Who Inveted False Eyelashes?

The History of False Eyelashes

Beauty legend has it that American movie director D.W. Griffith designed the first set of false eyelashes. While creating a motion picture in 1916, he wanted his leading lady Seena Owens to have lashes so long they graced her cheeks when she blinked or looked down thoughtfully.

A wig maker set to work creating the lashes out of human hair and gauze, and the result was movie magic. Unfortunately the film itself was not, and the screenplay became forgettable. However, the false lashes were remembered to the misfortune of Griffith who never formally made a claim to their fame and had his idea simulated, stolen, and altered in the decades to come.

Since 1916, there have been plenty of leading ladies and celebrities who used false eyelashes. Twiggy is an example of someone in the public spotlight who used falsies in the way that they were intended. Others unfortunately have not, picture Tammy Faye Baker & Liza Minnelli for example. False eyelashes are almost an art when it comes to appropriate use and application, therefore it takes time and patience to learn the trade.