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The trendlet: Russian-style lashes

Long eyelashes turn ordinary eyes magical.

Plain mink eyelashes on model Jasmine Rahman.
Plain mink eyelashes on model Jasmine Rahman.Read moreDAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer

Long eyelashes turn ordinary eyes magical.

The trendlet

That's why Russian-volume-style lash extensions - applying two to seven slivers of fiber-size hairs on a single natural eyelash to create depth and volume - will keep our eyes beautifully aflutter this spring.

Where do they come from?

The eyelash's glam history started in 1916, when Hollywood film director D.W. Griffith ordered a wig-maker to fashion some falsies for actress Seena Owen.

The two were filming Intolerance, with Owen playing a Babylonian, and Griffith thought adding a strip of human-hair lashes would add to the character's authenticity.

Since then, lash enhancements have been a standard part of celebrity women's beauty arsenal, including Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Mary Tyler Moore, Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, and Michelle Obama. (The list is rather endless.)

Ten years ago, the beauty world went all abuzz when celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, and even Oprah were batting thick, curly lashes lengthened by extensions. Early extensions were synthetic, but eventually celebrities from Beyoncé to the Kardashians sported both human and animal hair, like fox and mink.

About three years ago, lash technicians began experimenting with the beauty effects of adding more than one extension per natural lash in an effort to create mega volume, now called Russian volume, because Russian women are known to have beautiful lashes.

Who is wearing them?

Where there is luxe, there are Kardashians - and in this case, all of them: Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie are all faux lash aficionados. But I've also seen these lashes on everyone from Kerry Washington to Angelina Jolie.

Would Elizabeth Wear Them?

I. Love. Lashes. But they tend to make my eyes itch, so I think I might stick to one extension per lash at a time.

Should you wear them?

Only if you are going for drama. It's hard to pull this off during the day. And if wearing them at night, don't forget to add a little color and sparkle.

ewellington@phillynews.com
215-854-2704

The Russian technique is courtesy of Olivia Braciszewski at Lash Bash, 1716 Sansom St., 2nd floor, 267-603-4251, www.lashbashphilly.com, instagram @lashbashphilly.