My mom brought me a stack of falsies from Korea, so I figured this might be a good time to write some tips on buying and applying false lashes for the first time. This post is for those who haven’t tried false lashes before, or failed at them and are scared to try again, and simply want something that looks natural but still effective.
Where to buy
I get asked about my Missha Dolly Eyelashes a LOT. Unfortunately, I don’t know how easy it is to acquire this particular brand in the U.S. I like the Missha brand b/c of the consistency of the glue the lashes come with and b/c they seem to last a bit longer than any other Korean brand I’ve tried.
However, all Korean brands share a universal system of how they categorize their lashes by appearance and length. I don’t know the exact details, but if you like my Missha XN’s, you can find XN’s made by another Korean brand at your nearest Asian beauty provider. If you’re like me and the nearest provider is over a hundred miles away, you have friends and family ship them to you with love and affection. If you end up getting some other brand and you don’t like the glue, DUO is the best brand of eyelash glue out there.
As for the price, most Korean brands cost around 1500 or 2000 won, which is around $2 US. Brands like Missha and the Face Shop around around $3 or $4, if memory and currency calculation serves. In short, you should never have to pay more than the equivalent of 5 bucks for a pair of these lashes in Korea – and $5 is a LOT to pay for a pair of lashes. All beauty stores in Korea will have a selection of false lashes and beauty stores are ALL OVER the place.
I don’t know what it is about the particular brand that makes me prefer it to others. I’m inclined to say it’s the quality, but I haven’t yet made an objective, well-researched comparison.
Echo was my first brand ever and I’ve also tried the Face Shop, Darkness and, of course, a few U.S. brands like Gypsy and Ardell. The only thing I’m sure of is that Missha’s eyelash adhesives are always the right consistency. All Korean lashes come with adhesives, but they’re not always up to par.
I do know for a fact that I definitely prefer Korean brands to most of what I find in the U.S. I love browsing Madame Madeline‘s selections, but it’s mostly for especially dramatic lashes. Then again, I’m not being fair since I haven’t given most of the Ardells a fair chance. A lot of the Invisibands actually look pretty decent.
What to buy
Firstly, my eye w/no false lashes for comparison. My natural lashes were curled w/the Shu Uemura eyelash curler.
For the first time shopper, I’d highly recommend anything categorized with an X and an S. These are the shorter, criss-crossed false lashes.
This is what you guys see me in most often.
Why criss-crosses?
See for yourself. My mom got me a huge box of these that I ended up reselling. They look okay but they didn’t feel as effective as the criss-crossed ones. On the other hand, Arashi seems to wear the parallel kind just fine and manages to look great in them.
DGs probably look the most harmless in the package. I think that’s why my mom got me these. They’re actually not bad but I wouldn’t wear these as often as my criss-crosses. I think it’s def. more of one’s personal taste.
Reluctant full face shot w/parallel DGs. I’m sad because sad girls are beautiful. j/k j/k wtf where did that come from.
I personally prefer the criss-crosses b/c they accentuate my eyes more and still look natural.
Korean brands label criss-crossed designs with the letter X.
This is one of the first ones I’ve ever tried and loved. It was pretty dramatic, but still looked natural. Right now, my stock is mostly XN, XL, XNS and XLS, plus some random curious purchases like feathers, carnivals, US brands and whatnot.
The S at the ends indicate that they’re shorter versions. XNS is a shorter version of XN. For first time lash buyers, I would highly recommend something w/an X or an S. When I wear these, people don’t even know I’m wearing false lashes, but my eyes still look more pronounced than if I weren’t wearing any at all.
XLS or XNS (not sure which)
XL or XN – a lot of you girls seem to LOVE this one. It does look great but it’s also WAAAAY more dramatic than it looks in the picture. These are a bit harder to get used to for girls w/short lashes who haven’t tried false lashes before. They also feel more heavier, especially for first-timers.
AVOID:
(Again, this is for those who want natural and subtle falsies.)
Probably most of what you see in your local drugstore. You want tapering ends and alternating lengths, which many drugstores don’t have. It’s real painful to see people wearing those choppy-ended parallels with too much mascara on them and expecting anyone to believe for a minute that they’re real. They’re just too obvious and too unnatural. I also cringe whenever I see part of someone’s falsies just gaping from her eyelid, like they’re ready to fall off entirely.
