Fantasia Salon / Spa and Wig Specialists

What do you think is the most versatile part of your makeup arsenal?  If you said eyeliner, you would be correct.  With eyeliner you can be dressed casually or for full-on glamour.

There are several forms of eyeliner, go with what you find the simplest to use.  Here are several different looks you can create with eyeliner.

Weekend daytime casual:  Line only your outer eyelid.  Dot the liner on your tip lid, getting as close to your eyelashes as possible.  Use a cotton swab, small makeup brush, the sponge tip or your clean fingertip to blend the dots together so the makeup looks natural and undetectable.

You can line form the inner corner of the eye to where the upper lashes stop, or just the outer half of the eyelid.  If your eyes are wide-set, lining the entire upper lid will make the appear to be closer together.  If your eyes are close-set, line only the outer half of two thirds of the eyelid.  This gives the illusion of wider-set eyes.  This is a good look with no eye shadow and eyelashes merely curled, with no mascara.

Perfect for Work:  This involves little time and effort on your part.  Apply a neutral eye shadow, then line just the very outer corners of your upper and lower lashes, using the dot-on-then-connect method.  Blend together the liner at the corners of your eye, in an angled V shape.  Smudge the eyeliner so a hard line is not visible.

Curl your lashes and apply one coat of brown mascara.  Brown is softer than black and looks professional without looking too ‘done’ for daytime.  This is a particularly effective look for close-set eyes.   Your subtle professional look will be the envy of your co-workers.

Daytime to Evening Eyes:  Line both the upper outer lid and lower outer lid.  You can use a thick or thin line, depending on what you prefer.  Classically, a thicker, softer line is preferred on a larger lid, whereas a thinner, more pronounced line is better for a small lid when lining upper eyelids.

For the lower lid, use the dot method, placing them as close to the lash line as possible.  If you choose to line from the inner lashes all the way to the outer lashes, this is definitely a “made-up” look.  be sure to smudge for a look that emulates thick lower lashes as opposed to a heavily-lined lower lid.

Putting on your shadow all over the lid after the liner will create a wash of color that helps liner blend and highlights your eyes without looking harsh.  Curl eyelashes and apply one coat of black mascara.  Now you are ready for dinner!

Evening Out:  A more intense look, involves lining upper and lower outer lids and lining the inner rim of your lower lid. If you choose to do this, make sure you have clean hands and that the eyeliner you are using is free of any debris that could fall into your eyes.

Apply a light-colored shimmery shadow in the half of your eye, then use a darker shade from the midpoint to the edge and up to the crease.  Next, using a light hand, liner your upper outer lid, using the dot method or using short, quick strokes of tiny lines connected together.  Do the same on the bottom outer lid.  Smudge the line on top and bottom lids.  If you want more intensity, use a second layer of eyeliner or add powder eye shadow in the same color over the eyeliner.

When you use a creamy eyeliner, such as with a pencil, powdered eyeshadow clings to it to give added staying power to your eyeliner.

When lining the inner rim of your eye, use the fingers of the opposite hand to gently pull down your lower lid.  Gently line the inner rim iwth the color of your cohice.  You can line the entire rim, just the outer half or just a small section in the very middle of the lower inner  rim.

There is debate among professional makeup artists about the effect of lining the inner rims of your eyelids.  Some say it makes the eyes appear smaller, while others insist that is a beauty myth with no basis in fact.  Try lining one eye inner rim and not the other, and see what you think.  Always use eye pencils when lining the inner rims of the eyes, not shadows or liquid.  Now your are ready to hit the town!

All these techniques with one product, who would have thought?

These days, there are a few options if you have less than lush eyelashes. You can have eyelash extensions which are not inexpensive but look fantastic. To keep the look, there is maintenance required, much like having your nails “filled” on a regular basis.

However there is another option which may be of interest to you and that is a product called RevitaLash. RevitaLash was created by Dr. Michael Brinkenhoff as a special gift for his wife, Gayle, when she was recovering from breast cancer. Intensive chemotherapy treatments had damaged Gayle’s once beautiful eyelashes, leaving them fragile, sparse, and thin.

Dr. Brinkenhoff, a practicing opthamologist for over 25 years, had extensive knowledge and experience and believed he could develop a formula that would give Gayle’s eyelashes renewed health, strength and beauty.

After extensive research, Dr. Brinkenhoff, together with a talented team of cosmetic chemist, created RevitaLash, much to Gayle’s delight, giving her lashes renewed vitality.

