FALSE eyelashes are a beauty trend with a long and unique history.
The cosmetic enhancement product became mainstream in the 1950s after being popularized by celebrities.
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Why were false eyelashes invented?
Modern false eyelashes are synthetic lashes that attach just above natural lashes on the eyelid. The products are used to create a fuller and more dramatic look.
The invention of the beauty trend dates back to the Ancient Romans. Roman author Gaius Plinius Secundus, who went by the name Pliny the Elder, infamously linked shortened eyelashes to a female’s virtue.
Pliny the Elder falsely claimed that “excessive sex” would cause a woman’s eyelashes to fall out, noting that it was “especially important for women to keep their eyelashes long to prove their chastity," as reported by Racked.
The introduction of fake eyelashes was in direct contrast to the 1400s when the Church decreed that eyelashes and revealed hair of any kind were considered too “erotic.” In response, some women would pluck their eyelashes out.
The trend eventually went out of fashion, but in 1899, there were records that women had false eyelashes implanted in their eyelids with needles.
Those who didn't want to take the needle route tried transplanting human hair by gluing it to their eyelids.
The process was described in a July 6, 1899, article by The Dundee Courier which read: "An ordinary fine needle is threaded with a long hair, generally taken from the head of the person to be operated upon."
After cleaning the eye area with a cocaine solution the process would continue with the operator running a needle "through the extreme edges of the eyelid between the epidermis and the lower border of the cartilage of the tragus.
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"The needle passes in and out along the edge of the lid leaving its hair thread in loops of carefully graduated length."
False eyelashes were marketed in the article as a means for women to enhance their beauty.
"Of the new process," the article read, "it is said, eyes which are at ordinary times only passable be- come languishing in their expression, while eyes which were previously considered fine have their beauty much enhanced."
When were false eyelashes patented?
In the early 20th century, false eyelashes were marketed to chorus girls as a guard against the glare of electric lights and slowly came back into fashion.
However, it was celebrities who popularized false lashes as a fashion statement - largely thanks to actress Seena Owen's lashes in the 1916 Hollywood film Intolerance.
American filmmaker David Wark Griffith realized while working on the film that fuller and thicker eyelashes would accentuate Owen's eyes.
Hoping to achieve a “supernatural” look, he ordered a wigmaker to glue eyelashes made from human hair to Owen's eyelids using spirit gum.
“One morning she arrived at the studio with her eyes swollen nearly shut,” actress Lillian Gish, who was also in the movie, wrote in her memoir.
“Fortunately, Mr. Griffith had already shot the important scenes.”
Griffith has been credited with inventing false eyelashes, but The New York Times reported Canadian Anna Taylor patented the procedure in the US in 1911.
During the same time, a German hair stylist Karl Nessler, whose real name was Charles Nestle, created his own version of the false lashes which helped finance his salon in New York City.
He placed chorus girls at the entrance of the salon to bat their eyes and bring in customers.
One columnist warned men in 1921 to be cautious when a woman with enhanced features looked their way.
“When a fair young thing looks at you mistily through her long, curling lashes, do not fall for it until you investigate,” the columnist warned.
“The long, curling eyelashes may not be hers, except by right of purchase."
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How did false eyelashes become popularized?
Fuller eyelash lashes were fully embraced as a fashion accessory in the early 1950s when stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth worse fake eyelashes during photoshoots.
These lashes used a new material - instead of using hair, the lashes were made of plastic.
Monroe and Hayworth's incorporation of these fake lashes made their eyes look fuller and more eye-catching, creating a wave in popularity.
Although false eyelashes went out of style in the 1970s and 1980s, they resurfaced in the 1990s when celebrities likeAnna Nicole Smith,Pamela Anderson,and modelCindy Crawford began wearing them to public events.
False eyelashes have since become mainstream and sometimes exceedingly expensive.
The product is now sold in nearly every drugstore including CVS and Walgreens, beauty stores, and hair salons across the US, ranging in price from just over $1 at Walmart up to nearly $350 for professional eyelash extension services.
Modern eyelash extensions are tiny fibers resemblingreal eyelashes that are glued individually at the base of the hair along the lash line. Materials are made from synthetic fibers, like acrylic, real mink or sable fur, and silk.
Speaking to Today in July 2023, Dr. AshleyBrissette, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital, said it is important to rely on certified technicians or estheticians to complete these services.
“Make sure you’re going to a reputable place and the tools are cleaned properly," Brissette said.
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Brissette added that eyelash extensions should only be used on a temporary basis.
“My general consensus is that it’s safe to do for special occasions, but lash extensions shouldn’t be something you’re doing all the time or consistently reapplying with no breaks.”
