A Brief History of False Eyelashes
Get to Know More about Eyelashes
Eyelashes grows at the edge of the eyelids. They protect the eyes from debris, dust and small particles.
The life span of an eyelash can vary from 3 months to 5 months. Natural eyelashes do not grow beyond a certain length, and fall off by themselves without any need for trimming. It takes about eight to ten weeks for the eyelashes to grow back to the original length if they are pulled out.
Long, full and curly eyelashes make the eyes look amazing. Beautiful eyes help a lot in making a good impression. It’s no wonder that throughout history, beautiful eyelashes have been so attractive to women who want to enhance the beauty of their eyes.
The History of False Eyelashes
In 1911, Canadian woman Anna Taylor filed the first patent for artificial lashes, which were strips made of fabric material with tiny hairs attached to it. But there was no widespread use back then.
In 1916, during the filming of Intolerance, director D.W. Griffith had the film’s wigmaker create a set of long false lashes by human hair and gauze and glue them onto Actress Seena Owen’s eyelids. The first strip false eyelashes were born. False eyelashes were loved by actresses in 1920s.
The first eyelash curler invented by William Beldue in 1923 contributed to the popularity of false eyelashes. The curlers allow the false eyelashes to be aligned with the natural eyelashes, making them look more realistic.
By the 1930s, false eyelashes were in reasonably common usage and came in a variety of lengths and colors.
With the help of Hollywood, enhanced eyelashes gained more popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. It’s in the 1950s when synthetic eyelashes were introduced to the market with lower price.
In 1960s, big doll-like eyes was very common for eye makeup. Women would pile on 2 or 3 pairs of eyelashes layered on top of each other to get the thickest looking lashes possible. 20 million pairs of false lashes were being old a year during the 60’s.
However, in the 1970s, the heat of false eyelashes has cooled down as natural trends came along. People preferred “natural” look of makeup in this decade.
In the 1980s, things like blush and dark lipstick were more popular than massive lashes.
Minimalist makeup is the popular aesthetic idea in the 1990s. It seemed not that fashionable to put on massive false eyelashes. However, false eyelashes had never made a full return.
In the early 2000s, modern semi-permanent lash extensions were first developed in Korea. In 2001, Jennifer Lopez showed up at the Academy Awards wearing fake eyelashes made of red fox fur. After that, more and more celebrity wore false eyelashes to make the glamorous look.
False eyelashes have roared back to the mainstream. Although lash strips were still commonly used and loved, eyelash extensions are becoming more and more popular with women of all ages because of their low-maintenance benefits, more natural appearance, and higher level of customization. Nowadays wearing eyelash extensions has become a fashion trend for lash lovers.
