lash lust; Long butterfly eyelashes-no mascara required.(Column)

There was a seismic rumble on Lanvin's spring runway. The faces were minimal, clean, and as stripped down as the clothes. It was just lashes: long, dark lashes.

Of course I've always wanted long lashes; who doesn't? Most women, when asked which makeup item they can't live without answer, "Mascara." Fluttery dark lashes make a face look finished: innocent yet sophisticated.

But long lashes didn't happen for me. My husband has them. Our daughters, too. (His genes are "hegemonic," he tells me. Grow like hedges?) For me, last fall's "Flemish face"-no mascara, no liner-should have been a cinch. But at 40, I just looked like a soccer mom.

Back to the Lanvin runway. "Pat McGrath used false lashes to create that look," says my editor, "but now she's obsessed with extensions. Would you like to try them?"

Years ago I tried applying false lashes, and they'd just end up where they shouldn't.

"No, no," she explains. "These aren't false lashes. Not the kind we think of. These are lash extensions: hairs individually bonded to your own lashes. They last for weeks."

Individually bonded? Is that even possible?