If you have had the opportunity to know any Saudis and have a chance to look at their eyes you’ll likely immediately notice without fail, Saudis have incredible and beautiful long thick eyelashes. In fact, my own husband has such long lashes that sometimes his lower and upper eyelashes will meet and get intertwined together. These long eyelashes accompanied by piercing near black eyes give Saudis a very distinctive and attractive look (at least in my opinion). Saudis will always express themselves not only with their words but with their eyes as well.
But have you wondered WHY Saudis and other GCC nationals seem to have such long and stunning eyelashes? I certainly have. Now it is a fact that camels also have stunning long eyelashes and the reason they do is because it protects them from the sun, sand and dirt of the harsh climate in which they live. It does make me wonder if this is part why Saudis also have such long eyelashes? This link explains the long eyelashes and environment at least in the case of desert camels: http://woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/adaptations/camels.htm
I did a number of searches and came up with zero in regards to specifically why Saudis have long eyelashes. I’m curious to hear the thoughts of others on why Saudis and other GCC nationals were blessed with the lovely lashes.
And in closing, I do find it Ironic that even with such beautiful NATURAL long eyelashes many Saudi women will still add a set of false eyelashes to their eyelids which are even longer when they are going to a wedding or a special function.
Filed under: culture, gender, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel, Women Issues
AA Carol,
Very interesting how you put this idea together about the eyelashes. Never would have thought much about it. I really like your thought about the camels and the climate. You could be on to something. Insh’Allah I’ll be back to see others thoughts.
By the way, I loved your interview with Aafke. Shes a hoot!!! ; ) Great new banner too!
I don’t know if this is the reason about the eyelashes, but it is the custom for all the babies in this region to have “kahl” put on their eyes on a regular basis. They grow up to have big beautiful eyes. Mashallah.
Sorry if this is boring to most of you, but DNA is what i work with everyday. There are numberous studies that point to the fact that people who originate in areas of desert, have a couple of genes that are similar in the desert animals around them. These genes however are there in people who arent of desert decent, but they are slighty modified and therefore dont achive the same results. this actually a team in jeddah i believe, who is trying to identify the “arab” genome and show how arab are different. of course their purpose is to help with things like why arabs are showing signs that they are more prone to heart deasise and obesity and some other genetic problems.
Atleast in my personal observations, those who are more bedouin in heratiage tend to have the most thick and long eyelashes, and the similarity to camels is what reminded me about the dna thing.
I’ve read somewhere that thick eyebrows, and eyelashes are a neccasity to keep sand out of the eyes of desert-dwelling people. Gotta love evolution.
Thank you ALL for your comments.
TPG – please tell us more. This is fascinating and reassures me that I’m not off on a bizarre tangent. I always try to find explanations when I notice something different or unusual, such as with the incredibly long eyelashes.
Working in the health care/medical education sector I can say that there always seem to be a number of differing studies, research and analysis going on here due to the high influx of unique diseases, conditions and afflications that Saudis havesuch as the right of diabetis, heart disease, liver disease, blood disorders, cancer, obesity, etc. I guess in that way, Saudi is a mecca for scientific research.
Mary Ann – Yes; I have seen so many babies (as well as older men) who wear the kohl under their eyes. Some folks have told me it is to help with the intense sunlight but I’m not sure exactly how it does so.
My son had the most beautiful thick eyelashes when he was young…full grown women were swooning over this little boy…lol. As an 18 year old he still has them but not quite as adorable as before…lol.
some one stop me! i am blogging at 2 am! haha..
a link to the project i was talking about is http://www.clcngs.com/2008/09/10/first-of-100-arab-human-genomes-sequenced-by-saudi-biosciences-beijing-genomics-institute-shenzhen-and-clc-bio/
If you want a more skimmed over version try reading this http://memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=2944
As for why study in saudi? 1. you have many arabs here, you can collect DNA samples even from haji travelers and most importantly 2. Saudi has the money to fund this.
As for the genes being different between desert and not, this article goes into it alittle bit more althought it glides over the animal simlarity part.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422150659.htm
Genes and your DNA are amazing things. Even the foods you crave and the way you metablolize things are controlled by genes (and giving credit to where it is due, ultimately, it is controlled by Allah).
I honestly could go on for hours about DNA and some of the amazing things we have discovered about what makes each person unique
sorry if this double posts.. i had it typed up and then when i hit post it hasnt showed up.
