A row over a missing eyelash is to erupt tomorrow when the Advertising Standards Authority takes L’Oréal to task for embellishing models with extra lashes in advertisements for mascara.

The ASA adjudicates on complaints from the public about the accuracy of advertising claims and it is likely to uphold allegations that false lashes were used in advertisements for L’Oréal Telescopic Mascara, featuring Penélope Cruz.

Delving deeply into the exotic world of eyelash definition, length, swoop and curve, the ASA sleuths were shocked to discover that the perfect parabolic curve of batting lash was achieved with a bit of glue and false hairs.

Advertising industry experts yesterday admitted that beauticians frequently add fake lashes to ensure that a model has a complete set of shutters for a photo shoot. “Every actress in Hollywood has got eyelash extensions,” one source in the ad industry said. “The thought that any model would appear on TV without cosmetic enhancement is rubbish.”

The fakery can range from one or two spider’s legs to a complete caterpillar of extensions. Most opt for the “Audrey Hepburn”, five or six lashes added to the edge of the eye to enhance a sexy flutter. The downside, some say, is that you need to wear eye patches in bed to avoid crushing the prosthetic hairs.

The ASA’s adjudication is expected to focus not on the product but the presentation. The ramifications could be large for the advertising and cosmetics industries.

Until now, regulators have voiced few objections to the use of cosmetic fakery in advertisements, and the techniques used by L’Oréal are standard in the industry.

L’Oréal has had brushes in the past with the advertising regulator. The beauty behemoth wrestled with the ASA in 2005 over wrinkle cream. An advertisement featuring Claudia Schiffer claimed that “anticreasing cream with Boswelox” could “counteract skin micro contractions” and “rapidly reduce wrinkles”.

The ASA said that L’Oréal had insufficient evidence to prove that the cream had anything more than cosmetic effect. Another claim that a cream, Perfect Slim, “visibly reduces the appearance of cellulite” was challenged by the ASA and considered to be not scientifically validated, despite the cosmetic company’s assertion that it had been tested on 48 women.

In those cases the French company said it disagreed with the ruling but would comply and it agreed to adapt future advertising. As the ASA moves further into the realm of truth in beauty, it can be expected to ruffle more feathers in the advertising world.

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