I blame Cheryl Cole.

It seems the humble mascara isn’t enough for us any more. The amazing growth in popularity of eyelashes in the past few years means that no makeup application is complete without the addition of a set of false eyelashes to finish off the party look. The availability of high quality false lashes on the high street (from Mac to Ardell) has given all of us access to a beauty trick previously the preserve of make-up artists and those lucky enough to avail of their services.

The latest development in our love affair with false lashes is the growth of lash bars and lash specialists around the country who are now offering semi-permanent eyelash extensions that promise to last up to six weeks.  One such specialist is Elaine McParland of Up to my Eyes in Greystones, who I paid a visit to a couple of weeks ago for a Xen Tan, and who has customers travelling from all over Ireland to have her add flutter to their peepers. As well as adding glamour to your look, lash extensions can also be a godsend for anyone who has very fine eyelashes, including older women or anyone who has suffered from hair loss.

Up to my Eyes is located in a spacious studio beside Elaine’s home in Greystones, a very relaxing and welcoming space, with amazing ‘before and after’ photos on the walls of clients who’ve had lash extensions. First, I filled out a questionnaire designed to assess my eye sensitivity and what type of effect I wanted to go for. Elaine explained the different types of lashes available – there’s a mind-boggling selection of lengths, finishes, colours and curl types, and three strengths of glue for different levels of eye sensitivity. I had been a bit nervous, but I knew I was in good hands, as this is clearly a lady who is passionate about lashes and really knows her stuff.

The process involves the tiny single lashes being individually glued on to blend in with your own eyelashes. Think having single false lashes applied – up to a hundred times! You keep your eyes closed throughout with a collagen pad resting underneath your eye area, so the glue never touches the inside of your eye.

During the application process it became clear that this treatment isn’t something just anyone can do. Lots of salons (including hair salons) now offer lash extensions, but often without the proper training and with a limited choice of lash and glue types. My recommendation would be to choose a lash specialist like Up to my Eyes if you can, as you’ll then be sure that they’ll be able to devote the necessary time and care to your lash application – this isn’t a quick ‘in and out’ treatment.

Pick your salon carefully based on word of mouth or at least a prior consultation, as currently there are no qualifications or regulation in this area in Ireland. And make sure you’re going to have the time and patience to lie still for at least an hour for the sake of your fluttery lashes! If you’re the type of person who can’t stand sitting waiting for hair colour to develop, this won’t be for you. Off to Boots with you for some stick-on Girls Aloud lashes in that case.

After over two hours, I was ready for my Big Reveal. I had a full set of Mink lashes applied and initially I was totally stunned by how long and curly my new eyelashes were – I couldn’t stop looking in the mirror! They were comfortable and didn’t feel heavy like false lashes sometimes do, maybe a little hard to get used to for the first couple of days, but two weeks later I hardly notice them at all.

They’ve made a difference to my make-up routine – I don’t feel the need to wear as much eye makeup, and you can’t use regular mascara with them (it’s not needed anyway!) so it definitely cuts down on time in the mornings. The only drawbacks I’ve found are that a) they can make it a bit difficult to apply eye makeup when I do want to wear it, as they tend to get in the way and b) they get very wet in the shower and go all spiky for a while! Elaine did recommend I wear swimming goggles in the shower to protect them but I just haven’t been able to bring myself to do it…

I think I’ll be keeping my lashes going into the Christmas party season. If you’re tempted, Up to my Eyes prices start from a reasonable €15 for Corner lashes and go up to €110 for a full set of 200 Mink lashes, which will take approx three hours for your lash specialist to apply.

Refills are recommended after three-to-four weeks or whenever they start to grow out in line with the natural growth of your eyelashes. Refills cost €35, or €45 for the Mink lashes, and removal is free of charge. To contact Elaine, call 087 236 3101 or check out www.uptomyeyes.ie

While they sound like they might come out of Bills Boardroom (youse’ve won a noigh o’ TIE CUKERY), thankfully, Oxfam’s BioEtic range of skincare products were not in fact produced by a panel of feckin’ eejits pretending they know how to do ‘business’.

Nope, these fair trade beauty goodies are certifiably pro, as well as certified organic. They avoid animal-derived ingredients, are cruelty-free, non-polluting and come in recyclable packaging. Natural ingredients used include cocoa butter, shea butter, ginkgo biloba, Peruvian maca and aloe vera. Yum!

