false eyelashes.

I know several women who wear them- as well as Sharon in East Enders- always late 40s- and they look heavy and ridiculously false and heavy. Perhaps shorter, more natural looking ones might be OK - but most of the time, it makes women look like drag queens. Sad.

and don't start me on hair extensions or those nails

Sad.

I wore them in my teens and painted lashes under my eyes, you can get away with a lot when you are young. Less is more as you age, remember Barbara Cartland, not a good look

Artificial looks have been taken to a whole new level, the more fillers, plumped up lips, hair extensions, false nails, spray tans some women or men for that matter have, the worse and older they look imo.

Someone I know (of a similar age to me) had some very subtle "lash inserts", which seemed to mean that for everyday she didn't have to water mascara.

They actually looked pretty good, and not too obvious.

WEAR! Not water!

Damn autocorrect!

Our doctors receptionist has what could have been two long haired caterpillars over her eyes! Seriously who is she going to meet at the GP surgery?

You may not live in a particularly wealthy area but, trust me, they will be queuing out the door. It seems to be a booming business

Fads come and go, I will not criticise others for wearing anything as I have photographic evidence of me in the 60/70/80's.

I work with several young women under the age of 30. They all have semi-permanent lashes, and get them filled in about every 3-4 weeks.

Some look really nice, but some are huge and scary looking.
It seems most of that generation has lashes, nails and hair done on a regular basis. I hope they are putting some money into their retirement savings!

ALL of my colleagues at work have gel polished nails, tinted eyebrowns and tinted or fake lashes. Some of 'em look tarty, but some of the more respectable ones just look lightly made up, with no make-up.

You only notice the heavily done ones. You probably dont notice the lighter ones.

It doesn't really matter does it? I can't see it does much harm, unlike cosmetic surgery.

To be honest, if I were younger I would probably have a go at the eyelashes, though something more subtle than the really furry, shiny ones that some young women wear! I do think if they're not too obvious they look rather nice.

But I don't really like the look of very long, pointy nails, and I don't understand how people manage with them - they are so impractical.

I've had my eyebrows tinted but the result is that I look as if I do have eyebrows, not caterpillars!

And am tempted to have gel nails (short, not long and pointy) as my nails are very weak and ridgy, as recently pointed out to me by a little girl whom I didn't know but who decided I was her new best friend, intent upon giving me her candid opinions.

Eloethan
"But I don't really like the look of very long, pointy nails, and I don't understand how people manage with them - they are so impractical."
There was a report in one of the papers some months ago about a teenager who had those nails. She got into a fight with another girl and her own nail was nearly ripped off together with the false one. She ended up in A&E.

Well occasionally I get my lashes done. Usually before a holiday and therefore I don't have to bother about make up during the day. The ones I have are not Russian but more natural. I have small eyes and the lashes outline and bring out the colour. There's also a tint on lashes you can have now but I haven't tried it yet.

It depends on the skill of the person applying the lashes and the how the client wants them to look. I have seen lots,of young girls with very obvious lashes. Russian lashes do not have to be heavy in fact applied correctly they give a softer more natural effect. The Russian lashes are a few lashes in one, not sure how best to describe them. I have had the, for years and love not applying and taking off mascara. You can have as few or as many as you like and whatever length you like.

Callistemon I love gel nails. My nails were always fragile and even eating cubes of jelly etc. didn’t change that. Geleration means I have pretty coloured nails that don’t break when I’m playing my Uke and always look good. I need them redoing every 3-4 weeks so that’s £6-£8 per week but I think I deserve it. Give it a try.

I have (short) acrylic and gel nails. First time in my life that I've been able to feel unashamed of my fingers. I get them done at a local salon at £25 every two weeks.

If the youngsters want to look lovely (ridiculous), let them. I suspect most of us wore crazy fashion, etc when we were young. My mother used to say 2 quotes of wisdom: ‘You might as well be dead as out of fashion’ and ‘You certainly see some sights when you haven’t got a camera’.

I have my eyebrows waxed in a salon and a few years back the girl persuaded me to have false lashes ,I was hesustabt I was in my forties but she assured me they’d look natural and enhance my short lashes , I was going on holiday that day and thought why not . The glue irritated my eyes they were red and swollen some lashes fell out and took my own with them leaving bald patches - not a great look !!

Oooh this talk of false eyelashes takes me back. I'm remembering my Mary Quant batwing lashes from about 1967. It was all a messy process with unreliable glue and a hand that needed to be VERY steady. Like one of those posting on here, I too recall painting lashes under my eyes and dotting on freckles just to look like Twiggy.

I had my nails done regularly (every month, for about three or four years) back in the early 2000s. Decided eventually I'd had enough, but my nails were ruined - they had become soft and weak, wouldn't grow, and constantly split. Tried every treatment going but nothing has worked. They still split, break easily, even on a towel after a shower. Only had them done once since, for DD's wedding a few years ago. Thinking about trying the gel nail polish which my local salon does, which might stop the splits and breaks, but not sure. Seems that nearly everyone has their nails done these days.

I hate “spider” lashes but not as much as those ridiculous slug shaped eyebrows that all the youngsters paint on to their faces these days!

I remember going out with my fairly new boyfriend when I was 16 and crying so hard watching a sad film that my false eyelashes washed off! Not a good look!
Can’t be bothered to faff around now, so use Longforlashes which makes them grow long, then just put volume mascara on. Works a treat!