I try my best to have a hair and makeup artist on set but sometimes the shoot doesn’t have a budget for it. Here’s how Photoshop can help fill the gap and add realistic eyelashes in about 5 minutes.

Download and Install Eyelash Brushes

There are many online resources that offer eyelash brushes. A simple Google search–Eyelash Brush Photoshop–will return several great sites. I download the brushes from Obsidian Dawn’s website and paid a small $3.00 fee for commercial use.

After downloading the brushes, double clicking on the brush name with the file extension.abr will install the brush in Photoshop. Alternatively, you can also install the Brushes by selecting Load Brushes from inside the Brush Palette.  

Creating Layers, Applying Eyelashes and using the Warp tool

Step 1: Add a blank layer and name the layer Left Eyelash.

Step 2: Select the brush tool from the tools palette–keyboard shortcut B– and click on the drop-down menu to see the brush palette. Chose an eyelash brush from the set we installed. Resize the brush using the keyboard shortcut left or right bracket key [ ] to match the eye. Position the eyelash brush over the left eye and click once to apply the eyelash.

Step 3: To make the eyelash look realistic, select Free Transform from the Edit menu. Transform the eyelash by dragging the corner handles. To fine-tune the transformation, right click inside the Free Transform box and select Warp. Move the handles into place to make the eyelash warp into shape. Press the enter key to apply the transformation. Lower the opacity to around 80% to complete the effect.

Step 4: Duplicate the Left eyelash layer using keyboard shortcut [WIN] Ctrl + J | [MAC] Cmd + J and name the new layer Right Eyelash.

 

Step 5: Flip the eyelash by selecting Transform from the Edit menu and choose Flip Horizontal. Move the Right Eyelash over the right eye using the same resizing technique we applied on the left eye.

Creating the Bottom Eyelashes and Adding Eyeliner

Step 6: Create a blank layer and name it Left Bottom Eyelash. Choose a bottom eyelash brush and transform it into shape. Lower the opacity to around 50% so the bottom eyelash doesn’t take away from the top eyelash. Repeat for the Right Eye.

Step 7: Create a new layer and name it Eyeliner. Using a small soft edge brush trace the lower eyelid. Change the opacity to around 25% and move the layer underneath both Bottom Eyelash layers to make the eyeliner blend in.

In a short 5 minutes we were able to add realistic eyelashes to our image.