Makeup Artist Bobbi Brown’s Tips for Applying Mascara

Bobbi Brown is a professional makeup artist who built a global beauty brand with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bobbi’s early career included her calling photographers from the Yellow Pages to offer her makeup services before going on to land top-of-the-industry cover shoots. By 1991, she launched Bobbi Brown Essentials with ten lipsticks at Bergdorf Goodman.

On her mission to help women feel like themselves, Bobbi has created an international makeup line, written nine beauty books, and launched a modern lifestyle company for wellness, beauty, and everything in between.

Mascara is a makeup product that aims to lengthen, enhance, and define eyelashes. The beauty product comes in a tube and has a removable wand used for application.

Mascara is typically black or brown, but it also comes in other colors, such as white, blue, and pink.

There are several types of mascara that cater to the wearer’s preferences. Here are a few types of mascara:

1. 1. Waterproof mascara: This kind of mascara doesn’t easily smudge or run. Waterproof mascara will remain in place even if you cry, get caught in the rain, or sweat, which makes some waterproof mascaras difficult to take off with makeup remover.
2. 2. Clear mascara: As the name suggests, clear mascara has no pigment. While you can use this product on your eyelashes for a natural look, you can also use clear mascara as a primer before tinted mascara, as a brow gel, or to style baby hairs.
3. 3. Bottom-lash mascara: Since your lower lashes are shorter than your upper lashes, you may want to use a bottom-lash mascara, which typically features wands with smaller and thinner bristles.
   
4. 4. Lengthening mascara: This type of mascara aims to give the wearer the appearance of longer lashes. Some lengthening mascaras may also curl the eyelashes.

The right mascara can make your eyes pop. Here are Bobbi’s tips for finding mascara:

• Go for a true black. Bobbi is not a fan of brown mascaras or other colors. Instead, she suggests going for a true black mascara. “There are black mascaras on the market that are really not black,” she says. “So the trick is to find one that is really, really black. And honestly, how do you know if it's really black? You have to try it. But when you find a really black one, it makes a big difference.”
• Look for a thicker wand for volume. Depending on the wand, mascara can give your eyelashes a dramatic or subtle look. “Some mascaras, the wand is curved. Some are straight. There's different ones,” she says. “I like a thicker wand, 'cause I find it makes the lashes thicker.”
• Opt for a tapered mascara wand. As Bobbi says, you can use a tapered wand “on the inner corner” of your eye, a spot that is hard to reach with some wands.

Applying mascara takes practice. Here are a few mascara application tips from Bobbi:

• Remove excess mascara from the wand. When you remove the wand from the tube, you want to ensure there’s not too much mascara on it. “You could either put [the extra mascara] in a tissue, or you could just do it right in the tube,” she says.
• Hold the eyelid. You can apply mascara better if you hold the eyelid open. “As a makeup artist, this protects [the model’s] eye,” she says. “So if she did blink, then we wouldn’t notice, and it wouldn’t get in her eye.”
• Separate the lashes as you go. Bobbi prefers to separate eyelashes as she applies mascara, though she notes this process doesn’t work for everyone. “Some women, as they’re applying the mascara, are kinda messy,” she says. “So they might need to have like a spoolie to separate [the lashes]. But as someone [who] … doesn’t have a lot of patience, like myself, I try to do it all at once.”
• Add a second coat or more. Even for the most natural eyelash looks, Bobbi applies multiple coats. “I like to apply two to three coats of mascara, even for someone that likes a nude, minimal makeup,” she says. “I find that mascara is the greatest way to open up your eyes.”

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