How do you straighten eyelashes?

September 29, 2018 2:35 PM

I need to straighten my eyelashes and I have no idea how to do it.

I use latanaprost eyedrops for glaucoma prevention. One of the typical side effects is insane, unabated eyelash growth that just seems to keep progressing after 18 months. Now the lashes on one eye are long enough that they're starting to curl upwards, and it's beginning to cause some problems. How do you straighten eyelashes?

I don't wear makeup (and can't -- blepharitis; yay crappy eyes). I also don't want to spend a lot of time on freaking eyelashes. I know eyelash curlers exist. Do eyelash straighteners? What's the simplest way to un-curl without makeup?

(I've googled it. Now I'm just more confused than I was before.)

(Oh, and I have no plans to stop the latanaprost because it's doing what it's supposed to -- saving my vision. If I just have to live with annoying eyelashes, well, bummer.)

posted by mudpuppie to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

I tweezer mine out.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 2:38 PM on September 29, 2018

Can you trim them?
I’ve managed to straighten mine by accident by using an eyelash curler incorrectly (not being as far back with the curler as is needed), what if you just caught the ends in the curler at the wrong angle?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:39 PM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]

Yeah just trim them. Get the tiny scissors for eyebrows. I’ve had to do that with extra long ones that bump onto my glasses.
posted by Crystalinne at 2:52 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

When I wore glasses, I would sometimes just pluck the ones that were long enough to touch my lenses. Trimming sounds like probably your best option though.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:10 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

You can have them chemically straightened. Go to anywhere that does lash enhancement/lash perms, and just have them straighten them instead of curling them after they put the perm solution on. Like the difference between perming head hair and having it relaxed. It’s the same chemical solution. It will probably last about a month, based on how long lash tints last for (your lashes fall out and are replaced pretty fast).

Trimming is probably a lot quicker and easier though.
posted by tinkletown at 4:13 PM on September 29, 2018

you could try curling them with the lash curler held upside down? it would reverse their natural curl and maybe have the effect of straightening them?
posted by pseudostrabismus at 4:15 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Before tweezing or chemically straightening, (which seems extreme and kind of risky, and probably won't solve the problem), why not talk to your opthalmologist? He or she must have other patients who've encountered this. Alternatively, you could look on the patient insert paper that's included with every prescription medication, and call the manufacturer. They will have a phone number for patients who have questions or who have experienced "Adverse Events", basically anything any patient reported when this was in clinical trials. This is actually what doctors do when they don't know what to recommend, so it might be more direct to ask the manufacturer.
posted by citygirl at 5:46 PM on September 29, 2018 [5 favorites]

I think having them trimmed is a good safer option. If you are worried about your own accuracy/safety I wonder if maybe a lash/brow esthetician could do it. The process for protecting your eyes during lash tinting could be used in this application to keep it safe. They would also be able to trim them to maintain a nice shape, because a blunt cut wouldn't be good either.
posted by joan_holloway at 7:58 PM on September 29, 2018

Best answer: A heated lash comb might work. Sephora has one for $10 here. And trimming sounds safer than (ouch) tweezing.

I'm curious about the effectiveness of using a regular lash curler wrong. They don't hold the shape well unless you use them with mascara (I think?) but that would depend on how strong the curl is.

I am very curious about this turns out.
posted by meemzi at 11:41 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all. Tweezing would be an option if we were talking about one or two stray curly lashes, but that's not the situation. I don't want to trim them because, seriously, my eyelashes on both eyes are super long and super pointy. Trimming the outside edge of the eye whose lashes are curling would achieve a weird, blunt, lopsided look. By the time I finished trying to even them out I might not have any lashes at all, and that would prompt a whole new AskMe.

I'm going to try the heated lash comb. Plan B is to ask my ophthalmologist what she recommends, and plan C will be trying to live with it.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:29 AM on September 30, 2018 [1 favorite]