We’ve seen a lot of crazy beauty hacks on YouTube that all claim to work miracles on your hair and skin. Some YouTube beauty gurus swear Vicks VapoRub will grow your hair and edges. Others promise a swipe of olive oil and castor oil, when left on overnight, will lengthen your lashes.
While some of these unconventional methods may actually work, we recently came across one YouTube tutorial that left us speechless. In the video, beauty blogger Lily Seymour, demonstrates to her subscribers how she makes her eyelashes pop, and it doesn’t involve using a special wand or expensive brand of mascara.
No, the secret to Seymour’s eyelash-lengthening hack is a box relaxer. Yep, you read that correctly. Seymour relaxes her curly eyelashes because it makes it easier to put false eyelashes on. We’re all aware of the damage harsh chemical relaxers can cause to your hair and scalp. So, it’s quite shocking to see someone applying a perm to one of the most sensitive areas of the face.
In the video, you can see Seymour carefully applying small portions of SoftSheen Carson Professional Optimum Multi-Mineral Reduce pH Creme Relaxer to her individual lashes, strand-by-strand. The only form of protection she uses is Vaseline on her lids and contacts to shield her eyeballs.
After her lashes are sufficiently coated with the relaxer, she allows it to sit for at least 10 minutes until straightened. Then, she takes a napkin to wipe the relaxer off. She does mention in the video, however, that she washes her face, but she doesn’t specify what type of facial wash she uses.
Obviously, the unusual and, admittedly, dangerous beauty hack went viral, prompting Seymour to disable the comments on her YouTube channel and write an explanation on her personal blog. Initially, she stated, she removed the video from her channel because the comments were disgusting. However, she’s since uploaded the video again with the necessary disclaimer for viewers not to try this method at home.
In the accompanying blog post, she explained: “I have really curly eyelashes and it’s no secret that curls and coils are part of my African American heritage and it’s something I’m really proud of. With that said, my curly eyelashes really bothers me to the point that straightening them has become a permanent part of my beauty routine. I have been straightening my curly eyelashes on and off for almost 20 yrs using the Optimum Permanent Cream [sic] Relaxer in Mild and it makes me very happy!”
As most Black women can attest to, allowing a relaxer to sit on our hair for longer than 10 minutes is asking a lot. We can’t imagine how Seymour has been doing this for more than two decades. For anyone slightly interested, keep in mind eyelash perming has not been approved by the FDA or given the okay by the good folks at SoftSheen Carson, so proceed with caution.