Lash Flutter

There is a scene in a Bogart and Becall film from the 1940s where stunning beauty Lauren Becall puts a cigarette in her mouth whilst Humphrey Bogart leans in to light it for her. The moment of shock is when through her perfectly mascaraed eyelashes, she looks back at him giving a steamy direct gaze. At this time in history, the woman played by Bacall would have been seen as ‘Louche’ a ‘Hussey’ and certainly not a nice young lady, because a lady would never make a direct flirtatious gaze via perfectly groomed mascara-clad eye at a man. That classic beauty of the golden age of Hollywood with a bold black lash is forever sexy. Find out more in Lash Flutter Here

In fact, cinema has a very strong and long connection with mascara and eyelashes. A well-known tale or even an apocryphal one has it that film director D.W Griffith invented the first set of false eyelashes during the filming of Intolerance 1916 enhancing leading lady, Seena Owen’s eyes and so was born the lashes we know today albeit an early version.

But it was the great Max Factor (Maksymilian Faktorowicz) that really brought makeup in films and especially eyelashes to all. He was an entrepreneur and inventor in both hair and make-up and was also known for doing makeovers for starlets and giving them their signature looks including Jean Harlow’s platinum hair, Clara Bow, Lucille Ball’s false lashes and red curls, and Joan Crawford’s “Hunter’s Bow”, or overdrawn lips. The first true false eyelashes, as we know them, were pioneered by him made from human hair and gauze and gummed to the eyelid.

But our love affair with mascara goes far further back than false eyelashes, both the Romans and Egyptians, men and women, used ‘kohl’ style substances to darken their lashes. Throughout history, lashes have been in and out of fashion, but the darkening of lashes has been a mainstay.

In 1917, USA, a woman named Mabel Williams, with her brother worked with a drug manufacturer to come up with “Lash-Brow-Ine,” a formula made of petroleum jelly and oils to provide sheen. Eventually, their trademark became Maybelline a household name even today.

The first UK mascara as we know it now was developed by Eugène Rimmel,  a trailblazer of the beauty and healthcare industries, as well as a perfumer to Queen Victoria. His most innovative invention may well be the first commercial non-toxic mascara, which became so popular that “Rimmel” is to this day the word for “mascara” in several languages including French, Italian, Portuguese, Persian, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic. Primarily comprised of coal dust and Vaseline jelly his invention caused quite a sensation. Set as a block-like substance it was not very convenient to use.

Years later in 1957, it was another giant Helena Rubinstein who created a formula that evolved mascara from a hard cake into a lotion-based cream. She packaged the new mascara in a tube to be sold with a brush. The cream was squeezed onto the brush and applied to the lashes. Not so easy but a step towards where we are today.

Soon, a grooved rod was patented. This device picked up the same amount of mascara for each use. Then the grooved rod was altered to a brush similar to the ones used today.

It is thanks to these and a handful of other pioneers that today (as some of these brands still stand) we can make ourselves up to our heart’s content today.

Mascara is now trending again thanks in part to the mark wearing during the pandemic when all many could show off were their eyes. The newest mascara to the market is Chanel’s Noir Allure.

As with anything from Chanel the experience is the first emotion engaged with. A high shine black encased wand with a gold top that encompasses the legendary elegant click, (echo to the sound of the House’s emblematic lipstick ROUGE ALLURE, NOIR ALLURE) that has been redesigned to adapt to this new, monolithic and lengthen tube with its patented opening and closing system guarantees that the airtight case remains perfectly sealed.

This enriched iconic black shade has an additional hue, masterfully infused with a hint of red. This subtle flicker of fire is only noticeable during the application. Though imperceptible, it renders this new shade of black even more vibrant and magnetic, mysterious and indefinable, that of those who are mesmerized with a flutter of the lashes, think of that Lauren Bacall moment again.

It does, of course, improve lashes in every way; think volume, maximum length, bold curl and flawless definition.

It reinterprets the standard with its unique formula. Extremely high performing, it is smudge-proof and transfer-proof does not flake, as well as glides smoothly onto lashes for an easily achievable makeup look delivering the perfect amount of product in a single swipe, for perfectly defined, separated, fanned-out lashes.

Its conditioning formula features three naturally derived waxes – beeswax, carnauba wax, and rice wax, which respectfully enhance lash volume, curl, and length, for a look that lasts. Infused with provitamin B5, which was chosen for its hydrating and fortifying properties, it protects lashes with every application.

Also featured is a new brush that was inspired by the principle of the CHANEL allure. Deceptively simple, it conceals an elaborately complex form that combines sensory appeal with effectiveness and is designed to offer four effects, including volume, curl, length and definition. Slim and flexible, it has several rows of thin spikes: the space between them acts as a reservoir of product, delivering the perfect amount to lashes.

Last but not least, the final secret hidden by this black nectar, is that the brush is a burgundy colour, a nod to the lining of CHANEL’s iconic bags.

The sensuality, the sexuality of the eyes the film projectors of our feelings are at their best when coated in the most luxurious of mascaras, a flutter, a flash of a lash. A beauty step that accentuates a woman’s confidence, assertiveness yet femininity. That allure expressed fully, sexy, strong and defiant, just in a gaze.

To find out more about Chanel beauty fragrance and fashion please click Chanel.Com Here

If you enjoyed reading Lash Flutter then why not read Nothing but the Marvellous is Beautiful here

.Cent Magazine London, Be Inspired; Get Involved.

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