Like seemingly everything else in the beauty-world, lashes have found their way into the mermaid/unicorn sphere; colored mascara has been trending on runways and IRL, and now you can rock the trend in semi-permanent extension form. Mermaid Lash Extensions are like regular lash extensions except they come in three supernatural shades: royal purple, kelly green, and sea blue. Aside from looking really cool, the lashes enhance eye colors in the same way that, say, certain eyeshadow shades do.
Celebrity lash stylist Clementina Richardson, whose clients include Naomi Campbell and Mary J. Blige, is the first to offer the colorful lash extensions at her NYC salon, Envious Lashes. Beauty-trend-curious as I am, I set up an appointment to learn more about Mermaid Lashes. I quickly realized upon entering the salon, vis-a-vis with a smattering of ROYGBIV lashes, that I'd be learning in the most immersive way possible.
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Anything for beauty, right?
I have green eyes; as per loose conventional beauty wisdom, I generally veer toward purple-toned eyeshadow to make my irises "stand out". Clementia explains that purple lashes have the same effect on green eyes (whereas green lashes enhance brown eyes and blue lashes amp up blue-ness). That said, Mermaid Lashes are totally customizable. You could get a melange of all three colors if you wanted to.
Feigning confidence, I select the purple lashes and reclined on what will be my perching spot for the next two hours, a light shining over my (closed) eyes. If you have super-sensitive eyes, you may experience slight burning from the lash glue (note: sensitive glue is an option). Otherwise, the application process itself is totally painless; some might even call it a respite.
As soon as Clementina begins working, I understand why she's one of the most sought-after lashers; she's a true artist. Every so often, she assesses her work — the symmetry and evenness of it all. About halfway through the process, one of her employees glances at my lashes and exclaims gleefully that they look SO good. I smile blindly, relief washing over me: Perhaps I can pull off purple lashes after all.
While customizable, the standard Mermaid Lash blend is about 20% black lashes and 60% colored lashes. This way, the overall effect is subtle — almost like ombre for your lashes. Because of the artistry involved in blending colors, applying Mermaid Lashes take about half an hour longer than conventional lashes. Total time: two hours.
OK. So how did they look? Let me preface by saying this: although I write about beauty, I'm relatively conservative with my makeup looks... so to say I fell in love with purple eyelashes (of all things!) is a big deal for me. An illustration of how much I loved them: I’m probably the only 20-something who never posts Insta stories, but I just HAD to story these babies the second I left the salon.
Sophie Wirt/Allure
The most magical part of donning Mermaid Lashes is forgoing any trace of actual makeup and still appearing like you've put effort into your look. While regular black lash extensions create an I'm-totally-wearing-mascara effect, the mermaid pop of color adds a bonus I-also-bothered-to-wear-colored-makeup effect. This came in handy one morning when I slept through my alarm and woke up 10 minutes before a meeting. Pre-mermaid Lashes, I’d have been forced to scramble out the door (sans-makeup) looking like I’d just rolled out of bed — but thanks to the pop of purple, I looked as if I’d actually spent time applying a full-blown eye look. I even received compliments.
So, Mermaid Lashes have the power to make you look like you're wearing makeup without lifting a finger; but what happens when eyeshadow is added into the mix? There's something about a pair of fierce purple lashes that makes a girl veer towards avant-garde eyeshadow shades...like bright orange, which I dug into with reckless abandon. I'd never given this color much love because it never seems to make sense with any looks — but when you've got purple lashes, everything you put on your face looks intentional in an artsy kinda way. Case in point: a single slipshod swipe of this poppin' peach shade created an Insta-worth tango of color. I looked like I’d spent hours at Sephora and then Valencia-filtered my eye, no?
Sophie Wirt/Allure
Though my purple lashes looked out-of-this-world in contrast with bright eyeshadow shades, I found that they don't always look so in-your-face bold. Instead, they have an almost chameleon-like quality; stand in direct sunlight and they're blindingly vivid. Flaunt them over a candlelit dinner and your companion may not even notice they’re colored (though they may comment that you look particularly bright-eyed).
Mermaid Lashes will cost you anywhere from $105-$400 depending on style, and they last 3-4 weeks. While these lashes are an investment, they're a must-try if you're looking for a hassle-free way to wake up looking magical.
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