Unless you’re Bambi, you’ve got to have a few tricks up your sleeve if you want thick, flawless, so-long-they-must-be-fake eyelashes. From melting clumps to cocktailing your favorite formulas, we’ve rounded up 10 expert tips that will make people wonder what’s got you looking so bright-eyed. Take your lash game to the next level with these eye-opening mascara hacks that we doubt even Twiggy knows about.

Wiggle While You Work

A simple swipe is not enough. Makeup artist Ricky Wilson told ELLE that you should always move the mascara brush in a zigzag motion: “Many women only coat the tips of their lashes which is what I like to call ‘instaclump.’ The tips of the lashes will just stick together. To avoid this, wiggle the brush at the base before extending to the ends.” According to Wilson, getting your wiggle on has an added bonus: “Mascara doubles as faux eyeliner if you wiggle the brush at the lash line to give the illusion of a dense black liner.”

Coat Both Sides of Your Lashes

If you always apply mascara in one direction, you’ve been forgetting half of the job, according to The Beauty Department. The site’s hack for super thick lashes is to coat both sides of your lashes by first looking down and coating the backs of your lashes, then look up and sweep the brush upward from below.

Bend the Brush

It may break your heart to bend the wand on your brand new mascara, but this insider trick from makeup artist Chuck Hezekiah will get you an easy to handle vertical brush that’s better at getting those tiny hairs at the corners of your eyes. Just carefully bend the brush until it’s perpendicular to the handle and bend it back when you’re done.

Fan Out

You’ll be obsessed with this behind-the-scenes look at how makeup artists apply mascara backstage from The Cut. Our takeaway tip is the fan brush method (coating a fan brush with your mascara wand and then using it to paint color on your lashes) to get that no-makeup makeup look.

Give It a Good Soak

You already know that you should change your mascara every three months to avoid raising your own little eye infection-causing bacteria colony, but you may end up with clumpy mascara even if you stick to this expiration date. Minq says you can fix this by dunking the whole tube into a cup of hot water for a few minutes before you use it — the heat will melt clumps and make your mascara more fluid.

Cocktail Your Mascara

Mascara maven Nina Leykind shared this killer tip with ELLE: “To make the most of your lashes, it takes more than one mascara! Call it mascara wardrobing or cocktailing, but it’s the only way to create a bespoke lash look. I have shortish, straight lashes so I always start with a lengthening mascara on my top and bottom lashes before going in with a curling formula to lift and tease out lashes for extra volume and curl. Believe it or not, one mascara doesn’t do it all—and any makeup artist will tell you that using two or three different mascaras makes all the difference to your look.” (As if you need an excuse to buy yourself another mascara.)

Break the Rules

Usually the rule of thumb is to curl then apply, but actress Natasha Lyonne spilled to Vogue that she achieves her famously full lashes by breaking the rules: “I have a very specific system. People are afraid to re-curl their lashes once the mascara is on, but that’s when you get the good action going. And when you think you’re done applying mascara, do another layer. Just never stop applying mascara. [Laughs] I like to do it the way that Blondie or Chrissie Hynde would have put it on—a little nitty-gritty. I even like it to flake. But, really, it’s all about the eyelash curler.”

Erase Mistakes

We all make mistakes, but don’t just try to rub off those skid marks around your eyes with your finger and risk ruining your mascara job. Instead, dip a cotton swab in water and use it to dab away any leftover black marks without messing up your lashes.

Use a Hot Tool

Turn your eyelash curler into a mini curling iron by holding it under the nozzle of a blowdryer for a few seconds just before using it on your lashes. (Test it first to make sure you don’t burn your delicate eyelids!) The heat will help seal in the curl so you can bat your eyes all day.

Reuse Spent Wands

If you really are trading in your mascara every three months like you’re supposed to, you’re probably piling up quite a stash of old wands. But don’t toss them in the mascara graveyard. Instead, the folks at Byrdie suggest that you clean your old wands with your favorite makeup remover and reuse them to separate lashes after applying mascara. Hello, free lash comb!

