I bought magnetic eyelashes. Like a weirdo.
I stand before you, a clear lashed woman, who wants two simple things in life. To be able to do the splits (either direction) and to be able to have luxurious eyelashes. I know. It makes no sense. I don't even stretch on a regular basis. I'll never be able to do the splits.
But eyelashes? That one's doable. Magazine pages, CNN commentators, grocery store cashiers ... everyone has some sort of fake lash apparatus on now. You can't walk down the street without almost being knocked to the ground by someone's enormous set of eyelashes.
So I decided. I wanted to try wearing some kind of fake eyelashes. I have friends who have semi-permanent eyelashes that have to be touched up every few weeks. No. NO. I have enough to maintain in my life without having to maintain eyelashes. If anything's going to be maintained around here it's gonna be my roof.
Then I remembered hearing about magnetic eyelashes. I think it was Betty who told me about them. I did a bit of research and discovered that magnetic eyelashes are very expensive. About the same price as a new roof as a matter of fact. For 2 sets of One Two Lash (which is the original inventor of the magnetic eyelashes) the price is $69 American. Once you convert that, add in shipping and duty, the One Two Lashes were going to set me back over $100.
But I was doing this for science so it was worth it.
And yet, there were also cheaper options on Amazon. I could get a set of magnetic eyelashes from China for about the price of a few roofing shingles. $10.
So I ordered both and committed to an eyelash experiment for you. My blogging friends who might want to get into the eyelash market.
Before you get all worked up into a lather, I've done as much research as I could possibly do and have not found any harmful effects about having magnets around your eyes, let alone magnets the size of a grain of rice. So no, magnetic eyelashes aren't bad for your eyes.
The double set of magnetic eyelashes from One Two Lash came in a Chanel inspired box that makes that incredibly satisfying "click" sound when you close it.
The Chinese eyelashes came like this.
Like this. This is how they arrived. I felt like a Princess.
I went with trying the One Two Lashes first.
The premise behind magnetic lashes is you wear two sets of eyelashes on each eye. Each row of lashes has a small magnet in the centre of them. One sits on top of your real lashes and the other one sits below. Once they get near each other, the magnets click together.
I DIDN'T WEAR ANY MASCARA FOR THESE PHOTOS SO YOU COULD BETTER SEE THE FAKE LASHES.
You start by grabbing the top set of lashes and resting it on your own lashes.
You can see the magnet in the centre. The magnet is very, very thin.
You just rest it on there as close to your lash line as you can get it.
Then let it fall off. Repeat this sequence approximately 72 million times. Break to practice the splits then do it another 72 million times.
Finally you'll get the hang of resting the lashes on your own lashes. Then comes the hard part. Bringing the lower set of lashes up underneath until they click into the right place. "Right place" being the operative words here.
You will hate these eyelashes at this point. You will say they're stupid and it's impossible and you hate everyone and everything.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
Then you'll have a drink. An alcoholic one. And the process will start all over again over the next few days. Until one day, it'll happen. Just like riding a bike, all of a sudden you'll find your balance and all will be right with the world.
You will be SO thrilled that you finally figured out how to put these stupid things on that you will be willing to overlook some of their idiosyncrasies. At least for the first few minutes. Then you'll start to notice a few problems.
Like the fact that these eyelashes are completely straight for some reason. STRAIGHT. Eyeballs are not straight. They're curved.
I don't know why the makers decided straight was the way to go for eyelashes, but for some reason they did. The concept is genius, and these eyelashes are SO close to being brilliant but they're not.
They're also awfully glamorous for someone who just wants a bit of a lift. They're long and luxurious which is perfect for Dino's girlfriend Sassy, not so perfect for me.
ARE THE CHEAP MAGNETIC LASHES ANY GOOD?
Maybe I'd get lucky and I'd discover that the cheap, Chinese eyelashes were fantastic and I'd be able to recommend these $10 beauties to you.
The packaging was promising. Anything that looked this horrific to begin with surely had nowhere to go on the scale of 1-10 other than up.
I specifically ordered these lashes because they had 2 magnets on each lash which I saw as a bonus. It was a bonus magnet.
I tried to keep that upbeat attitude whilst hefting them out of their Pepto-Bismol pink case.
If I thought attaching one magnet was difficult, attaching two in the right place was harder than doing the splits in both directions at the same time.
The magnets on the cheap Chinese lashes were the elegant size of bricks.
Buy at least they looked good. I found the massive space in between the upper and lower lashes made a perfect spot for holding pens, knives or any other metal object that happened to be attracted to the brick magnets.
In conclusion I cannot at this point recommend either the One Two magnetic lash or the hilariously ridiculous Chinese lashes.
But it's killing me. The One Two Lashes are SO close to being great. The actual lashes look great. If only they'd curved the strip. If only they weren't $100.
If only I could do the splits.
Something a bit more reasonable than substituting your real lashes with fake ones and expecting great results, is substituting hair conditioner for shaving cream. Honestly. It's the best hack ever, plus there are 4 other things you can use if you run out of shaving cream as well.
Update! I now use Latisse and it works GREAT. You can read my post on it here.
