The Lashify Invention Archive

The True History of Cluster Lashes

From the single knotted flare of 1971 to the multi-cluster lash you wear under your own. Every date sourced.

Researched by Lashify · Sources at the end

The short answer

Single cluster lashes are decades old. A cluster was one tiny knot of 3 to 8 fibers that you glued on one at a time. Eylure sold individual lashes in 1965, and Ardell's DURALASH individuals were on sale in the US from 1971.

The multi-cluster lash you wear under your own lashes was invented by Sahara Lotti. She filed the patent on July 28, 2016, and Lashify sold the first Control Kit on September 25, 2017. Every other under-lash "cluster" brand we could find launched in 2019 or later.

1971Single "individual" cluster lashes on sale in the US

July 28, 2016Lashify files the patent for the multi-cluster lash worn under the lashes

Sept 25, 2017First Lashify Control Kit order

1. What a cluster lash was, 1965 to 2015

For about fifty years, a "cluster" meant one small bundle of fibers. It came knotted, or knot-free (a "flare"). It came in short, medium and long. You dipped it in glue and set it with tweezers on or between your natural lashes, usually three to five per eye.

1965: Eylure sells individual lashes in the UK.¹
October 11, 1971: Ardell's DURALASH "artificial individualized eyelashes" are first used in US commerce, with LashTite adhesive filed the same year.²
1995: A patent describes the knot-free cluster, made because people could feel the knot when they blinked.³
2004 to 2006: One-hair-at-a-time salon extensions spread. Salons sell cheaper "cluster extensions" that last one to two weeks.⁴

Clusters had a reputation. Wearers called them fiddly and said the glue set too fast.⁵ Lash professionals warned that clusters were heavy and could damage natural lashes.⁶ In February 2016, a licensed esthetician wrote that clusters "are NOT lash extensions."⁷

Three different things people call lashes
	Single cluster (flare)	Strip lash	Gossamer® (multi-cluster)
What it is	One knot of 3 to 8 fibers	A full row of lashes on one band	Many clusters joined on one ultra-fine base
Where it goes	On top of or between your lashes	On top of your lash line	Under your natural lashes
How many per eye	3 to 5, one at a time	1	About 5 to 6 sections
Held with	Lash glue	Lash glue	A flexible bond, fused with a wand and sealed
Since	1960s to 1971	1900s	2016 (patent), 2017 (on sale)

2. The invention, 2016

In 2016, Sahara Lotti was a screenwriter who wanted salon lash extensions without the salon. Nothing on the market did it. In her words, "It literally did not exist, so I created it!"⁸

What she made changed three things at once:

The lash. Many clusters joined on one ultra-fine base, so a whole section goes on in one move. She called it the Gossamer®.
Where it goes. Under your natural lashes, not on top. Your own lashes hide the base and hold it.
How it stays. A flexible bond instead of hard glue, pressed together with a wand (fusing), then sealed, and removed with a remover when you're done.

On July 28, 2016, she filed US provisional patent application 62/368,116 for the lash and how it is applied. The international application followed on July 27, 2017, and was published on February 1, 2018.⁹ The first US patent from that filing, No. 10,660,388, Artificial Lash Extensions, was granted on May 26, 2020.¹⁰

3. The launch, 2017

August 15, 2016: the LASHIFY trademark is filed.¹¹
March 9, 2017: Lashify's online store is set up.
May 23, 2017: the GOSSAMER trademark is filed.¹²
September 25, 2017: the first order, #1001, a Lashify Control Kit. Forty-six orders follow before the end of 2017.
November 14, 2017: the first Gossamer refill order, the Amplify style.
March 2018: more than 1,300 orders. August 2018: Into The Gloss reviews the Gossamer.¹³

Store dates and order counts come from Lashify's own order records.

4. What came after, 2019 to 2024

Every other under-lash or DIY "cluster" brand we could document launched after Lashify:

June 2019 FlutterHabit launches, with lash segments worn under the natural lashes.¹⁴
January 2020 KISS launches Falscara, according to Lashify's 2020 complaint. KISS says Falscara launched in 2020.¹⁵¹⁶
2020 Lilac St. is founded.¹⁷ Sellers on Amazon list "band cluster" lashes, some under the name "Gossamer."¹⁵
October 2023 Ardell launches Seamless "underlash" clusters at Ulta.¹⁸
2024 Eylure lists an Underlash kit.¹⁹

5. How the word "cluster" changed

Until about 2023, a "cluster" still meant the old single flare. Lashify's own blog defined it that way in February 2023.²⁰ In August 2023, a trend tracker described "cluster lashes" as "also called flares."²¹

Then the name moved. Ardell called its under-lash product "clusters" in October 2023.¹⁸ "Lash clusters" became a trend topic in March 2024.²² By 2025, searches for "cluster lashes" were up 60.7% in a year.²³

Today, when people say "cluster lashes," they usually mean the thing Lashify invented: many clusters on one base, worn under the lashes. The word is old. The product it now describes is not.

6. Claims and the record

Here is what others have said, next to the dated record. Read each pair and judge for yourself.

They said "The pioneering DIY lash brand."

FlutterHabit press release, February 26, 2026²⁴

The record FlutterHabit launched in June 2019.¹⁴ Lashify filed its patent on July 28, 2016, and sold its first Control Kit on September 25, 2017, 21 months earlier.

They said "I searched the market looking for a solution and couldn't find anything."

