The Fascinating History of Fake Eyelashes

From ancient Rome to modern day glamour - learn about how fake lashes have evolved over time.

The Fascinating History of Fake Eyelashes

Eyelash extensions are cosmetic applications that improve the length, curl, fullness and thickness of natural eyelashes. The extensions can be made of various materials, including mink, silk, synthetic material, human or horse hair. In 1911, a Canadian woman named Anna Taylor first patented artificial eyelashes, using a cloth half moon implanted with small hairs. In 1915, Karl Nessler, a hairdresser known for his permanent waves, opened a hairdresser in New York and sold eyelash services, promoting false eyelashes in his salon as, according to the New York Times, “protection against the glare of electric lights”.

He also hired showgirls to sell them and beat up customers. Anna Taylor's invention included glued eyelashes, or lashes in strips, which were thought to be made of human hair. A few years later, German hairdresser Karl Nessler provided false eyelash services at his salon in New York. According to the New York Times, Nessler announced his services as “a guard against the glare of electric lights”.

False eyelashes were first patented in 1911 by a Canadian woman named Anna Taylor. The product was a strip of cloth implanted with small hairs, to make them look like eyelashes. Four years later, hairdresser Karl Nessler began selling eyelash services in his salon. He said they were “a guard against the glare of electric lights”.

When you think about false eyelashes, what kind of look comes to mind? Is it the modern aesthetic of the bad guys that sexy celebrities love as much as influential people? Is the explosive 90s look inspired by Pamela Anderson recently renewed? Maybe it goes back even further: icons from the 50s with agitated lashes like Sophia Loren, or even flappers in the (original) Roaring '20s. As with most beauty inventions, the story of false eyelashes, including the reason false eyelashes were invented, is a legitimately crazy story with experimentation, pseudoscience and application methods strange enough to give even lovers of goose bumps most bitter beauty. The road to our modern counterfeits may have been chaotic, but learning about it will make you even more grateful for the rows and rows of easy-to-use eyelashes that line the shelves of every pharmacy in the United States. Get ready: it's time to delve into the history of false eyelashes.

While eyelashes perform some biological function by acting as an early warning system if debris, dust or other foreign agents get too close to the important eyeball, their cultural meaning is purely aesthetic. While they're not inherently feminine (everyone knows people of all genders with long, wide eyelashes), they're considered a feminine trait, although it's not quite clear why. Some experts theorize that it has to do with the relationship between youth and what society considers standards of female beauty, while others speculate that long, dark eyelashes enhance the whites of the eyes to become a kind of indicator of health. However, the most accepted idea today is that long eyelashes simply make the eyes appear larger and in most cultures large eyes are among the most important factors of “female beauty” in general.

So it makes sense that the recorded use of false eyelashes dates back to the Roman Empire. Eyelash enhancements such as rudimentary mascara and even curling tools also have a long history in ancient and Ptolemaic Egypt but it was a Roman philosopher (the first influencers actually) who perpetuated the idea that eyelashes fall out with age and sexual promiscuity; all of a sudden it became very important: Romans should have the longest and most lush eyelashes possible thanks to botanical ingredients kohl and even minerals. Eyelash trends came and went over the years (in medieval times it was fashionable to tear them all out along with your eyebrows to show your forehead which was considered the sexiest part of the body long before BBL) especially with reports of the application of real eyelash extensions that appeared in late 19th century Paris: although its version requires needles to implant synthetic hair directly into the skin. Although that horrible stitching was being done in 1899 it wasn't long before a different interpretation of false eyelashes appeared and they look much more like modern false eyelashes.

The first patent for false eyelashes was issued in 1911 to a Canadian woman but five years later it was an American film director named D W Griffith who was looking for a more dramatic and exotic look for his protagonist. Although the false eyelashes made by the production's wig manufacturer were effective since they were made of human hair and chewing gum they were irritating and rough I can't imagine why Perhaps the most important change occurred when production materials were changed to plastic in the 1950s Synthetic fibers no different from today's most popular styles were easy to replicate and mass-produce which in turn made fake use more regular and widespread. Nowadays you can choose false eyelashes made of plastics and other synthetic materials as well as real animal hair such as mink They're considered essential to large-scale glamour for everyone from celebrities to teenagers on graduation night In the 1950s false eyelashes reappeared in the public eye when Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe began using false eyelashes on a daily basis It made us think and it turns out that false eyelashes have a long and rather tortured history that dates back to ancient Rome Owen suffered a bit of eye swelling from the stunt but that didn't stop the eyelash craze that would soon follow Just remember whether you decide to wear false eyelashes or not make sure you keep your lashes and eyelash line healthy.

Estelle Bungart
Estelle Bungart

General travel fanatic. Unapologetic beer lover. Lifelong web scholar. Total web ninja. Friendly introvert. Award-winning pop culture fanatic.