How This Little Beauty Trick Changed My Life

Afterward, my reflection in the mirror looked 10 years younger than before. My eyes appeared to have an upward tilt at the end. No pain, no injectables, no surgery. I was thrilled. The extensions opened my eyelids slightly and covered any loose skin, making my eyes appear smaller or narrower. I was told they lasted between two weeks to a month. The only care is not to get them too wet, too frequently. You can brush them with a tiny eyelash brush if they clump from water or sleep. Takes a minute. Sometimes individual lashes fall out, but it takes up to a month for them to thin out signficantly. The downside is the expense — $225 for the initial extensions, then $175 for the refresh, which is every three weeks to a month. I assume most good salons have similar prices.

When the extensions are new, they’re much fuller than my eyelashes ever were, yet also natural-looking. They don’t look like false eyelashes but are still very noticeable, and a tad more glamorous than the makeup I normally applied for subtle enhancement. At first, my reflection brought to mind my childhood stereotype of sophistication. I felt like calling everyone “Darling” with a long cigarette holder between my fingers, wearing either a caftan or a tight cocktail dress. But these are not your mother’s generation of eyelashes; nor do they peel on and off. Rather than forming a fringe over my eyes, they draw attention to them. I love people commenting on what beautiful green eyes I have. The increased frequency of my man’s compliments while staring at my face, after waking up or over breakfast or dinner, boosts my confidence and makes me feel like a star.

A big plus is that when I need to be somewhere early in the morning, I don’t have to spend time laboring over eye makeup to look alert. I wake up looking alert. I no longer have to focus on drawing the perfect line above my lashes when I am bleary-eyed from sleep, a line that later in the day or evening invariably smudges under my eyes. When I go out at night, all I have to do is add eye shadow and an eyebrow pencil for a more dramatic effect, eliminating the time it takes to carefully apply eyeliner and mascara. The eyelash extensions draw people’s attention to the top of my eyes, thus minimizing the appearance of bags or dark circles below.

Everyday encounters become friendlier. Checking out at the local food store, with hundreds of people passing through daily, the cashier said, “You came here yesterday. I remember you,” and gave a wink with her own luxuriously rimmed eye. It’s like belonging to a secret club. When I go back to the store, I know I will recognize her as well. Sometimes, while waiting in line at the post office, bank or drugstore, someone will softly say, “I like your lashes,” and I reply in kind — another member. But nonmembers don’t register that my luscious lashes are not entirely my own. They only know that they look perfect.

 After swimming, when I remove my goggles, my eyes are at attention, not blurred into my face. I feel confident about socializing at the beach or pool in the shade, without sunglasses, because even though my hair is wet and bedraggled, my eyes draw attention to my face.

Another big change is that after a long or stressful day, no one tells me I look tired, because I don’t. I am no longer subject to the cruel phrase “You need toothpicks to keep your eyes open.” While I am not a secretive person, it’s nice to know that my eyes don’t betray things I don’t want to reveal, like exhaustion. Conversely, before I had the extensions, when I smiled or laughed, my eyes crinkled into my happiness so they closed, forming an exuberant creased line. Now, when I express those same feelings of joy, you can see a hint of dark lash and part of my iris — yes, my eyes can be seen even with my widest smile.

The first time, I thought I would just try extensions once because I didn’t want to give the impression of someone who was trying to look young. But they don’t make me look like I’m trying to be anything other than myself. I feel glamorous but not artificial. As they thin out over the month, they retain their length, giving definition to the shape of my eyes. They have made my life more expedient. I can rush off anywhere without feeling like my face is naked. My eyes, not the extensions, are now noticeable, like they used to be. For me, gaining back an asset I had when I was younger makes me feel more confident in my appearance as I get older.

AARP essays share a point of view in the author’s voice, drawn from expertise or experience, and do not necessarily reflect the views of AARP.