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the conscious blog

WEDDING LASHES 101: INDIVIDUAL VS STRIP LASHES | PORTLAND WEDDING MAKEUP ARTIST

Makeup Artistry, Wedding Beauty Team, Wedding Inspiration

The Art of Creating Your Perfect Wedding Day Eyes

When you sit in our makeup chairs at Kelli Thomsen Beauty, we aim to bring out that sparkle in your eyes. Our goal is to enhance them so they pop open, making you feel youthful and vibrant. Part of that includes creating your ideal wedding lashes.

WHY CUSTOMIZING YOUR LASH LINE MATTERS

Customizing the lash line is important if we want the makeup look to enhance your natural eye shape. It allows me to create volume or length where your natural lashes are sparse or in their growth stage, which gives you an individual aesthetic that’s completely yours.

THE INDIVIDUAL LASH ADVANTAGE

Strip lashes can tend to lean toward looking more cookie-cutter. Here’s the thing: with the amount of tears, humidity, and action that can happen during a wedding day, I prefer individual lashes. You won’t deal with lifting edges or someone accidentally bumping the entire lash off when going in for a hug or while dancing.

Your peace of mind on the wedding day is my goal!

So why would a makeup artist choose a strip over building individual lashes? There really shouldn’t be a reason, unless you hand us a pair that you wear and won’t feel like yourself without them!

MY PROFESSIONAL LASH APPLICATION SYSTEM

I use a carefully curated selection of individual lashes including Eyemimo individual lashes and the coveted Sonia Roselli drop lashes (a cult favorite that’s no longer in production, but I’ve stocked up because they’re that good). Paired with CAT eyelash glue, this combination delivers exceptional results for wedding day wear.

These individual lashes offer incredible versatility, allowing me to customize length, volume, and placement for your unique eye shape. The CAT eyelash glue provides a secure, comfortable hold that lasts through tears, dancing, and all the emotion of your celebration, without irritation or heaviness.

WHY YOUR EYES DESERVE EXTRA ATTENTION

The most important thing is that you feel like yourself and not some version that isn’t authentic. Eyes are one of the most doted over areas of the face. When it comes to our partners, they look into our eyes to speak, to be seen, and to be heard. I understand how important it is to take the time to build the lash area up naturally. You’ll feel like your overall natural lashes are elevated and defined at the same time.

THE PROBLEM WITH STRIP LASHES

What many strip lashes do is close the eyes in. They can be heavy from the band that the fibers are resting along. Strip lashes also require more glue, which can tamper with the look and cause eye irritation. I try to steer clear of anything that takes away from the quality of my work and your experience. We pride ourselves on taking the extra time to custom build the lash line with professional-grade individual lashes so you and your wedding party look and feel your best.

CARING FOR YOUR NATURAL LASHES: THE GENTLE APPROACH

Here’s something most people don’t realize: how you remove your makeup is just as important as how you apply it. Tugging, rubbing, and harsh removal methods damage your natural lashes over time, leading to breakage, thinning, and loss of those precious lash follicles.

THE RIGHT WAY TO REMOVE MAKEUP & LASHES

Never tug or pull at your lash line. Instead, use the oil cleansing method to gently dissolve makeup, mascara, and lash adhesive without any friction or stress on your delicate eye area.

My go-to recommendation? Living Libations Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever oil cleanser. This organic, botanical oil blend gently breaks down all makeup, including waterproof formulas and lash adhesive, while nourishing the delicate skin around your eyes and conditioning your natural lashes.

How to properly remove eye makeup and lashes:

Apply a generous amount of Living Libations Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever to dry skin around your eyes. Gently massage in circular motions, allowing the oil to dissolve makeup and soften lash adhesive. Let it sit for 30-60 seconds. The oil will break down everything naturally. Use a soft, damp cloth or cotton pad to gently wipe away, never tugging or pulling. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

This method protects your natural lashes, prevents premature aging around the eye area, keeps lash follicles healthy, and removes all traces of makeup without irritation.

WHY OIL CLEANSING IS ESSENTIAL FOR LASH HEALTH

Oil attracts oil. This is the fundamental principle that makes oil cleansing so effective. The Living Libations Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever naturally dissolves oil-based makeup, mascara, and lash glue without stripping your skin or damaging your lashes. Plus, it’s packed with skin-nourishing ingredients that actually improve the health of your lash line over time.

Regular use of gentle oil cleansing helps maintain strong, healthy natural lashes, prevents lash breakage from harsh removal, keeps the delicate eye area hydrated and youthful, and prepares your skin for optimal product absorption.

Shop Living Libations Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever

NO LASH APPLICATION? NO PROBLEM

What if you absolutely do not want to wear anything on your natural lashes that needs to be glued on? I have a few methods to give your natural lashes a boost, plus the best water-resistant, clean mascara that stays, lifts, builds, and enhances without the added individual or strip lash fuss.

