Confession: I was not blessed with naturally luscious lashes, which means I’ve had to resort to lash lifts and lash extensions to achieve any sort of volume. Of course, that wasn’t the optimal solution—for one, they’re pricey, and two, they took a toll on my natural lashes after repeated treatments. And simple fake lashes on hooded Asian lids are hard. Really hard. Since my lash line completely disappears beneath my lids when I blink, the friction wears away at the glue, turning everything into one sticky glob by end of day. So when I saw magnetic eyeliner floating around my Insta feed, I was intrigued. Fake lashes that eliminate eyelash glue from the equation entirely and stay on all day? All for the same price as a cup of coffee? I was skeptical, but intrigued nonetheless.
How do magnetic lashes work?
The eyeliner has iron oxide (don’t worry, it’s safe for your eyes), and the lashes have magnets. You just shake the bottle to spread the liner's iron oxides, draw a line (in my case, usually a cateye), and place the lashes where you'd like them. The magnets attract iron oxide, causing the lashes and liner to stick together.
It sounds simple, but will it actually work? I decided to test out a few versions for myself to see if these liners are really worth the hype. I chose three accessible drugstore brands and put them through the ultimate falsies challenge: wind. And what better place to do that than in my hometown of Chicago? Read on to see which ones withstood the Windy City.
Ardell
Rating: 7/10
When I began applying the liner, I noticed that the formula was a bit...gloopy? It skipped a lot and definitely didn't go on as smoothly as I'd hoped. As it clumped, I applied more and more liner to try to save the mess, which just made the line thicker. Eventually, I had to bust out my normal eyeliner to draw over the messy parts and create a crisp cateye.
After I got the line down, I followed the instructions and applied two coats (allowing for drying time in between), but the lashes still didn’t stick very well. It was only after a third coat that the lashes stayed in place. Once they were on, though, the lashes were pretty good. They didn’t unstick at all until I took them off at the end of the day. So, despite the hassle, I would give this kit two thumbs up for longevity.
KISS
Rating: 9/10
First, I need to give kudos to these lashes, because the day I wore them was one of the windiest days in Chicago I’ve ever experienced. They had to brave blood, sweat, and tears (okay, maybe not blood), and those strips still remained loyally attached to my lids for about 10 hours.
KISS's eyeliner brush is really thin and the formula is really pigmented, so the application process was rather smooth. The lashes stuck instantly to the liner–one strip has 5 magnets, which meant that even after trimming it to fit my eye, it latched seamlessly. I will say that I did notice the liner got a bit crusty and flaky in some areas after a few hours, but nothing too noticeable. Plus, there was definitely no smudging (as the box promises). Overall, highly recommend.
Eylure
Rating: 8/10
The first thing I noticed about these lashes was how soft they are. They're made of faux mink, giving them the fluffiest texture of the three I tried. Plus, they’re virtually weightless; I couldn’t feel them at all once I had them on.
While the lashes did adhere to the liner without problems, I have a small qualm with the magnets themselves: Because of the location of the magnets on the lashes, the ends lift a bit, which is a dead giveaway that you're wearing fake lashes. It was an easy fix, though. I cut the lashes into smaller wisps and applied them individually, which made them look more natural.
During the wind test, I did have one lash casualty, so I wouldn't say that Eylure is 100 percent windproof. However, the beauty of magnetic liner is that even if a lash or two fall off, you don't have to wear a crooked strip of falsies all night. Because the lashes stick to magnets and not a glue that dries up, you can reposition them as many times as you need. Overall, hats off for good eyeliner and lash quality, but you might have to do a bit more work when applying them.
The Verdict
Color me impressed—I definitely think magnetic liner is the real deal. Application is super easy, the lashes stay on all day, and no-lash-glue-required also means no more picking leftover clumps of the stuff out of your real lashes (or washing the gunk on your falsies before reusing them).
The liner formulas are super long-lasting (a swatch on my hand didn’t budge, even after a shower), which means you'll need oil-based remover to get it off. On the flip side, because the liner formulas are thicker than average liquid eyeliner, it’s harder to control and create a perfect line. You have to make sure to put a good amount on the innermost and outer most part of the line so the anchors don’t come up (don’t forget to keep cotton swabs on hand in case of mistakes).
In the end, I’d take all three of these over normal strip lashes any day. If you have hooded lids like me or you’re just a fellow anti-glue gal, shop the lashes I tried plus more of our favorites below.