RevitaLash is a remarkable cosmetic innovation which will help ;you achieve amazing looking eyelashes, appearing dramatically more beautiful, longer, thicker and fuller. Within weeks , your own natural eyelashes will look as though they had extensions.

Like liquid eyeliner, RevitaLash is simply applied once - a - day to the base of the eyelashes. Within 60 days your own natural eyelashes will look spectacular.

With RevitaLash, you can do it from your home and maintain it yourself. Again it will cost a fraction of what eyelash extensions would cost, so, this may be a way for you to get the eyelashes you have always wanted!

We have talked about Alopecia. The word means “loss of hair” or “hair loss” or “baldness”. There are several different causes and patterns of alopecia. The exact number of people affected by alopecia areata is unknown, but estimates are between 1 in 1000 to 2 in 100 people being affected at some point in their life. Alopecia can occur at any age but most cases develop first in teens and children. In about 6 in 10 cases the first patch of hair loss develops before the age of 20. Males and females are equally affected.

The symptoms typically start with one or more bald patches appearing to the scalp. Usually they are round in shape and about the size of a large coin. They develop quite quickly. Sometimes a relative, friend or hairstylist may be the first person to notice. Other than the bald patch or patches, the scalp usually looks healthy and there is no scarring. Sometimes there is mild redness, mild scaling, mild burning or a slight itchy feeling on the bald patches. When a patch first develops, it’s difficult to predict how it’s going to progress. The following are the ain ways it may progress.

Very often the bald patch or patches re-grow hair within a few months. If the hair grows back it may not have its normal color at first and can look grey or white for a while. Eventually the normal color will return after several months.

Sometimes one or more bald patches develop a few weeks after the first one. Sometimes the first bald patch is re-growing hair while a new patch is developing. It then appears as if small bald patches rotate around different areas of the scalp over time.

Sometimes several small bald patches develop and merge into a larger bad area.

Patches of body hair, beard, eyebrows or eyelashes may be affected in some cases.

Large bald patches develop in some people, some lose all their scalp hair. This is called alopecia totalis.

In some cases, all scalp hair, body hair, beard, eyebrows and eyelashes are lost. This is called alopecia universalis.

In about 1 in 5 cases, the fingernails can become ridged or pitted.

If you have alopecia areata, you also have a slightly higher than average chance of developing other auto-immune diseases such as thyroid disorders, pernicious anemia and vitiligo. However, it is important to stress that most people with alopecia do not develop any of these other conditions, so don’t panic. In our next visit, we’ll talk about some of the treatments for alopecia.

This is an area of hair loss which is not discussed much. It is emotionally painful for those who struggle to overcome the condition and most of us cannot begin to understand it. It is equally painful for their loved ones.

Trichotillomania is a type of mental illness in which people have an irresistible urge to pull out their hair. Sometimes it’s from their scalp, their eyebrows, or other areas of their body. Hair pulling from the scalp often leaves them with patchy bald spots on their head. They will often go to great lengths to disguise these spots.

Although trichotillomania may seem like an obsession or compulsion, it’s classified as a type of impulse control disorder, where one cannot resist the temptation to perform an act that is harmful to them or others. There are behavior therapies which can help with an awareness of the disorder and teach the individual techniques to avoid pulling out the hair.

Some signs to look for would be: patchy bald spots on the scalp or other areas of the body; sparse or missing eyelashes or eyebrows; chewing pulled out hair; playing with pulled out hair; and rubbing pulled out hair against the face or lips. Most people with this disorder will pull the hair from their scalp. But, there are reports where the hair has been pulled from all areas such as the legs, arms, eyebrows and lashes as well as other areas of the body. Typically the pulling is done with the fingers, but sometimes tools are used such as brushes, combs and tweezers.

For some people, they are aware they are pulling their hair out while they are doing it, it is very focused and deliberate. For others, it is so automatic they may not even realize they are doing it.

Causes for this disorder are still being researched. Researchers think their may be a specific gene mutation thought to play a role in trichotillomania. Studies suggest that abnormalities in the natural brain chemicals serotonin and dopamine may play a role in the disorder. That being the case, nutrition and diet could certainly be a factor in this compulsive behavior.

If you or anyone you know is dealing with this disorder and it is affecting the quality of life, socially or otherwise, please call Fantasia. Most of the time there comes a point, if a person is pulling from the scalp, they can no longer continue to hide and disguise the bald spots. Our professional staff have experience dealing with this disorder just as with any other hair loss disorder. They will work with these clients in a discrete fashion and help them select an appropriate hair replacement system. Since hair is often associated with beauty and vitality, this can be one step in helping them regain control of their life. Remember, Fantasia offers no charge,no obligation consultations.