Fake eyelashes have become a global beauty trend, an often ‘glamorous’ addition to say, a girl's night out. But in Japan, eyelash products are on another level, playing a major role in the colour cosmetics market.
Domestic companies like 'D-UP' offers ranges of up to 50 different fake lash designs while another, 'Dear Laura' caters to uneven, single or folded eyelids with several products.
Despite this love of a longer flutter, scientists now say that wearers of synthetic lashes 'a third longer than the width of the eye', could be in danger of drying out their eyes in the long run.
"While natural eyelashes protect the eye by reducing particle deposition, if they are longer than usual, this would carry particles towards [the eyes] like dust and other harmful elements," the researchers report.
At an annual meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Society, the scientists said that while the research, to be published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, has only been carried out on artificial eyes to date, there is a chance that the effects could be the same for human eyes.
Experiments
At the Institute, the team led by Guillermo Amador, used synthetic meshes to simulate eyelashes to test their aerodynamic capabilities in wind tunnels.
According to Amador, when the eyelashes were the appropriate length, they minimised air flow over the eye, reducing evaporation and dust accumulation by 50%.
When the same experiment was carried out on longer lashes, the PhD student says the ability to block the air was impeded.
"When they were too long, they no longer trapped air, and instead funneled air onto the eye - increasing evaporation and dust accumulation," Amador reveals.
Jan. 4 13:45; Eyelashes divert airflow to protect the eye AMADOR, GJ*; MAO, W; DEMERCURIO, P; MONTERO, C; CLEWIS, J; ALEXEEV, A; HU, DL; Georgia Institute of Technology.