CLEAN MASCARA OPTIONS FOR YOUR WEDDING DAY

For clients who prefer to skip lash application entirely, I use professional-grade, water-resistant clean mascaras that deliver incredible results. These formulas lift, build, and enhance your natural lashes while staying put through tears, humidity, and hours of celebration. No irritating ingredients, no flaking, just beautiful, defined lashes that look authentically you.

LASH LIFT & TINT: ANOTHER NATURAL OPTION

Consider scheduling a lash lift and tint 1-2 weeks before your wedding. This semi-permanent treatment curls your natural lashes from the root and adds subtle definition, giving you that wide-eyed look without any daily application needed. It’s perfect for couples who want to wake up on their wedding day with effortlessly beautiful lashes.

BUILDING HEALTHY LASHES FOR YOUR WEDDING & BEYOND

Your wedding day is one celebration, but your lash health is forever. Start using gentle oil cleansing with Living Libations Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever at least 3-6 months before your wedding. This gives your natural lashes time to recover from any previous damage, strengthens the lash follicles, and creates the healthiest possible foundation for your wedding day lash application.

Think of it as part of your overall wedding beauty preparation, right alongside your customized facial peel series and personalized skincare regimen. Healthy lashes mean better retention of individual lash application, more dramatic natural lashes if you skip application altogether, and beautiful, youthful eyes in all your wedding photos.

YOUR COMPLETE PORTLAND WEDDING BEAUTY EXPERIENCE

At Kelli Thomsen Beauty, we customize every aspect of your wedding day look, from customized facial peel series and personalized skincare to individual lash application with professional-grade products and clean beauty makeup. Your comfort, authenticity, and radiance are always our priority.

Ready to discuss your perfect wedding day look? Let’s create something beautiful together.

Kelli Thomsen Beauty | Portland, Oregon On-location hair styling & clean beauty makeup artistry Serving couples throughout Oregon & beyond

#PortlandWedding #WeddingMakeup #WeddingLashes #PDXWedding #PortlandBeauty #CleanBeauty #WeddingEyes #PNWWedding #OregonWedding


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4751 SW Seymour Ct. Portland, OR 97221
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This is for the person who’s been scrolling weddin This is for the person who’s been scrolling wedding beauty with a quiet knot in your stomach.

The one who doesn’t wear much day to day and can’t picture themselves in a full face of heavy makeup. 

The one whose partner says “you’re beautiful without makeup” and means it. 

The one who wants to feel something special on that day without losing themselves in the process.

I see you. 
You’re not being difficult. 
You know what matters to you.

I’ve done over 500+ weddings and the most powerful moment is never the dramatic transformation, it’s the person who looks in the mirror and their eyes fill because they look like themselves, elevated. 

More luminous. 
More present. 
The version of themselves they feel on their best days, made visible.

That’s what intentional, botanical beauty means in practice. I read your skin before I touch it. I use formulas that work with your biology, not over it. I enhance instead of transform.

I’ve spent 28 years, from clinical esthetic training to eastern practices at Shiseido to evaluating 20+ professional product lines, learning how to do exactly that.

You don’t need to arrive knowing what you want. You need someone who knows how to see you. This is what we do - each artist on the team is here to help bring out your innate radiance. 

✨ Now Booking 2027 | Link in Bio ✨

#naturalbeauty #pnwwedding #botanicalbeauty #cleanbeauty #weddingmakeup
This is your reminder to be yourself in a world th This is your reminder to be yourself in a world that demands we distract ourselves with what "we should be"!

throw away the matching dresses
throw away the getting ready robes that match
throw away the presentation 
throw away others advice
throw away any noise around others traditions

It's the year of the fire horse - BE YOURSELF!

planning + design: @hostedby.co
florals: @novella_floral
photo: @elissadeline
venue: @rockyhillevents
rentals: @ardeneventcollective
beauty: @kellithomsen
bar: @bliss_bar
catering: @thehivecateringco
dessert: @milkglassmrkt / @laurettajeans
draping: @runestoneevents
photobooth: @stumptownbooth
dj: @rockyvertone
transportation: @columbiawinetours 

#firehorse #ChineseNewYear #OregonWedding #WeddingBeauty #PortlandMakeupArtist
The Year of the Fire Horse happens every 60 years! The Year of the Fire Horse happens every 60 years! Liz and Ashton's wedding at @theorchard.hr was fire meeting intention, capturing the energy of this exact spirit.

Bold beauty, rooted tradition, a dance led by the team at (@whitelotusliondance) that brought the entire room to life. The kind of celebration that reminds you what it looks like when culture, love, and beauty are honored with real care.

This is what I have been speaking to over the past few weeks - fire doesn't have to scatter. It can be directed. It can be precise. It can hold tradition and power in the same breath.

25 years of doing this work and being able to share in moments like these still stop me in my tracks. Not because they're perfect. Because they're intentional. Because every detail was chosen, not defaulted to.

