I bought face tape to prove it doesn't work
Two weeks. Every part of it, including the parts that didn't go well.
By Isabella Payton
I've bought the creams. I've done the rolling thing with the cold stone. There's a device in my drawer that vibrates and does nothing, and I paid $89 for it.
So when the tape ads started following me around, I ordered a box to write about why it's rubbish.
I filmed the first attempt because I assumed I'd want proof of how little happened.
First I just wanted to know if it did anything at all.
No going out. No makeup. Bathroom mirror, phone propped against the tap.
I did one side only. That felt like the fair test. Two sides and I'd talk myself into seeing something.
One side. No cuts. Watch the jaw on the left of your screen.
I watched it back twice.
I wasn't expecting the difference to be that obvious. I thought I'd be squinting and talking myself into something, and instead I turned my head and one side of my jaw had a line along it and the other one didn't.
That was the first moment I thought, okay. Maybe this actually does something.
Then I did the other side, which is not what someone writing a takedown does.
Then I did my makeup straight over the top of it.
This is the part I'd assumed would be the problem.
It isn't. The strips are clear and they sit completely flat, so there's no ridge and no edge. Foundation goes over them the way it goes over skin. Once my makeup was on there was nothing there to look at.
I went to dinner that night waiting for someone to squint at me. Nobody did. About twenty minutes in I stopped thinking about it, and by the time I got home I'd forgotten it was on at all.
Day four I pulled it too tight and learned something.
I want to include this because everyone does it and nobody mentions it.
I was rushing, and I assumed harder meant more. So I pulled it as tight as it would go before sticking it down.
You get a fold. The skin bunches up into a little ridge in front of your ear and it's the one way to make this obvious. It also aches by lunchtime.
The lift comes from where it sits, not from how hard you pull. There's a hinge in front of your ear where your jaw connects, and once it's on that spot you need almost no tension at all. Gentle is the whole technique.
Took it off, redid it properly, fine. Cost me one strip.
Week two, my sister asked me twice what I'd changed.
She asked on the Saturday and I said nothing. She asked again on the Sunday and told me she didn't believe me.
That's the thing I didn't anticipate. It doesn't look like you've had something done, because you haven't. It looks like you slept, or you're drinking water, or something good happened. People reach for whatever explanation is nearest.
Nobody has ever guessed. I've told two people and both of them made me lift my hair to look.
Three things I'd tell you before you order.
Put it on before your hair and makeup, not after.
It's the first thing, not the last. Working it in around a finished blowout is a fight you'll lose.
Do one side first.
Don't do both and stand there trying to decide. One side, mirror, turn your head. You'll know in under a minute and you won't need my opinion or anyone else's.
Peel it off slowly and downwards,
in the direction your hair grows. Warm water on it first makes it easier. Ripping it is how people end up sore and blaming the tape.
FAQ
Will it show under makeup?
The strips are clear and sit flat, so foundation goes over them the same way it goes over skin. Apply the strips first, then do your makeup.
Does it hurt coming off?
Peel it slowly, downward, in the direction your hair grows. Warm water on the strip first makes it easier.
Does it hold if I sweat?
What if my hair is short?
Then it's visible, and I'd rather tell you now than have you order it and find out. This works if your hair falls over your ears.
What if it doesn't work on me?
Do one side, look in the mirror, and if it isn't obvious to you, send it back inside 60 days.
I ordered this to prove a point.
The point didn't survive one side of my face.
Get Yours NowBuy one, get one free. 60 days to send it back.