Def. try to avoid getting mascara on your false lashes. I apply waterproof LashBlast to my own lashes after curling them b/c it’s the only way to make them hold a curl. The false lashes don’t need mascara. They look the way you want your real lashes to look, so applying mascara is kind of moot, if not counter-effective; w/mascara, they only end up looking messy.
Avoid lashes that appear to be the same length from beginning to end, like curtains. Natural-looking lashes offer variety in length.
Hopefully, I’ll have a decent falsie application tutorial. I’m pretty dissatisfied w/the last one I posted here.
Anyway, I hope this helped somebody out there.
Click to continue to the tutorial on applying false lashes.
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Whoa… this is weird, I may be hullicinating from lack of sleep, but I could swear those Echo falsies are sold here in Dublin, in this fairly new hair accessory shop!!! I was there a couple of times when it first opened, and I noticed that their falsies were from Korea. I’ll have to check it out again! But thanks for breaking it down. Now I will know what the English letters mean.
Ale-fricken-lujah!!! I know I’m the one hounding you on your Missha lashes. The criss cross ones do look more natural on you then the straigts.
Damn now I gotta find someone or somewhere on line to ship me some, cuz I swear I can’t find SHIT in Hawaii. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but damn. Right now if I do attempt, yes attempt, falsies, I have a nice big stash of Ardells (invisiband, demures) to work with. But like I said before… you make those Missha X’s look sooo hot!
How much would you charge me, for you to ship some down here? No seriously…
oh thank god, someone has finally decoded the falsies labeling for me. I had no idea how to tell what size lashes were, so i opted out of buying some online.
and yeah a lot of drugstore falsies suck and really do look like fake lashes.
Great advice! I love the way they look on you; natural or dramatic ones!
x Grayburn
very very nice post…you know i’m obsessed with falsies…now to find someone who has a missha connection lol…that one part where you were like “wtf, where did that come from” cracked me up! lol what would i do at my boring job without your posts…
hey!
dear sistas, hello hello from malaysia ! we’ve got missha falsies here and i’d love to help you girls buy and send them over in exchange of your trouble helping me to get US drugstore items and send them over. oh wait, is this called swapping ?
i don’t miind checking out other brands/asia exclusive brands if requested. afterall, sharing is caring. i want karma to bite me back in the ass.
send your excitement over to magnect@hotmail.com
cheers!
wow i never knew the complexity behind false lash categorizations… quick question, if u dont use mascara, how do u keep your real lashes together with the false ones? even when i curl, my natural lashes never seem up to par with the falsies, making it lookk like i have two sets of lashes per eye!
falsies look lovely on you! I think you’ve mastered how to put them on to perfection. I’ve 2-3 attempts in the past and they always go wrong lol, my bf also complained that falsies are bad for the eyes and has banned me from wearing them!! ;_;
I like the criss-crossies too!! They look the most natural but they’re so hard to come by~
Thanks for the helpful tips!
Just wondering, where can one eyelashes for cheap in Korea?
Oops.. I mean where can one BUY the eyelashes, lol.
fiona, i’m so glad you asked! i edited the post in response and wrote, “most Korean brands cost around 1500 or 2000 won, which is around $2 US. Brands like Missha and the Face Shop around around $3 or $4, if memory and currency calculation serves. In short, you should never have to pay more than the equivalent of 5 bucks for a pair of these lashes in Korea – and $5 is a LOT to pay for a pair of lashes.” All beauty stores in Korea will have these and beauty stores are ALL OVER the place.
nai nai and nic nic: stay tuned for a tutorial on applying falsies
anon from malaysia: thank you so much for the offer!
to everyone else: thank you for the love
i appreciate the responses! and to u lurkers, i love you, too hehe
awww thanks for mentioning me
i’m wearing out that pair i have and i need a backup! also i really want those crisscross ones you have but i don’t wanna pay a lot for them either. i ordered some crisscross Elise ones in the hopes that they would be similar but when I got them I realised they’re too long and more suited for non-asian eyes. anyways, i really don’t think the straight ones look odd on you, but crisscross ones do suit your eye better for some reason.
awww thanks for mentioning me
i’m wearing out that pair i have and i need a backup! also i really want those crisscross ones you have but i don’t wanna pay a lot for them either. i ordered some crisscross Elise ones in the hopes that they would be similar but when I got them I realised they’re too long and more suited for non-asian eyes. anyways, i really don’t think the straight ones look odd on you, but crisscross ones do suit your eye better for some reason.
haha!! the world as we know it would end!! hehe… Nah, if we ever met up it would just be pure fun & cynisim!
