...
Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Long, thick eyelashes are a physical feature prized by many women. Whether you have naturally long eyelashes or short and sparse eyelashes, mascara is a cosmetic staple used by many women with different lash types. However, mascara is a beauty product that tends to be temperamental at times. Sometimes it dries out too quickly or becomes clumpy, and instead of complementing the lashes, it can make your eyelashes look messy and unappealing. When this happens, it is helpful to learn how to fix this common beauty dilemma.

Messy Morning Eyelashes

Wash your face. Apply makeup remover to a paper towel. Wipe the eye area with the paper towel. You will notice that sometimes your eyelashes may be the most messy when you wake up in the morning. This happens when you sleep the wrong way or when you press your face against the pillow.

Comb through eyelashes with your eyelash comb or the other end of the eyebrow brush. The moisture of the eye makeup remover and the comb work like hair gel on the eyelashes and helps to smooth out the hairs. This should make the eyelashes more uniform and tame the unruly ones.

Curl the eyelashes with an eyelash curler. Coat the eyelashes with mascara. Allow the first coat to dry, before applying a second coat. Take the eyelash comb and comb through the eyelashes to separate them.

Dried Out or Clumpy Mascara

Wipe down the mascara applicator with a paper towel. This helps to wipe off excess mascara. Applying mascara that is either too thick, or dried out -- or a combination of both of these factors -- can lead to clumpy and unappealing eyelashes.

Apply a drop of eye makeup remover to your eyelash comb and comb through the eyelashes until they begin to separate. Grab a paper towel and place it in between the top and bottom lashes, and blot the eyelashes. Remove the excess eye makeup remover from the eyes with the paper towel.

Rinse the eyelash comb with antibacterial soap and water.

Reapply your favorite mascara, one coat at a time on each eye. Use the eyelash brush to comb through the eyelashes after one coat. ABC news.com suggests rinsing off the comb after combing through the eyelashes -- after you apply one coat of mascara.

Tip

Women’s Day Magazine suggests using a paper towel as opposed to a tissue when wiping excess mascara off the mascara applicator because tissue contains tiny fibers that can make their way into your eye and cause irritation.

Resist using your fingers to remove excess mascara. Your fingers have germs and bacteria on them, which can make their way onto your eyelashes and into your eye -- causing you to have eye irritation and possibly pink eye.

Use eye makeup remover to remove mascara when eyelashes fail to separate with an eyelash comb and eye makeup remover. Reapply your eye makeup and start over. Sometimes this is the only way to fix messy eyelashes when there is too much mascara on your eyelashes.

Find mascara that has a mascara applicator that has plenty of space in between the bristles. Very plush bristles on a mascara applicator tend to accumulate more mascara within these bristles, which can make your eyelashes look clumpy.