With body cream and butter plus sugar scrub on hand for body pampering, the range also includes a night cream and a handcream. We’ve got FIVE of those gorgeous BioEtic sets you see above to give away, worth €65 each! Interested? Info is, as always, after the cut.

THE QUESTION: The last time we wrote about BioEtic we gave a full run-down of the products in the range. Your challenge is to name TWO we didn’t give you above.

HOW TO ENTER: Send your two answers plus your NAME and FULL POSTAL ADDRESS to competitions@beaut.ie, making sure to use BioEtic in the subject line (ppsst: do remember to do it because we sort comps by subject line and if you don’t use it, you don’t get entered!)

THE RULES: One entry per person; you must have an Irish postal address (north or south); there is no cash alternative and our decision is final. The competition closes at 5pm on Friday 27th November 2009. We never share your details with any third party.

To buy the BioEtic range (and a lot more) head to the Oxfam Ireland Fair Trade Online Shop, which is the perfect place for all of your gift shopping this Christmas.

I always assumed she existed on a diet of fags, champagne and white powder anyway.  Never ever has she extolled the virtues of healthy eating.  Her diets don´t appear in magazines extolling the virtues of endame beans and lettuce.  We are never invited to look inside her fridge.

She´s a model.  A very successful model.  And she eats virtually nothing - because if she gained weight she wouldn´t have a job.  And obviously she loves being a skinny minnie.

Now I know the talking heads are already venting outrage about the fact that La Moss is not a good role model to young girls etc.  But what do you think about Kate´s “revelation”?

Trends come, trends go. I make a particular note of keeping watch of them and while we’ve got great big macro trends like organics and mineral makeup dominating the beauty industry, there are also many tiny, micro trends that pop up for a month or even just a week: mint nails, tribal-syle body art and mad Countess Markievicz hair are three recent weeny fads we’ve taken a look at.

One that’s taken on cockroach-like permanence has been the gra for feline eyes. Boy, has it lasted. And lasted. Through season after season - and literally through thick and thin - we’ve seen some variation (letterbox liner, anyone?) on the cat flick now for several years. In beauty terms, this basically means that you’ve been drawing liner above your lashes since the cosmetics world was united as one in a smushed-up eyeshadow and lipstick version of Pan(stick)gea.

Will it ever fall out of fashion? I’m not so sure - so we better have a poll. Pick your pref, and spill your liner-beans in the comments. Is it here to stay?

The first time I used Reversalist, €41.50, from Avon’s Anew range, I knew that it reminded me of something. The texture, the immediate and visible effect on skin, even the smell - almost every element of the product felt very familiar to me. The packaging did not, as was abundantly clear the second time I used it, when I managed to squirt the stuff all across the bathroom.

Reversalist looks like something that wouldn’t have appeared out of place as a prop on the latest Star Trek movie. It’s a sealed red and grey capsule from which product is dispensed via a small nozzle on one side of the capsule, ordered out by a push-button mechanism on the other.

Formulated to deal with the anti-aging concerns of women in their 40s and specifically to dramatically reverse the look of wrinkles, Reversalist is the first bit of skincare kit to contain Activinal Wrinkle Reversal Technology. This is designed to stimulate the production of Activin, which is a repairing protein complex naturally produced by the skin in response to cuts to assist wound repair.

It certainly smooths skin on application - much like Esteé Lauder’s Idealist, which is the product it reminded me of so much. And while I initially wasn’t really expecting to see lasting results, after two week’s use, I find that my skin does look more even toned and there is a perceptible softening of the lines in my forehead - all without clogging my pores or causing me to break out.

YES! Another week of toil ends. Whatcha up to for the weekend? Divulge all inside the blather.

Oh ok, I know, barely a week goes by on Beaut.ie without me raving about the latest, greatest bits from Bobbi Brown, but even if you’re not as big a fan as me, you’ll see she’s excelled recently with launches that keep trumping the last in scope and wow-factor.

These babies are just so adorable I couldn’t resist posting them, even though they’re really tiny and really bloody expensive: €55 is the damage for these travel-sized shimmer brick metal compacts.  They’d make a great luxe stocking filler and there are three limited edition offerings available. Above left is plum (best on a darker skintone I reckon), to your right is sandstone, and there’s one more after the cut.

This is nectar, and there’s also a shot of the outside of the compact.

What do you reckon, girls? Are they a new lust-have, or what?

