Fake lashes that make you look special - even if you can't see

Biologically speaking, eyelashes exist merely to stop dirt from getting into our eyes. But at a product party last week for Japanese cosmetics-maker Shu Uemura, its makeup artist tried to suggest that lashes - the fake variety - can also act as a kind of shield against the sun.

A 'fashion statement on eyes' was the theme of the company's Tokyo Lash Bar night at M1NT on Thursday, where a new collection of 22 pairs of false eyelashes was presented by beauty expert Yuji Asano. He hinted that two such samples, the lucent sun and sky lashes in plastic green and orange, can protect against ultraviolet light.

'They are all specially designed,' the Japanese makeup stylist said. 'We focused on the quality, with all the technology behind the design, which was not the case before.'

The look is exaggerated, to say the least. In fact, it resembles putting a big feathery awning over your eyelids. While that might be fine for a large-eyed model like Lynn Xiong Dai-lin (above with Asano), who bugged out even more during the demo, what about Asian girls whose blinkers are relatively smaller?

'It doesn't matter, really,' Asano argued. 'With proper makeup, they suit everybody. Sure, they may sometimes block visibility for Asian girls, but then they're a style as well.'

In short, it's not whether you can see, it's how you look.