By Lou Teasdale @louteasdale

My lashes are my eyeliner, my eyeshadow and my mascara. They're something of a trademark, so much so that not many days go by where I don't get asked, ‘How do you manage to get your eyelashes like that?’ Whether it’s meant to be complimentary or critical I don't really care – after all it’s not an anti-makeup statement if I'm the same as everyone else, is it?

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Show me a pretty, natural, fluttery lash look and I will show you the door. Or the contents of my makeup bag which consist of five of the blackest black mascaras – the thicker and gloopier the better – and invite you to have another go with one (or five) of them.

The ‘rules’ have always told us to avoid the dreaded clumpy, spidery lashes. Sod that. I want my lashes to look thickly coated so their obvious clumpiness looks intentional. My goal is to look like I’ve been up all night, preferably in a sweaty club, partying with Kate Moss in her see-through slip. For me, more is definitely more.

To get the look, I apply a base layer of mascara and then dust a thin layer of translucent powder over the top and repeat until it’s really piled up. Or, if I’m in a rush, I just keep on layering and layering different mascaras. My general rule is when you think you’ve done enough coats – do one more. And then another one.

Next, I group my lashes together into spidery points with the tip of the mascara wand and then wiggle them into place. Sometimes I also use a pair of tweezers to pinch together small groups of lashes whilst my mascara is still wet. Both work great.  

I’ve actually found that the more expensive mascaras tend to avoid clumps (not my end game), whereas cheaper ones are better to layer up and experiment with. So I always stock up on high-street ones.

I particularly love Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara – it has a big fat brush that holds a lot of product, making it quicker to layer-up – and Maybelline Push-Up Drama Mascara, which has this kind of cup-shaped wand that scoops up lashes and gives mega volume.