“Here, this is for you” I said, handing over a tube of L’Oréal Professionnel Play Ball Slick Caramel, €17.20, to Himself without giving the label a second glance.

It was an honest mistake - for one thing, this stuff comes in a matte white cylindrical container with glossy bright orange ends. Very haircare-for-boys looking, I thought. And since the focus of a lot of the Play Ball line is to add texture and hold to shorter hair, I suppose I automatically assumed that this was a product unlikely to be suited to my longer locks.

But, eh, actually it’s a straightening and smoothing aid for medium to long hair, as I realised when the offending article was returned to me toot sweet and I gave the instructions the once over. Ah right so, Ted.

The contents of the tube are as white as the packaging, a non-sticky gel cream formulation that smells a wee bit sugary sweet. L’Oréal Professionnel sez: “Apply Play Ball Slick Caramel Smoothing Cream to towel-dried hair before blow-drying or over the lengths and ends to smooth before straightening.” I sez: When applied, Play Ball Slick Caramel Smoothing Cream sent me into a tailspin of complete and utter panic. From mid-lengths to ends, my hair looked like it’d been dipped it in a deep fat fryer.

And not one where the oil had been changed in living memory.

Post-straightening, however, it was a different story. Lovely, glossy, super straight gruaig that told flyaways to eff off was mine, all mine, without a hint of chipper hair. Used on wet hair before drying, it was a similar story - any kinks seemed to just fall out magically and hair was left straight with only the very minimum of effort. I pretty much just blast dried it, without a nozzle, only using a brush in the final moments.

Sorry for misjudging you so terribly, Play Ball Slick Caramel…

(P.S. - Is it just me, or does “Play Ball Slick Caramel” sound absolutely filthy yet strangely delicious..?)

Here’s a little ceist for y’all.

I know that green is sexy at the moment - that cosmetics that are organic are heaped with praise and lauded.

But do you actually care if your cosmetics are packed with chemicals once they actually work?  I know a lot of people are quite picky about skincare, but become positively devil may care when it comes to makeup.  And I’ve noticed that people will put practically anything onto (or inject into) their skin if they think it will make them look younger.

So what about you - where do you stand on the whole issue?

Fittingly, for the festive season Dior have gone all out with sparkles and spangles, but they’re SOPHISTICATED spangles, ladies - are you hearing me? Needless to say, I oohed and ahhed like a good one over the lot and far from sniffily turning my nose up at the multitude of shine and shimmer, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

I’d pretty much decided that post-30, glitter was O.U.T (channeling Daniel Chavez there, wha?) but I’m seriously wavering. Ok, not wavering. WEARING.

Ah feck it, rules were meant to be broken. So what’s what? Above you can see the two Cristal Boréal Crystal Eyeshadows in Silver Gem and Purple Gem. Now, at €30, they are undeniably pricey. They’re also undeniably nice. I do love a Dior shadow, the pan is quite a good size and the bling-factor is truly most excellent. Joining the sparkly pair is Dior Vernis Long-Wearing Nail Lacquer Silver Purple, €21.50.

More pix plus a full listing of products (all are limited) and prices are after the cut.

You’ll know I’m a sucker for Dior’s quintet palettes and this one is the velvety-smooth and shimmering Cristal Boréal Crystal Eyeshadow, €30, in Silver Gem. It’s joined by the star of the show, Cristal Boreal, a Swarovski crystal studded bit of frippery you wear as a pendant. Like yesterdays fragrance rings, this baby hides a sheer, glittering gloss that comes in two shades, Pure Crystal and Pink Crystal. Each is €79.

The rest of the products in the collection are as follows:

• Dior Cristal Boréal, €79 in 001 Pure Crystal and 251 Pink Crystal
• Dior Cristal Boréal Crystal Eyeshadow, €30 in 012 Silver Gem and 152 Purple Gem
• 5 Couleurs Iridescent Eyeshadow, €51 in 089 Smoky Crystal  and 169 Purple Crystal
• Dior Style Liner Intense Liquid Eyeliner, €29.50 in 174 Sparkling Purple
• Rouge Dior Replenishing Lipcolour, €28 in 465 Illustrious Pink and 585 Aristocratic Mauve
• Rouge Dior Crème de Gloss Creamy Lipgloss  €24.50 in 485 Violet Shine
• Dior Vernis Long-Wearing Nail Lacquer €21.50 in 162 Rose Boreal and 782 Silver Purple