July 27th, 2011 by Sophia Bendrodt

LOS ANGELES — When it comes to eyelashes, the mantra has always been “the bigger the better.” And now beauty brands aren’t stopping at full and lush. They’re taking it to the extreme with products that offer intense, almost spider-webby lashes that fall somewhere between a 1960s Twiggy and a 1980s Tammy Faye Bakker.

The look was all over the fall runways — seen at Lanvin, Miu Miu and Chloe — but beauty products offering heavy and dramatic lashes are hitting shelves now, meaning you can start sporting your spidery eyes right away. Or at least you can start practicing to perfect the technique so that you don’t end up looking like a mascara wand attacked your face.

Celebrity makeup artist Patrick DeFontbrune, who works on flawless-faced women such as Brooklyn Decker, Jenna Ushkowitz and Heather Morris, gave us a tutorial on how to do doll-like lashes so the effect is flattering rather than unfortunate.

He offers that the key to getting long, thick and intense lashes is all in how you build up the product, taking several steps so that lashes end up long and thick but still separated.

“Start by curling the lashes; they will always look fuller and longer,” DeFontbrune said. “Sweep on a lengthening mascara, applying it from the bottom of lashes. Let that dry and brush through the lashes with a clean eyelash brush. Then apply a volumizing mascara. Feel free to use as many layers as you want, trying to keep lashes clean and separate. Use an eyelash comb and brush through again.”

He recommends adding mascara until you hit the level of intensity you desire. And should you sweep any across the bottom lashes to achieve this doll-like lash look, use a waterproof mascara and blot the under eye area with a loose powder so there’s less chance of the product transferring to the face.

“Using a loose powder on the eyelid and under-eye area is also a good thing for getting thicker lashes, because some residual powder will fall onto lashes, and it provides a nice base for building the mascara,” he said.

The building process, combined with several new mascaras designed specifically for the spider-lash look, should produce heavily defined eyes that are best when worn with relatively little to no other makeup. A wash of cheek color and neutral lip will make the eyes stand out and the overall effect pretty and balanced.

As far as mascaras promising a dramatic, femme fatale result, there’s a variety of formulas hitting shelves now and in the next month.

Hourglass Cosmetics has a product designed to go over mascara like a top coat and add a patent-leather-like shine and even more intense shade of black to lashes.

Lancome has just launched its Hypnose Doll Lashes mascara, which is meant to deliver doll-like lashes and make the eyes appear bigger and more defined. The cone-shaped brush is supposed to get into the hard-to-reach areas around the eyelid, while keeping lashes separated and ultra dark.

Also offering some intense eye makeup is L’Oreal Paris with its new Voluminous Million Lash Mascara in Carbon Black — a hue touted as being twice as intense as its regular black mascara.

MAC Cosmetics, known for its heavily pigmented products and intense effects, is offering a mascara called Opulash Optimum that has a super-saturated black color and gives lashes extra volume. It supposedly resists smudging, flaking and the effects of humidity and lasts up to 15 hours without wimping out.

And for the fall season, eyes will be anything but wimpy-looking.

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