What It's Like to Wear Fake Eyelashes Every Single Day
Photo: Getty Images
I’m laying on a slightly shoddy massage table with my eyes taped shut as a woman hovers above me tweezers at the ready about a millimeter from my eye.
Why am I doing this? It’s all in the name of eyelashes- big, beautiful, long eyelashes.
I’ve always been a mascara addict, stocking my beauty drawer with between 15-20 brands and varieties at all times and keeping a backlog of my favorite Dior lengthener. Before heading out the door I spend a good five minutes layering on mascara alone.
Then came eyelash extensions, my bi-monthly treat-yo-self activity. There’s just something so beautiful about the perfect lash line, which is what extensions give me for a small chunk of change and an hour of having my eyes taped shut–a small price to pay in my opinion.
Getting eyelash extensions is a painless, if not slightly awkward and high maintenance experience. Each lash is individually applied with semi-permanent glue to your natural eyelashes, matching and accentuating the shape of your eyes and requiring a fill in every three weeks.
The best thing about it? You can create a style all your own, wether you want a natural look, or you want to channel Beyoncé–which is definitely the case for me.
A few thoughts that went through my mind in the first appointment:
My eyes are taped shut!
Breathe, Lauren, pretend this is a nap.
Someone better start playing music immediately. I’m going stir crazy here!
Is this glue really safe near my eyeballs?
I absolutely should have peed before this appointment.
Oh boy, I’m really getting super antsy.
How awkward would it be if I peed my pants on this table?
Okay, seriously, how long does this take?
He’s slowing down–we must be close! I wonder how they look.
My lashes have NEVER LOOKED BETTER! I LOVE THEM! I LOVE THIS MAN!
After staring at myself in the mirror for about 10 minutes I trotted out of the salon slightly skeptical about what people would say, but not even five minutes had passed after the appointment when I received my first compliment. Each person I encountered close up was amazed at how long my lashes were–and had no idea that they were fake unless I told them (many blessings upon the eyelash technician who talked me into going natural at first).
My date that night even commented on them–observant man, right? He got a second date.
Just like that, I was hooked and I’ve been getting my bi-monthly fill-ins ever since. Yes, it is a “vain” expenditure, but I couldn’t care about the haters less. Every day I wake up with a full lash line and prance my way out the door to work in record time. There’s no need for a lengthy makeup routine because my eyes look bright and open automatically. A swipe of BB creme and some lipstick is all I need to be work-ready, and quick swipe of eyeliner and my date night look is complete as well. It’s perfect.
So far I have only experienced one minor bump in the eyelash road, or shall I say lash line. The bump is that your lashes must stay dry for 48 hours after the appointment–a little difficult for a hot yoga enthusiast like myself. I choose to overcome it by going the morning of my appointment and then directly after the 48-hour time period has passed–smooth sailing.
If you can manage the 48-hour dry period–and if I can you can–you will wake up looking #flawless for the next three to four weeks. Then you can tell everyone around you that you #wokeuplikethis.
