Doubt if you want but eyelashes have not been attributed to humans for the sole purpose of provoking the sexual excitement of a colleague office. Behind this fringe of about 200 hairs hides a less glamorous truth. If your eyelashes measure exactly one third of the length of your eye (as in all mammals), it is not for nothing: it is the most effective ratio to protect from dryness of the cornea. Longer, the bangs no longer work. This observation has obviously not prevented humanity from disobeying nature by seeking, for centuries, the most seductive camber and the most frightening length. The great mystery is thus formulated as follows: why is a trivial attribute finally a pledge of beauty and a sesame of femininity?
© Abaca Press Faye Dunaway
The secret belongs to the Egyptians: "Already in Antiquity, with Cleopatra, Nefertiti or Queen Theodora, women were looking for artifices at all costs to accentuate their look and be more attractive," said Dany Sanz, creator of Make Up For Ever. They put ointments to grow eyelashes and put false eyelashes based on animal hair. " A fashion which - it is the fate of fashion - has sometimes been outmoded over the centuries: thus, as disturbing as it may seem, the women of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance epilated- they entirely face (and even the hair to enlarge the forehead).
© Abaca Press Twiggy
The wisdom brought the nineteenth century to basics: the eyelash which architecture the eye, must be loaded. Such was in any case the position of Eugene Rimmel, who developed in 1880 a compact black paste that was diluted with a brush by moistening with saliva. Later, the cinema, framing tight on the look, will bring out all the fantasies. The most powerful having been inspired by the legendary Elizabeth Taylor, remained famous for its role ... Egyptian precisely ("Cleopatra", Joseph Mankiewicz, 1963), which would have been gratified, genetic anomaly, a double row of eyelashes to the birth.
© Abaca Press Brigitte Bardot
In the street, women start dreaming about this look that kills. While mascara is still in its infancy, the goddesses of cinemascope push manufacturers like Max Factor, Maybelline or Longcil Boncza to sophisticated their formulas. "Helena Rubinstein will allow everyone to finally have access to star lashes by launching the first automatic mascara in 1957," recalls Olivier Echaudemaison, creative director of Guerlain makeup.
© Imaxtree Stéphane Rolland Fashion Show Spring-Summer 2015
The following is known: a frantic race for innovation, the development of increasingly complex formulas, the appearance on the market of artillery sometimes pushed (mini hair curlers for eyelashes, dyeing, etc.). Be that as it may, number one in makeup sales, sold every year by billions, mascara continues to fulfill the age-old dream of one day competing with the eyes of the cougar, which, with 0.7 cm of eyelash length, is the animal that most resembles Liz Taylor.
