I feel like it looks like you'd use it to trim your nose hairs or something, but it's actually a heated eyelash curler, a thing I didn't know I wanted/needed until I saw it. It says on the package that it "creates a dramatic false-lash effect" or something, so I got suckered in and bought it because I want the most dramatic lashes possible. I want to blink and cause a gust that stirs idle tumbleweeds into motion. I want people to look at my lashes and fall to their knees, incredulous at the sheer drama of my lashes. Yes, I have big dreams. Anyway, I thought I'd do a little testing and see if this thing works.
First let me get the basic info out of the way: this thing is by the Ulta store brand and was $15 (I had a 20% off total purchase coupon so I paid slightly less). It comes with a AAA battery that you stick in by removing the gray part from the black part. You're supposed to let it heat up for a minute prior to using it, and the box recommends using it after you put on mascara. Once your mascara is dried, you hold it against your lashes at the base and sloooowly pull it up, like you're putting on another coat of mascara. It doesn't get hot enough to ever hurt, much less burn you -- I put it directly on the back of my hand to test this, because apparently that science safety video from 7th grade made no lasting impression on me other than the guy saying "Then my teeth actually began to shizzle!" because he used his mouth to pipette battery acid out of his car or something stupid.
But here's the part people will probably care about: the before and after.
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| Also an excellent opportunity to get super familiar with the frightening number of veins visible in and around my eyeballs because I didn't put on any other makeup for this and I am secretly a scary ghoul. |
Pros: It curled my lashes better than a traditional lash curler, mostly because I could do it all in one long slow swipe, rather than having to do that whole "crimp three times from the base to the tip of the lash" thing that you're supposed to do with a regular lash curler. I can never get that right, so my lashes end up either curled only at the base or weirdly angular and crimped, so I do like the ease of use on the heated one. The curl is also a little more long-lasting than a traditional curler because it uses heat (duh) and you do it after mascara, whereas using the crimpy kind after mascara can rip out your lashes (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh), so it has that extra bit of hold already in place.
Cons: It's kind of time consuming. I felt like I had to do it a few times to get the result I was after, but that may just be because I'm new to it and trying to figure out how to make it work its best. Also because you're messing around with mascara after it's dry on your lashes, there's the potential for flaking. I had a few little flakes on my eyelid when I was done, but again, a caveat: I was using a mascara I hate because it's the least dramatic one I own, which seemed the most fair to test this out with (if I used a crazy dramatic one, obviously it would look like something had worked magically). So a better mascara, like the Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme volumizing one I usually use and have never had flaking issues with, might not have the same problem.
Final verdict: I think this would be good for someone who isn't comfortable with the normal kind of eyelash curler that looks like it's going to melon-ball your eye out. If you can't get the hang of that kind without pinching yourself, this one would be good for you. I don't think it's going to work miracles on very straight eyelashes, just because it doesn't have that squeezey motion to force them into place with heat (though they do make the squeezey-kind that's heated too, they're just harder to come by). I think if you're going to get either this or a decent-quality traditional curler (like the plastic Tweezerman one -- I prefer it to metal ones because there's no risk of the pad coming out and chopping your lashes off), I'd tell you to go for this one since it's in the same price range, is easy to use, and gives a more natural looking, longer-lasting curl.
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