Oh My Lashes!!

If you’re like me with little lashes then you understand the struggle of having to reapply false lashes constantly. Lashes have become popular throughout the years, lashes became a fascination because they made the eyes appear bigger and brighter. It wasn’t until 1911 when a Canadian woman named Anna Taylor received a U.S. patent for the artificial eyelash; creating the strip lash. Hers was a crescent of fabric implanted with tiny hairs and adhesive according to The New York Times.

Nineteenth century hairdresser, Charles Nessler (1903) began selling boxed pairs of artificial strip eyelashes made from human hair attached to ‘fish-skin’ – also known as isinglass – made from fish swim bladders. Later versions of his strip lashes, became known as Nestolashes which were available in Brown, Dark Brown and Black shades.

The first person that comes in mind when I think of false lashes is Twiggy. Fast forward to the 1960’s, this trend took a turn when cultural icon Lesley Hornby also known as Twiggy began wearing both top and bottom faux eyelashes (a strip on top and painted out lashes on the bottom). It increased the demand for false eyelashes. The 1963 release of the film ‘Cleopatra’ also stimulated sales.

In 1962, Eylure introduced fur lashes often labeled as ‘mink’ made from seal skin. They were heavier and hotter to wear so they weren’t recommended to wear generally during cold climates or used for evening wear.

Mink lashes have become popular in this century that many cosmetic companies have been releasing their own. I have noticed many different brands of mink lashes and most of those are labeled as “cruelty free”. But are they really cruelty-free? Mink eyelashes can never be “ethical.” The majority of the lashes may be labeled as cruelty free but suppliers of mink fur serve one purpose and that is to deceive consumers.

Most brands marketing mink lashes refer to them as being ‘cruelty-free’ made from hair collected by brushing minks or by collecting fallen hair.

Truth is, these animals are naturally scared of humans so being forcefully held to have their fur combed would be terrifying for them and likely lead to aggression. The reality is that minks are kept separately in cramped wire cages on fur farms in highly unsanitary conditions. A typical mink cage measuring 70cm by 40cm. Minks that are trapped on fur farms are electrocuted, bludgeoned, or gassed, or have their necks broken, and their skins are torn from their bodies while they’re still conscious. European minks have become endangered species due to negatively being impacted by human activities. Minks are always kept in those conditions because they are ‘aggressive, solitary animals,’ meaning that those ‘free-range’ claims are a lie.

According to a PETA investigation, minks were denied the opportunity to bathe, swim, burrow, or do anything else that’s natural and important to them and often denied even basic necessities such as food, water, and medical care.

Although you may not be directly purchasing lashes from a fur supplier, mink eyelashes and eyebrows support a terrible industry and animal suffrage. There is nothing humane or “ethical” about depriving these animals of their behavioral and physiological needs. Fur-farming is nothing more than a horror movie. So before you apply your lovely lashes, make sure they are ‘Faux Mink’ or synthetic. We are living in a new century where fur is no longer needed not even in eyelashes.

Here are some brands that sell cruelly obtained mink lashes: