Are heated eyelash curlers worth the internet hype?

Calling all people with stubborn, stick-straight lashes: Ever thought about using a curling iron for your lashes?

OK, not an actual, full-sized curling iron. But the latest beauty tech innovation buzzing around the internet is the heated lash curler. While the classic eyelash curler has been around since the 1930s, the heated lash curler has only recently started making the rounds on platforms like TikTok, where #heatedeyelashcurler has garnered 18.7 million views.

Unlike the traditional clamping device, the modern version mostly uses a skinny, grooved rod design that heats up and glides over the lashes — so while it employs heat, it might be physically gentler on delicate lash hairs.

65 degrees is the lowest heat setting on Lash Star. Is 95 degrees too hot?! Credit: Lash Star

There are tons of different versions of the heated lash curler on the market, but we tested out the Lash Star, which hosts four different heat settings between 65 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It's small, rechargeable, and pretty simple to figure out. But does it actually curl your lashes better than a traditional curler?

In this episode of Beauty, Hacked, we get to the bottom of it, and show you side by side comparisons of heated, traditional, mascara, and no mascara combinations, all while explaining exactly why heat has been used to shape our hair molecules for ages. Tune in to see which curler works best on Jennimai's very straight, curl-averse Asian lashes, and whether touching 90 degrees of heat to your eyelid actually burns!