Think Blink: Paris Hilton and Rihanna's Eyelash Master, Ja'Maal Buster
The eye spy can spot the good fakes from the bad in an instant
Stunt lashes like these are perfect for musicians and actors and models and people who spend a lot of time traipsing up and down red carpets. He did Rihanna’s 3-inch eyelashes for her “Disturbia” video, and one of the three house calls he’s making today is to Paris Hilton to apply lashes that will last two weeks. But what really gets Buster fired up is making lashes look as realistic as possible to the point you can’t even tell they’re fake.
He lopes across the street to Saks Fifth Avenue to examine the wares. He walks with a touch of swagger, not uncalled for if you are angling to be the go-to eyelash guy in the Western Hemisphere. He is lanky, handsome with rounded boyish features and a thatch of curly, puffy black hair. He has small hands and long skinny fingers. Like the hands of a surgeon, people are always telling him. If he were a surgeon, he might be accused of having a God complex. Thus far, he has not seen lash work better than his.
Unlike most surgeons, he is self-taught.
Ironically, his own lashes are sparse because he has the problem where people pull out their lashes when they’re stressed. From this malady springs a deep compassion for those who are eyelash-challenged. “I can’t do everybody’s lashes in the world,” he says with feeling. “I wish I could, but I just can’t. I would die, probably.”
Over at Saks’ Shu Uemura counter, he pokes at some cubes of acrylic into which lashes have been embedded. He holds one up to his eye. They look like very small Damien Hirst sculptures — scientific, anatomical, pretty and just a bit unsettling. “I love these. Shu Uemura is the person who did the most to bring lashes back, especially couture lashes.”
The salesgirls at the MAC counter greet him by name. Of the crisscross lashes, Buster declares: “These are cute.” Of the MAC individual flares that you glue on one painstaking hair at a time: “I’m not a fan. They break off.” To one saleslady at another counter, who bats her large lashes at Buster coquettishly: “Thanks for letting us admire your lashes!” To me, quietly, as he turns away: “Poor thing. She needs to fix her lashes. They’re falling apart.”
Eyelash Guru Ja’Maal Buster; (310) 651-4344 or www.jamaalbuster.com.
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