Giving Your Baby Eyelashes

Adding eyelashes to your baby really makes the eyes stand out. You want a soft wispy lash like the ones included in our kits. If you have a sleeping baby you will need to cut a slit right along the line that indicates the opening of the eye. I prefer to cut all the way through the vinyl so that glue can be added from the inside. Be sure to hold the blade at a downward angle to insure the lashes will be properly tilted downward as they are on a sleeping baby. A very common mistake is to put the lashes straight out or tilted upward like they are on open eyes. I you look at someone with their eyes closed, you will see that the lashes lay down towards the cheek.

Remove the lash from the plastic backing by pressing down on the gummed edge of the lash while sliding the lash upward. This will aid in removing the sticky glue that holds the lash to the backing. You want to remove as much of this glue as possible especially if you are doing an open eye baby. 

For a sleeping baby, hold the lash up to the slit you have made for the lash. Determine the length you will need and cut away any excess lash. I prefer to cut the lashes from the outside edge since the inside edge of the lash has slightly shorter hairs. Push the lash into the slit with a toothpick.

Secure the lash by placing a line of Gem-Tac glue (item #348) on the slit from the inside. Use a piece of a cosmetic wedge (item #1282 or #271) attached to the hemostats (item #276 or #436) to lightly push the glue into the slit. If you can barely see glue from the outside, this is good. This glue dries clear. However, if you have very much glue at all visible from the outside you will want to clean it up carefully with a moist cotton swab. Make sure you wipe up all glue residue that may be smeared around the eyes. Once this glue is dry it isn’t necessarily easy to remove. 

For an awake baby, you will want to place the lash right where the vinyl meets the eyelid. A common mistake is to place the lash in the crease of the eyelid. If you look at your own eye, your lash is on the very edge of your eye lid, so the best placement for the lash on a dolls eye is where the lid meets the eye.

I prefer to not tuck the lash under the eyelid at all. If you tuck the lash under the lid, the lashes will lay over the eye rather than curling up as they should.

Determine the length of lash needed by placing the lash along the upper edge of the eye. Cut away any excess lash for the outside edge of the lash. Place the lash back onto the top of the eye using a tooth pick. You may have difficulty getting the whole lash in place, if so don’t worry, just line up the lash on one side and begin to glue the lash in place using a toothpick dippe d into Gem Tack glue. If necessary allow one side of the lash to dry enough to hold the lash in place before gluing the rest of the lash. Continue to add small amounts of glue all along the edge of the lash. You don’t want to get glue all over the eye, but this glue dries clear and tiny amounts of glue at the top of the eye are not a problem. Allow the glue to dry before handling your doll to avoid knocking the lashes out of place.

Denise Pratt Copyright 2003, 2004 Bountiful Baby. All Rights Reserved