No Such Thing As Too Long Lashes for Middle East Gals
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates –
To what extent will the most fashionable women go to have fabulous eyes? Heavy liner? Lashings of mascara? The latest trend here might surprise even the most stylish.
A young woman of Dubai still has mascara and false eyelashes in her beauty case, but recently she’s gone a step further. Here the most stylish residents have been telling each other about their adventures with eyelash extensions.
“It saves me a lot of time in the morning,” said Zeena Abu Al Sa’ad, a journalism senior at the American University in Dubai.
Photo of Zeena Abu Al Sa’ad
“I don’t need to wear eyeliner or mascara anymore,” she said. “I can be ready much faster.”
How complicated is it to get long, flirtatious lashes? Zeena Abu Al Sa’ad said the lash extensions, which are applied at a salon, don’t hurt at all. They are completely comfortable, she said, and are reasonably priced at about $100. The extensions last about a month, and follow-up appointments cost about $50.
But not all fashionable young women agree. At least one highly stylish woman said it takes some getting used to.
“They’re comfortable today, but the glue burned when I first had it done,” said Enas Qaddourah, a social media coordinator here.
Photo of Enas Qaddourah
However, in the spirit of il faut souffrir pour être belle (one must suffer to be beautiful), Enas Qaddourah said: “But I’m glad I did it.”
Dubai’s young women can be particularly savvy when it comes to makeup. Especially eye makeup. For decades, if not longer, the ladies here always have known how to dress up their eyes, whether with traditional kohl or Western pencils or liquid liner. And let’s not forget mascara, which is layered on thickly to maximize the look. But if makeup artists thought that was all there was in the local makeup bag, they would be mistaken.
Though the extensions are a new trend, the young women of Dubai embraced false eyelashes a while ago. Whether natural-looking flutters or playfully long fringes on their eyelids, they bought them up. In fact, false lashes are so big here that they’ve made a millionaire out of a young beauty blogger. Huda Kattan, who reportedly has more than 19 million followers on Instagram, has made millions of dollars off her false-eyelash products, which are on sale here at Sephora and elsewhere at the local mall.
Of course it’s no surprise that Kattan made millions selling false eyelashes here because according to Emirates247.com, UAE consumers spent more than $2 billion on beauty products in 2016.
Naturally, there are young ladies who did not contribute to the Kattan fortune. Journalism junior Sarah Skaf said she doesn’t wear false eyelashes and has no intention of ever getting lash extensions.
“No thanks,” she said.
To learn more, check out these links:
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/a58506/huda-kattan-beauty-blogger-interview/
