Collaborative Post
If you’ve been reading our posts for a while, then you know the history of the cosmetics industry is something we’re truly fascinated by, and we hope you are too!
Today, we’ll be looking at the history of false eyelashes, focusing on where it all began, how it stands today, and where it might go in the future.
So, if you want to learn everything there is to know about false eyelashes in a whistlestop tour of their history, then you’re in the right place!
False eyelashes in ancient times
Our love affair with longer lashes has been happening for thousands of years.
In Ancient Egypt, both men and women used kohl to darken their eyelashes and elongate them to protect their eyes from the scorching desert sun. They also used ointments as another protective barrier. These early examples of ‘false eyelashes’ began out of necessity, but elsewhere in the world they were being used purely for cosmetic reasons.
For example, in Ancient Rome, they believed that women with longer and fuller lashes had more virtue. It was actually Pliny the Elder, an infamous author and philosopher in the early Roman Empire, that claimed longer eyelashes were not just a sign of youth, but actually a sign of a woman’s chastity. He wrote that women’s eyelashes fell out because of excessive sex, so women with shorter lashes did all they could to elongate them to convince potential partners of their chastity and virtues.
Whilst Pliny the Elder was wrong about the whole excessive sex thing, he was actually right that eyelashes fell out more as we age.
The women in Ancient Rome used similar methods to those in Ancient Egypt to help elongate their lashes and create fuller looking eyelashes to show their youth and virtuous nature. But as you can see, this was done for cosmetic reasons, not practical ones, so already as early as Ancient Rome, we see examples of women using ‘false eyelashes’ to help them look a certain way.
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
The first cosmetic ‘false eyelashes’
The first cosmetic ‘false eyelashes’ was actually a sort of mascara, though not made of the same ingredients that we make our mascaras out of today. Queen Victoria of England’s perfumer, Eugene Rimmel, actually created it in the Victorian era. Does that name sound familiar? That’s right, the cosmetic brand Rimmel gets their name from the first creator of a mascara-like substance, Eugene Rimmel.
Whilst this early example wouldn’t fall under the category ‘false eyelashes’ today, they were certainly seen as false eyelashes at the time, with women using Rimmel’s mascara-like product to extend their eyelashes to give them a more beautiful, youthful look.
Rimmel’s invention became so popular that by the time he died in 1890, Rimmel was the term used to describe mascara in dictionaries across the globe! So you can already tell that women are becoming increasingly interested in the effect that longer, fuller lashes can have on their appearance all over the world.
False lashes as we know them today
If you want to know where false eyelashes as we know them today started, it was actually in 1911. A Canadian inventor by the name of Anna Taylor secured the U.S. patent for ‘artificial eyelashes’ that year. These early artificial eyelashes are not too dissimilar to the false eyelashes we know and love today, and the purpose of them was much the same.
Women could use these false eyelashes on top of their own to create fuller looks that extended their eyelashes for a more striking result. Although the patent was secured on June 6th, 1911, artificial eyelashes weren’t available to the masses until 1916, after actress Seena Owen wore them in the silent movie ‘Intolerance’ to accentuate her eyelashes. Soon the trend caught on, and the false eyelash industry has been booming ever since.
Big players in the false eyelashes market
In 2021, false eyelashes are still big business, and here are the biggest players across the world:
- MAC
- Ardell
- Eylure
- Kiss
- House of Lashes
- Velour Lashes
- AZLO Lashes
- Doe Lashes
- Crave Lashes
- Omo Lashes
All of these are big eyelash manufacturers that are available in most countries worldwide!
The future of the false eyelashes industry
The future of the false eyelashes industry is a bright one. More and more people reach for false eyelashes in everyday life, not just for special occasions, as was the norm a few years ago. False eyelash companies are also getting better at creating false eyelashes for every type of eyelash, so we can expect to see continued improvements in that area until one day we may have specific false eyelashes for specific groups of people. This tailored approach will result in more people using false lashes, and more natural looking false eyelashes for all! Pretty cool, right?
Final Thoughts
False eyelashes aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so if you’ve yet to embrace this trend, then be prepared for it to become even more popular in the years ahead. Even now, the K Beauty industry is focusing on creating false eyelashes specifically suited to Asian eyes in Korea, which will, of course, benefit everyone. Whether you wear them or not, false eyelashes will be something you see more and more as people use them to enhance their eyelashes to complete their looks in the future. And as a fashion and makeup based blog, we can’t wait for it!