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Who wears short shorts, barely-there skirts and plunging necklines? Nearly naked celebrities, of course. Stars are shedding the layers and, in some cases, common decency. There’s a sordid history of celebs baring excessive skin and it’s not always the usual over-the-top suspects. From the irrepressible see-through trend to pelvic cleavage, these celebs aren’t afraid to push the boundaries on the red carpet. Take a look at this sampling of nearly naked celebrities who put quite a bit of themselves on display.

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The final weeks of August are upon us. Anxious to soak in all the summer we can, loath to turn our minds to fall and the flurry of activity (within and without the fashion industry) that it brings, we — and all our celebrity Insta stalks — have vacated the premises. (“The premises” being anywhere that’s not a tropical isle or at the very least a beach or pool.)

And you know what that means — it’s bikini plandid time! (True, it’s important to relax and unplug. It’s also important to stock up on potential Instagram #content while the lighting and backdrop are good.) For those of you wondering what the heck a plandid is, it’s the selfie of 2017. A new form of Instagram portraiture. A term brought to the mainstream by Man Repeller writer Amelia Diamond (or, more specifically, her friend Trent). Here’s the formal definition:

“A plandid is a planned candid. An oxymoronic portmanteau brought to my attention by my friend Trent (turns out it’s been on Urban Dictionary since 2010), the term has come to mean, more than anything, a carefully calculated solo shot that appears to have been taken by a professional photographer, posted without a hint of shame or irony, and for no apparent reason other than, Why not?”

Needless to say, celebrities are masters in the art of plandid taking — especially the bikini-clad variety. Emily Ratajkowski and Ashley Graham could easily teach a course on posing, framing and technique (self-timer setting, etc.). But they’re busy.

Never mind them. In order to help you with your own not-so-impromptu photoshoots, we’ve rounded up the best celebrity bikini Instagrams of Summer 2017 (so far). Use them for inspiration…or just admire their artistry (and subjects). The choice is yours.

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With summer fast approaching (after all, Memorial Day Weekend is just over a week away), you’re probably already planning what you’ll be sporting to the beach or pool. Will you embrace the reemergence of the one-piece, opt for your trusty string bikini or take in the rays in a more conservative tankini? While you’re weighing this very important decision, have you ever wondered what our foresisters wore when they wanted to take a dip?

We freely admit that the thought has crossed our minds quite frequently, so we decided to track down the swimsuit styles that were popular back in the day. Think the bikini only turned heads in the 60s? Nope. Do you believe cut-outs, see-through pieces and belt bags are fresh trends? Wrong again. Want to know more? Just dive into our roundup of the top swimsuits that made waves the year you were born.

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It’s hard to believe, but many of the stunning women gracing covers today — think Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell — actually became iconic DECADES ago. And we’re not just talking one or two. In fact, while modeling is considered a fleeting career, most of the iconic models from the year you were born had careers that lasted well past their teenage years and early 20s. A select few even used their modeling fame as a stepping stone to build lifestyle empires (think Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum).

Who’s next? Our money is on Taylor Hill, Sara Sampaio, Martha Hunt and Romee Strijd. In the meantime, here’s a blast from the past with our look at the iconic models from the year you were born.

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Just when you thought fashion had finally found a way to expose every crevice of your body, a new trend has emerged. Take a backseat sideboob, underboob has arrived. Leaving things to the imagination is a thing of the past. There are simply too many sexy ladies in Hollywood to try and stand out with a ubiquitous midriff-baring crop top or an up-to-there leg slit a la Angelina Jolie. No, you’re going to need to do better than that if you want shock appeal. You’re going to need an undersized top that resembles something closer to perhaps what your 5-year-old niece might slip into. Above, proof that celebrity underboob is the new cleavage.

[ Next: Famous Flashers: 58 Nearly Naked Red Carpet Looks ]

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