. We were talking about mascara. As part of this whole thing, I stopped wearing concealer and eyeliner. I put a drop of light-colored bronzer on each lid and blend it in. I curl my eyelashes and let them be. Then I swipe my lips with Clinique’s Black Honey and that’s it. That’s the look.

All this to say, I feel MUCH better about my skin and makeup now.

Mascara and lip gloss make me feel 💃

I, too, have been skipping mascara this summer – after being a daily wearer since age 15 probably?! Instead, I focus on a dewy face, flushed cheeks and glossy lips, with some extra love and shaping on my eyebrows. With the focus on the brows, not the eyes, I feel very Audrey Hepburn and I love it.

I don’t wear makeup…and amused that “ghost lashes” is a word for, uh, the natural state of eye lashes.

Mascara is a must if I’m leaving the house. I prefer simple makeup (never wear eyeshadow, etc), but always need a lip + lash to look awake and bring a little dimension to my face.

I’m glad to hear that this is a trend, because perimenopause dry eyes has made it impossible for me to wear any eye makeup (or my contact lenses). So now, instead of feeling like a dowdy middle aged lady, I will just tell myself that I am on trend.

Is this… Satire?!

My 40-year-old lashes could hold their own– I never wore make-up. I’m approaching 50 and lashes seem to have disappeared (down at least 50%??), and I wear Ilia (the only one I’m not allergic to) every workday just to look like I have any lashes at all.

Wow, I am on trend for the only time in my life! Once I quit my corporate job, I stopped wearing makeup most days. I still wear it occasionally, like tonight when we have a meeting for a committee of which I’m the chair. Mostly though on the rare occasion I do wear mascara, I forget and rub my eyes.

I have recently developed an allergy to basically all mascaras. Apparently new allergies are a fun side effect of hormone changes (perimenopause, the gift that keeps on giving!). I am loving this trend, especially because I have blonde lashes so I am very ghostly without it. When I have something fancy to go to I just use some lash dye and then take a benadryl for the reaction :). Then I am good to go for a few weeks! I do typically still curl my lashes to wake up my face a bit, even when they are mostly blonde. It does make a difference.

“I wear mascara every Saturday” -Lena Dunham

Sure…if my body was inhabited by aliens!

This is a “good for her, not for me” moment.

I love everything make-up. It is a ritual for me and a place of creativity, comfort & joy.

I too have been a basically-lifelong, if-nothing-else-wear-mascara person and have also been just…not wearing it lately. Simultaneously I gave up on nail polish and pedicures, which according to NYT fashion reporting is also a trend? Here’s to moisturizing amply, all the cuticle oil, and simplified routines. Little things that make me feel wise in middle age!

Meh, I skip it mostly during allergy season but so few people where I live actually do wear mascara that I find it interesting to see it emerging as a “trend”. I prefer to wear either mascara or lipstick (or both) because my face and hair are so fair that I feel like I’m doing an entire ghost face.