Mascara Ads: Are False Eyelashes False Advertising?

I have been flipping through fashion/beauty magazines for most of my adult life and do consider myself a beauty junkie. I am sure that I have spent a small fortune on skincare, bath and body products and cosmetics.

I would get my magazines in the mail and pore over the beauty ads and editor's beauty picks. I would fantasize about being an editor and getting to be the first to try all those products for free. I would also take note of the products I wanted to try and then head off to the store, or internet. Usually the products I wanted involved skincare because I had quite a battle acne, so I was constantly trying to solve this problem. And there was product after product claiming to heal my acne and the scars.

After being disappointed by skincare so much, I directed my beauty attention to cosmetics-especially mascara. Whenever I saw an ad for a new mascara, I had to try it. I guess mascara offered instant gratification for me because It always worked. Did it work like I wanted it to? Usually not. Did it make my eyelashes longer, stronger, bolder? A little bit. Did my eyelashes look anything like the model's eyelashes in the mascara ad? Heaven's no!! Did I ever expect my eyelashes to look like the model's eyelashes in the ad. Yes! at one point I really did. This was at a time when beauty ads were a tittle bit more believable, but now beauty ads (especially mascara) are a bit ridiculous.

The mascara usually makes some type of claim like lifts up to 60% or magnifies lashes up to four times. And the models in the ads have the most unbelievably long lashes. And these long lashes are usually false. Not only are they false lashes but the lashes are also often digitally enhanced. Plus, makeup artists spend hours preparing eyelashes for ad and commercials while the average woman can only spare a few minutes for her lashes.

So can the use of false eyelashes and digital enhancement in mascara ads be considered false advertisement? In theory probably yes, but in reality probably not.

I am not expert but I think that most beauty companies know all the lingo and loopholes to protect themselves from false advertising claims. This is why they usually never make promises "to you" -they only make claims. For instance, instead of saying this mascara will make your lashes really long, they will say this mascara is "designed" to make lashes really long. The claims are just vague enough to keep them out of trouble and to keep us wanting more. Plus they never tell consumers that their product will make them look like the model in the ad. The model is there to feed our beauty fantasies and imaginations (and to sell loads of mascara).

However, a couple of companies have come under fire from some advertising watchdog groups for mascara claims. L'oreal got in trouble about a year ago in London, and so did Rimmel. But this was a year ago, and mascara ads have not changed at all because of it-and they probably will not. Mascara and beauty ads will only change if consumers don't buy. And as long as consumers want and need to feel and look beautiful, they will buy- regardless of false eyelashes, retouching, and digital enhancement. I know I will, Plus there is just that urge to see how well a product will really work. Though, now I am looking for more natural and eco friendly brands.