Since humans first graced the Earth, the way we look has always been important to us. Though using products to enhance our appearance is nothing new, the way we wear our eyelashes has remarkably changed over the centuries. From Ancient Rome, to the modern day and beyond, we dig into the archives to uncover the weird and wonderful world of eyelash styles through the ages.
We start in Ancient Rome where eyelashes were often long, curly and thick to portray a sense of greatness brought over by the East. This stemmed from Plinius the Elder who wrote that eyelashes often fell out during sex, so long eyelashes were said to prove a woman's morals and chastity. Kohl and saffron were used to darken and maintain this look. This is the first known artist impression of how these eyelashes looked.
It was first reported in the early 1880's that Parisian's began sewing real hair into their eyelids to create the impression of a longer eyelash. This was also seen in Scotland around 1899.
In 1902, a patent was confirmed by inventor and stylist Karl Nessler that permitted him to weave artificial eyelashes and eyebrows in the United Kingdom. By 1903, he was selling artificial lashes from his London-based Salon. In 1916, Director D.W. Griffith brought false eyelashes to hollywood (and, inadvertently, to the masses) when he used human hair woven through a fine gauze material to create the illusion of long eyelashes. These were then worn by actress Seena Owen in the movie Intolerance.
By 1921, it wasn't a surprise that false eyelashes had become popular with actresses. By the 1930's, the creation of the curler and improved techniques increased false eyelash popularity amongst the masses. The 1940's saw more ambitious designs such as flares and cluster lashes replace the traditional fringe base and were used to add thickness to the eyelash.
Jump into the 1950's and make up was all about emphasising the eyes. Twiggly looking eyelashes became a thing and it was common to paint cat eyes on the upper lash line and fan out the eyelashes to match it.
In 1960, we started to see colour play a bigger role. A more dramatic eyelash began to make an appearance and we started to see more attention given to the lower lashes, although this started to decline in the late '70's and early 80's.
With Madonna proving a hit in the late 80's and early 90's, fan-like eyelashes became all the rage, with colour once again making an appearance. The late nineties saw a resurgance in false eyelashes for the 50's-style/retro look as worn by celebrities such as Anne Nicole Smith, Pamela Anderson and Cindy Crawford.
By the 21st century, advanced engineering in Japan and Korea had permitted more sophisticated eyelash extension methods which became widespread in 2004. Modern lash extensions now come in a variety of colours, styles and materials including human hair, synthetic silk, polyester and more.
Have we already seen the next stage in the eyelash evolution? The number of searches for LED lashes increased 5800% between December 2016 and December 2018, and these lightup eyelashes show a glimmer of what we could be wearing in the near future.
Hover over the image to zoom in on the eyelash style
The Eyelash Archives have been brought to you by Flawless Lashes. All research has been brought to you from the following sources:
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