Batting Above Average

Volumising? Yes please! Thickening? Slather it on! Lengthening? Go on then. Blessed with lashes so sparse that I’m a sucker for every promise the mascara wands throw at me, I was understandably excited when Nail Spa Experience offered me a chance to ‘test drive’ their Barbie lashes. The eyelash technician serenely plugged tiny cluster extensions onto each of my individual lashes, then brushed on mascara. I opened my eyes to a horribly stinging sensation. Apparently this is a normal reaction but I wouldn’t have minded a heads-up. I was told that the extensions would last up to 20 days, organically falling off as the glue wore off, and that I shouldn’t rub my eyes.

I exit the salon in fine spirits, ready to take my new eyelashes for a spin, only to be distracted by the flutter at the periphery of my vision, and go crashing down on the paan-stained pavement. For all the extravagance of the Barbie lashes, it took colleagues two days to realise something was different. My eyes felt a bit bare with just the lashes on so I was painting on lavish amounts of eyeliner. Showers were slightly uncomfortable – water pooled up on top of the lashes and I had to shake my head like a dog so I could get it off.

It took me a few days to get used to the feeling, but by the time I left for Delhi that weekend, I was a dab hand at fielding compliments. While there, I dropped in on an old friend – sleep-deprived from about three months of new-motherhood, it took her only about five seconds to start interrogating me! A week later, I craved a good smushing of the eyelids, and some of the extensions had fallen off, leaving disconcerting bare patches. I worked the rest off gently, shocked at how bare my lids looked. Would I do it again? Maybe, but it might take a while. But till then, on to the next magic mascara!