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Cara
you crack me up. This is delightful.
Mad
Hmmmm....I don't know. As a great-grandmother, I can see showing up wearing them at a family gathering, dead-pan, and seeing whether or not my family would be too polite to mention grandma has finally tipped over.
Keisha Lash
They look horrendous close up! Maybe you can try wearing a liner! It may "hide" the bulky magnets!
Honeycomb
LOL! Too funny. Great article. Like you, I was hopeful about these magnetic lashes, which I'd never heard of. But in the end, there is no easy path to luxurious lashes. Even mascaras don't work as well as they used to (for me, anyway).
Karen
I use Latisse now and it works GREAT. Costly. But GREAT! Here's my post on it. https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/i-bought-lash-growing-serum-like-a-weirdo/ ~ karen
Christine
Dermalmd most amazing results. After 3 months I had to stop using it because my eyelashes grew unbelievably long! Recommended by my dermatologist. Expensive but worth it, plus I got it at reducing the price on the official site.
Dinny roberts
Hi. I met a lady wearing these and definitely saw the gap at the end. Thinking she just didn’t apply them correctly. Seems like the straight lash line could easily be solved with two extra magnets. Like the Chinese version. One magnet set is not enough. What do you think. Intrigued.
Anne White
I’m late to the party here and seventy-two years old.. but still drawn to the ever-elusive “easy beauty miracles.” So I came upon this review that was, besides useful, funny enough to make me laugh right out loud. Loved it!! An enviable talent. So thank you.
Laughter is a lifeline. (More so these days if you access daily news!👀) Stay on your keyboard!
Sharon Minter
You are hilarious. Got mine today and almost lost one. I cant see a thing and am trying to get them on while wearing glasses!! Impossible for sure. By Christmas I should have this figured out!!
Karen
Just in time for another eyelash product to have been invented! ~ karen
Sharon Minter
Right lol. This is day 2. I will practice again!!!
Anna
))) I'm sure your sense of humor saved many lives. As well as many eyelashes. My story was even longer. First of all, I feel guilty for having enough money to buy One two lash. But my own lashes were too short and thin to let anything rest on them. Maybe only the dust could. I was trying this and that to grow them bigger, including castor oil, but that would make another article from an annoyed author. ;) At the end, I found Cherish Lash serum (quite occasionally) and it grew my eyelashes much longer for just 3 weeks. Only after that magnetic lashes got the place to rest somewhere. )) Now I wear them when needed... Poor, poor women who want to look like (someone) - insert your favorite actress' name ;)))
Lori
You are hilarious! Your trial and error was enough for me. I won't be trying them. But I will return and read more of your stuff!
Karen
If it helps, I've tried a few other brands of magnetic lashes and the One Two Lash were the best of the bad! I haven't tried the new Ardell but they seem promising. ~ karen!
Chris
Thank you, Karen for this hysterical information. I would like to say that my laughing out loud was due to my experience being identical to your description.....including the splits! However, I did finally figure out how to apply this oddly creative product. I have very curvy eyeballs so the straight base with any false eyelash has always been a challenge for me. I took the lash carefully wrapped it around an eye liner pencil, blew slight low heat from a hair dryer over it for a a few secs, let it cool before releasing and found this definitely can make a difference in the shape of the base of the eyelashes. Why doesn't someone just invent an eyelash that curves? Seems like a much easier solution. Anyway, thank you again for your entertaining and informative information. I continue on my journey with these lashes.
Karen
Hey Chris! I ended up cutting off the last few lashes and it helped. I tried the curving around a pencil trick but it just ended up bending back. I *think* that One Two Lash has now come up with a curved lash! And Ardell have also come up with their own version of magnetic lashes which I bet are 100% better than these. In a month or so I'm going to be reviewing "Latisse", which is the liquid you apply every night to lengthen your lashes. Heads up. It WORKS. ~ karen!
Wanda Phillips
This was hilarious! I recently bought One Two lashes to wear during NYE. I gave up after multiple tries and went out "lashless" that evening. No one even noticed...LOL. I will try again....because I'm stubborn and don't want to feel like I wasted my $$. But for now they are sitting very elegantly on the dresser. Just glad to hear that I'm not the only one. Thank you
Sharon Minter
Exactly
Kelli
Love! Keep the reviews coming! You’re fantastic!
Teresa
Karen,
I have to agree with this post 150%. I grabbed my laptop in search of any posts on the web that might agree with me that these magnetic lashes don't work like you see them on the TV or on the infomercials. I ordered the $14 China kind and had the same experiences you had with the 2 magnet lashes. Thank you so much for posting that trial. I now know that it's not just me being a Tard or anything, they actually suck. For once, it's not just me!
Janine Kmiecik
Karen... new to your blog , instant fan! I noticed that the one two brand has come out with a full coverage lash that they use 2 peices for one half I think to help the curve or lack of issue. Seen that lining up 2 magnets on the cheap 1's a pain in the hinny, but was wondering if you've tried them yet or not?
Patricia Smith
I laughed so hard. Thanks -- love your sarcastic wit!!