Over the years, beauty products have evolved to make looking your best as easy as possible. New products are always coming out, and sometimes it's hard to figure out which ones work for you.
I've found that as long as I'm willing to go through some trial and error, I've been able to establish a beauty routine that makes me feel like I'm on top of the world.
The latest product to hit the shelves that caught my attention is magnetic fake eyelash extensions. Anyone who has tried to apply eyelash extensions at home understands how difficult it is to put them on. Between the glue and the precision and the patience needed, it's all enough to make you give up.
On the other hand, going to a professional can be expensive in the long run. And you also risk getting an infection.
Magnetic eyelash extensions are meant to cut out all the hassle of both methods. To tell the truth, they seemed too good to be true. With high expectations, I gave them a shot, but my experiment resulted in a total disaster.
How Do Magnetic False Eyelashes Work?
I ordered the eyelashes from Amazon. There were so many options to pick from, all with positive and negative reviews.
The prices were also very different, depending on the brand, but ranged from $3 to $30. The ones I picked retail for less than $20, which is a bargain. They arrived in a round box.
In the box were two sets of magnetic eyelashes — one set for each eye. Each set contains a top lash and a bottom lash, and they clasp together using tiny magnets on their far ends.
The top lash is placed over your real eyelashes; the bottom one is placed underneath.
The Experiment Attempt #1
As soon as I got these in the mail, I ran off to the woman's restroom to try them out. But I noticed a few red flags before actually getting around to applying them.
First of all, they weren't very wide, and I doubted that they would cover the entire lash line. The magnets also felt too heavy.
Just trying to hold them was a struggle: I have very short fingers, which I knew would be problematic when trying to pick them up.
I started by strategically placing the top lash over my own eyelashes. I was right: the set wasn't wide enough for my eye's shape.
A close-up of my eye proved that my first attempt didn't look as bad as I expected. Even so, the magnets had clasped at the wrong spot and made blinking really uncomfortable.
Verdict: This attempt looked relatively good, but was uncomfortable enough to prevent me from wearing them for very long.
Attempt #2
I decided to try again — this time trying to be extra careful about not hitting the water line. Taking them off was easy, as the magnets slid right off my natural lashes, but it pinched a little.
This attempt was a total disaster: The magnets were visible, and they were so far from where I had intended them to be. The lashes were too heavy, and I couldn't open or close my eyes normally.
Verdict: No-go. I had to peel these off right away.
Attempt #3
Moving on to a different method, I thought I'd try lifting my eyelids a little to see if I could get a better placement on the top magnetic lash.
As you can see in the photo above, the set didn't just sit crookedly on my natural lashes — they were way off where I had intended for them to be.
Verdict: This method, to put it shortly, was a disaster.
Attempt #4
For my final, desperate attempt, I got creative and actually asked a friend to apply the lashes for me. She has longer fingers than I do and a steadier hand. By no means is this an ideal situation, but I had to give it a go.
Verdict: Unfortunately, this last attempt ended up being the worst out of all three. My friend may have had a steadier hand than mine, but she couldn't stop the magnets from catching at the wrong place.
The result may not look so bad from far away, but I could barely keep my eye open. The false extensions weren't lining up with my lash line the way they were supposed to, and I could feel one of the magnets getting caught under my eyelid. It was actually kind of painful.
Final Thoughts
In total, I spent about an hour trying to figure out the best method to apply these magnetic eyelash extensions and came up with no solution.
A few attempts didn't look that bad, but I could barely blink without feeling them, making opening and closing my eyes deeply uncomfortable. My goal was to see how I felt after wearing them for a day, and I couldn't even put them on properly. I'll definitely be sticking to only mascara!
Please SHARE if you've tried these fake eyelashes before, too!