Either one of the sizes you’re willing to part with is fine. Lemmee know, and I can pay you through PayPal or something. That would be extremely cool of ya!!!
I used to use the Purrforma Auto Box, it sucked doodoo!! The thing was soo loud, and the fricken motor gave out after a month! And because I bought online, the warranty ship back price cost more then it would’ve been worth. And I heard that LitterMaids suck ass, so that’s why I got this one. So far so good, it’s been less then a month though. I hope I didn’t just jinx it!!
hi, i saw your comment about the eyebrow thing on fei’s blog! lol so i checked it out and it looked really fabulous! good thing i held onto my light brown brow pencil, cuz i totally tried it and it look SO. FABULOUS. LMAO thank you so much!!! you’re too amazing and wonderful for words!
They look hot! This was helpful, its hard ordering these online..BUt its all clear to me now!!!
ZOMG. Next time, if there is a next time, just ask! I would’ve been happy to get you some. And VAGINA?!?! LOL. I won’t be able to use it without thinking about vag again. It smells like baby powder to me now. Hopefully, it’ll work for ya. I’d hate to have had you lemming for something that sucks for you.
Them’s some good tips. I personally prefer the criss cross lashes as well. I feel like they look more voluminous because of the crossing hairs. Erdunno. There are a lot of Asian shops here that sell Missha and I’ve tried a couple of sets of their lashes. My favorite lashes are probably the Ardell invisibands though. I just find them easiest to apply and I love that the spine is invisible, so if my bumbling hands glue ‘em on crooked… No one knows. XD
I never understood why people put mascara on false lashes either. Following that advice I ruined a good pair of false lashes.
Great post!
Thank you so much for the Korean brand falsies information. I’ve been wanting to try falsies for a while now, and now I’ll be a more informed shopper looking for those X’s and S’s. How many uses do you get out of each pair of falsies on average? (A couple of months ago, I still thought that you could only use them once!)
PS Your word verification is so long!
PPS This is the 3rd time I’m trying to submit this comment, so if it posts 3 times, I’m sorry! It just won’t send!
sugabum: i can’t wait to see you do FOTDs w/false lashes! my gawd, you’d be smokin’ hawt. There really isn’t a limit to how many times u can use those lashes as long as you clean them carefully and properly. I don’t clean mine carefully nor properly and I still use each pair for longer than 3 months :] Then again, I haven’t worn lashes every day, nor often enough to really give an estimate. Maybe I should take on a project for that o.O
Wish my mum would buy me things like that but she would complain if I ask her to get me makeup…haha. I guess my only source is online or local shopping.
These are the best eyelashes to use…i tooo have a bunch of them…they are great the glue is actually really good …i think that duo glue smells like fish…it’s kinda nasty
I agree the criss cross ones look awesome (and natural)! Gorgeous gal I miss you!
great informative post – I’m a total newb when it comes to false lashes, so this post helps out a lot. I’m going to have to refer back to this if and when I buy some decent false lashes – looking forward to the application tut as well! those criss-crossed lashes look really nice
This is such a great post! I’ve come to really like my Asian brand false eyelashes so much better than Ardells or anything else. I mean, Ardell has some great lashes, but some are just so out there.
Psst…Missha is available at their stores in NYC, or here some places in SoCal.
[...] Last week, I graced these pages with some tips on how to purchase your first pair of natural-looking false eyelashes. [...]
Hello! Thanks for the info..i found your site through searching for criss cross falsie=)
Anyway you mentioned lashblast to curl your lashes..my lashes usually dont stay curled..therefore I have to get Katie B mascara but I hate having to always order it online and paying for shipping. How do you like the lashblast and does it stay curled all day? thanks in advance!
-yvonne
keep up the good work!