FlutterHabit's co-founder, Beauty Independent, January 3, 2022, describing 2018¹⁴

The record By March 2018, Lashify had filled more than 1,300 orders. By August 2018, Into The Gloss had reviewed it.¹³

They said "the under lash method that inspired our Founder, Kasey to create"

FlutterHabit blog, February 7, 2023²⁵

The record The under-lash method came first. FlutterHabit's own blog says so.

They said "the world's first-ever one-step, press-on under lash false eyelashes"

KISS imPRESS launch, Chain Drug Review, March 1, 2023²⁶

The record The claim is limited to pre-glued press-ons. Lashify's under-lash Gossamer was on sale from September 2017, five and a half years earlier.

They said Lashify "entered the market in 2018."

Hypebae, July 17, 2025 (paraphrased)²⁷

The record Lashify's first order was placed on September 25, 2017.

They said "Before the early 2000s, we were already using cluster lashes in the beauty world."

D'Lashes founder, quoted by Hypebae, July 17, 2025²⁷

The record True, of single clusters, which go back to 1965. It says nothing about a lash of many clusters on one base, worn under the lashes. That is what was invented in 2016.

7. The 2019 factory emails

In February 2017, Sahara sent drawings of the Lashify wand and lash to a Korean manufacturer, Interwork, to scale production.²⁸

On Thursday, March 28, 2019, ten months before Falscara launched, an email to Interwork about a new lash, bond, sealer, remover and applicator said:

"Can Interwork provide us with possible suggestions on how we can differentiate our concept from Lashify's?"
"We were told at the show that the applicator is too similar to Lashify's."
Comparing three applicators: "Lashify's Wand → iEnvy's Curved Applicator → KISS's 2020 NPD Applicator."

A reply in the same thread records that Interwork "will not make us this type of tube because it is too similar to Lashify's."²⁹

The full thread is published on the Lashify Chronicles.²⁹ iEnvy is a KISS brand.

8. Patents and court decisions

Lashify holds more than 700 granted patents and registrations worldwide. Here are the ones behind the lash, grouped by the filing they come from.

What it covers	First filed	US patents (granted)
The Gossamer® lash and how it is applied under the lashes	July 28, 2016	10,660,388 (2020), 10,721,984 (2020), 11,219,260 (2022), 11,234,472 (2022), 11,253,020 (2022), 11,330,855 method of applying (2022), 11,330,856 (2022)
The applicator (wand) and cases	December 20, 2016	10,638,826 (2020); design D814,107, filed December 5, 2016, granted March 27, 2018
Stacking Gossamers for volume	October 3, 2019	11,432,608 (2022), 11,819,079 (2023)
The charcoal bond	September 30, 2019	11,466,182 (2022), 12,037,519 (2024), 12,351,740 (2025)

The full list is on our patents page.

In court.

August 2024: a federal jury in Texas found that Worldbeauty willfully infringed Lashify's patents and awarded $30.5 million in lost profits.³⁰
March 5, 2025: in Lashify's case at the US International Trade Commission against KISS, Walmart, CVS, Ulta, Lilac St. and others, the Federal Circuit ruled that the Commission had taken too narrow a view of Lashify's US business (sales, marketing, warehousing and distribution count) and sent the case back.³¹ The Commission had found no violation in 2022, on that point among others.³² The case later ended in a settlement with two of the companies.³³

9. What existed before us

A history is only useful if it is honest. These came before Lashify, and we say so:

Single cluster lashes, from the 1960s and 1971.¹²
A 1971 patent describing one cluster secured to the underside of a natural lash.³⁴
A 2006 salon system that sandwiches the lashes between two pieces.³⁵
An Ardell DIY "Extension Kit" of single clusters, by 2007.³⁶
People placing single flares under their lashes, described in a forum in 2015.³⁷
The segmented strip lash, invented by Alexsandra Byrne.³⁸

What did not exist was a lash made of many clusters on one ultra-fine base, designed to be worn under the natural lashes, with its own bond, wand, sealer and remover, sold as one kit you use at home. That is what Lashify invented in 2016 and has sold since 2017.

10. Questions

Who invented cluster lashes?

Single cluster lashes go back to the 1960s, and Ardell's individuals were on sale in the US from 1971. The multi-cluster lash worn under the natural lashes, the Gossamer®, was invented by Sahara Lotti, founder of Lashify, who filed the patent on July 28, 2016.

What is the difference between cluster lashes and lash extensions?

Salon lash extensions are single fibers glued to each natural lash by a technician. A cluster is a small bundle of fibers. Lashify's Gossamer® joins many clusters on one ultra-fine base that you place under your own lashes yourself, so it looks like extensions without the salon.

What does underlash mean?

Placing the lash under your natural lashes instead of on top of them. Your own lashes hide the base and help hold it. Lashify built its system around this placement in 2016.

When did Lashify launch?

Lashify filled its first Control Kit order on September 25, 2017. The patent was filed on July 28, 2016.

Are cluster lashes bad for your natural lashes?

Single clusters glued on top of the lash line with hard glue have a long reputation for pulling out natural lashes. The Gossamer® was designed differently: it sits under the lashes, uses a flexible bond, and comes off with a remover. See how to remove them safely.

Shop the original multi-cluster lashes

Sources

Last updated November 2, 2026. Order dates and counts are from Lashify's own records. Patent dates are from the patent documents. Found an error or an earlier source? Email concierge@lashify.com and we'll correct it.

Suggestions

Are you looking for...

Gossamer® Lashes

Bonds and Sealers

Control Kit

Tools and Wands