That's the energy I want for all of us this year. Not more. Not louder. Not faster. Directed. Regulated. Rooted. On fire in the way that lights a room instead of burning it down.

Happy Lunar New Year 🔥 #ChineseNewYear #FireHorse #RegulatedandRadiant #WeddingBeauty #OregonWedding

Bride & Groom: @lizkmoss + @ashtonmoss13
Venue: @theorchard.hr
Planning + Design: @gatherevents @ambervotel
Photography: @emilywoodruffphoto
Floral: @colibripdx
Beauty: @kellithomsen
Catering: @celilocatering
DJ: @djcaseykay
Dessert: @edeske_patisserie
Entertainment: @whitelotusliondance
Rentals: @ardeneventcollective
Gown: @saintbridal
2025 was full of flashy 12 step skin care routines 2025 was full of flashy 12 step skin care routines! Here’s what no one tells you about these rituals: not only can they wreak havoc on your microbiome, but they have to flex with your life or you’ll abandon them completely.

After 25+ years of working with real people through real life - weddings, grief, moves, breakups, illnesses - I know that rigid doesn’t work. What does work? Learning what your skin is actually telling you. Dryness isn’t always about hydration. Breakouts aren’t always about oil. Redness isn’t always about sensitivity. Your skin speaks a very specific language, and once you understand it, everything changes.

That’s where modalities like LED light become powerful - not as a daily must-do, but as a strategic tool that serves your skin’s current needs. Different wavelengths address different concerns, and together we can customize your treatments to work with your life, not against it.

Consistency at home + strategic in-studio support = your healthiest skin. Let’s make 2026 about intentional, true to YOU steps with #cleanbeauty ingredients that support your optimal health.
To our future couples: We don’t transform. We elev To our future couples: We don’t transform. We elevate. We reveal. We honor what’s already beautiful in you. The moment I live for is when a bride looks in the mirror during her design session and says ‘I look like me - elevated’ - with relief in her voice.

Somewhere along the way, we were conditioned to think that wedding beauty means looking different. More done. More trend-forward. More… something.

But the people I work with? They’re the ones who want to look at their wedding photos in 30 years and recognize themselves naturally beautiful.

Radiant. Vibrant. Timeless.

Not 2025. Not Instagram. Not anyone else.

They want to see all their natural beauty brought forward, enhanced, celebrated. That’s the kind of beauty that doesn’t need updating. It’s never about covering or fixing. It’s always about being fully honored, magnified and cared for. 

photography @hollyhursleyphoto
planning @hostedby.co
floral @wildflower_portland 
ceremony venue @csrgpdx
reception venue catering: huntandgathercatering
DJ @dillonbartellmusic
beauty @kellithomsen 
rentals @powerofloverentals
paper goods & signage @kellielynnthayer transportation @shanghaipartybus
ceremony entertainment correabrandonpaul @salemstringquartet 
ceremony bartending @bliss_bar 
rings @malkadiamonds

#cleanbeauty #oregonwedding #weddingbeauty #portlandmakeupartist #weddingmakeup
I got this email from a colleague that completely I got this email from a colleague that completely stopped me in my tracks. It’s exactly what I’ve been feeling as we head into 2026. She asked: “What’s the dream you keep pushing to the side because it feels too big?” I felt that in my whole body.

Here’s what I know after 25+ years in this industry: I see it all the time - you want glowing skin, so you panic and buy seven new products at once, get overwhelmed, and then do nothing. Or you want to finally learn makeup that actually works for your face, but the idea of figuring it all out feels impossible, so you don’t start.

But that’s not how your healthiest skin gets revealed. Real change starts small. Not with the perfect 10-step routine. Not with buying out Sephora. It starts with switching ONE product to something clean. Learning ONE technique that actually flatters your features. Booking ONE skincare session. Creating ONE morning ritual that actually feels good.

One block. Then another. Then another.
And suddenly six months later you look up and realize - holy shit, my skin actually glows now. I know how to do my makeup. This actually works. I can breathe. That’s how I built my small business. That’s how I created my lifestyle and sanctuary. That’s how nervous systems regulate and your healthiest skin reveals itself. 

What’s your one small action for the next 7 days? Maybe it’s:
-Tossing one toxic product and replacing it with something botanical
-Booking that makeup lesson you’ve been putting off
-Actually using that face oil sitting on your shelf
-Spending 60 seconds on a face massage instead of doom-scrolling
-Finally trying that technique I showed you in your last session
Just one thing. That’s your first block.
And if you’re thinking “I don’t even know where to start,” I’ve got something coming that’ll help.

2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, known for unstoppable momentum, fierce independence, and breaking convention. I’m absolutely channeling that energy into what’s coming and I have a surprise coming the week leading up to Chinese New Year (February 12-17)! STAY TUNED. Happy New Year 🎆

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    4751 SW Seymour Ct.
    PORTLAND, OREGON 97221
    503.890.5355
    KELLI@KELLITHOMSEN.COM


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