HAUS DIGITAL

The Lash and the Curious

Here come the girls… whether it’s the summer party season or the Christmas party season with every year comes a need for those pesky advertisers to remind us that however good and sufficient we feel about ourselves there may always be room for improvement. A product to leave us better prepared for the holidays or to impress with a brand new gradual tan in the absence of a decent getaway. It seems that striving for the effortless body beautiful is becoming more commonplace in the 21st Century and that a helping hand from various lotions and bottles is perfectly acceptable if not encouraged.

I have no problems with that, I don’t race out to the nearest salon at the sight of dark roots peeping through my obvious bottle platinum blonde or feel the need to psychoanalyse anyone considering cosmetic surgery. In fact I think the obviously unnatural is quite possibly a look in itself these days, which may explain the recent surge of  false eyelashes on the cosmetics market.

A few years ago, if I was considering a retro sixties look for a night out I may have made that pit stop at the drug store to purchase some harmless looking falsies, only to regret my actions when my night out mostly centred around whether the darn things would stay on and dreading the slightly torturous task of taking them off at night without tearing half of my own eyelashes in the process.

I loved the look but was quick to find that false eyelashes were another one of those things I just couldn’t do, like hareem pants, shoulder pads or taking my make-up off before bed.

But recently, it seems that whether you’re going to a festival, sophisticated dinner party, whether you want to be punk or death metal there’s a false eyelash range to suit all social circles..well maybe not death metal… not yet anyway.

Like all things great, wonderful and more often than not weird, Hollywood gave us the false eyelash circa 1916 via a little known film director D.W Griffiths and his wish for his leading lady to have eyelashes that graced her cheeks whenever she blinked or looked down thoughtfully. Fast forward to the 1960′s and the exaggerated look was adopted by Twiggy and the mod movement, who were known for wearing more than one pair at a time (I’ve tried this and in my experience it’s double the effect but double the stress!).

Nowadays it’s not unusual to pick up a celebrity endorsed pair whilst shopping for jeans in River Island, offering a multitude of styles, structure, colour and size nearly as wide ranging as the denim section itself. And whilst another miracle working mascara appears to be launched every week, brand advertisers still rely on lash inserts or enhancement in post production to market their claims, doing little to contest that if you want the effect to be false lash..then you’re going to have to do just that, fake it.

So is it worth the hassle? And is it even that much hassle in the first place? Among the many brands I have road tested it’s fair to say these companies are making it easier for us. The quality is improving, the lashes reusable, the glues are more resistant, waterproof, some transparent and easier to apply, making long and extended lashes more accessible to all consumer markets than ever before.

Providing an easy instant way to dramatically enhance or change your look is a powerful tool to have in your make-up bag, and where as eyelash connoisseur Marlene Dietrich would mock Greta Garbo’s enhanced “brooms” the elitism of natural beauty is not as coveted these days.

Not just associated with Dusty, Liza and Studio 54′s pretty young things, and no longer confined to 80′s hard glam and top shelves, the false eyelash can both indulge our vanity or appeal to our playful side. And much like what hair straighteners did for the naughties, may soon prove to become a modern day fashionable beauty essential.

Text: Amelie De Candolle