I could go on for HOURS about DNA and genes, so instead i am going to give you some links so you can read to your hearts content. (although if you have questions, i love this stuff and i would be glad to help.)
The site to give you more information about the arab genome project can be found here
http://www.clcngs.com/2008/09/10/first-of-100-arab-human-genomes-sequenced-by-saudi-biosciences-beijing-genomics-institute-shenzhen-and-clc-bio/
although if you want a more summed up and less scientific version, read the story posted here.
http://memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=2944
And i know why they chose to study it based in saudi
1. they have accesss to many many types of arabs, you just have to ask haji travelers for dna samples .
the most important reason 2. Saudi has the money to pay for this experiment…. Trust me, it is expensive to do
As for the fact about desert people being different try this site, it doesnt cover much about how the animals and the humans are similar but it probably will be enough to make sense. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422150659.htm
MaryAnn:
Kohl is also used by adult Saudi men, though less frequently.
well,
when you speak about Saudi having having so many diseases, for some reason all i think about is inbreeding. Many tribal folk around have traditions of inbreeding between cousins, which might focus the gene pool. which makes dominant genes more … well dominant.
If long eyelashes is a dominant gene then that will supports my theory.
that also might cause the unique diseases you talk about,also the rise of diabetes and heart disease.
but I do agree that the reason why long eyelashes did become dominant in the first place in the region is a result of evolution, protecting the eyes from sand.
Abdullah
“That also might cause the unique diseases you talk about,also the rise of diabetes and heart disease.”
I think the rise of these diseases has more to do with environment than genetics. The diet all over the middle east (not just Saudi) has become incredibly unhealthy. And than when you add in the fact that Saudi/Arabs (especially women) tend to not exercise it makes for a very bad combination.
About the actual topic I’ve always wondered about why various racial/ethnic groups tend to have certain physical characteristics and whether that imparts some type of evolutionary advantage over those without. One of the ones I’ve most wondered about was Chinese/Japanese shaped eyes.
If anyone knows any articles/books on this subject feel free to let me know btw
TPG – thank you for sharing. I apologize bu posts with a lot of lins require moderation on my part.
I think the issues in the Kingdom are a combination of genetic and envronmental factors. The continuaion of marriages within families dos make a significant impact too.
While naturally long eye lashes are nice and wonderful, there’s always the fake ones to compensate for those with short eye lashes like me.
Of course, the real reason for the long eye lashes has been commented upon by other commentators. Heeheehee.
The fake eyelashes do look very lovely but they can be a real bear to remove later!!
It is pure natural selection: Because you can only flirt with your eyes, and your eyes look so lovely and mysterious in niqab, women with the most beautiful eyes, and thickest eyelashes get the men!!!
Well, there is a lot of sickle-cell about in KSA, and that is surely a result of both inbreeding and a reluctance to recognise the disease and test for it. ”It’s all in the hands of Allah”
But not really; you can test yourself and your prospective mate and make sure your poor children won’t have to suffer from this disease.
aafke
Bahrain has a testing before marriage policy now exactly because cousins marrying cousins has weakened the gene pool among Bahrainis to such and extent…genetic diseases are more common now. All the pride about being Arab and marrying only family is going to do away with the lot of you if you dont start marrying out a little more…and allowing Arab women to as well…they are half the gene pool you know.
You being the Arab you…not you aafke…lol. and no Im not against having pride in yourself as an Arab…just saying.
Well, I admit. We Saudis have astonishing eyes along with long eye lashes but that doesn’t exist in most of Jeddah citizens if you have noticed any.
You know, I have been always asked what kind of mascara do I use at work that makes my eye lashes look so natural and black and I answer saying “Let me wear make up forst and then I will wear mascara” lol
I hate applying make up on a daily basis, I can’t help it lol
Aafke, coolred – Saudi Arabia also has enforced laws regarding pre-marriage blood testing for various genetic incompatibilities.
HS – it never ceases to amaze me the long thick lashes ya’ll have naturally without the need for any mascara. And you’re right in regards to Jeddah…I guess the Hijazis are more mixed due to Jeddah being a commercial port city.
American Bedu:
Hijazis have plenty of international genes sloshing around. Not only is Jeddah a port city, Mecca and Medina have been a popular destination for religiously minded immigrants for centuries, long before the oil boom made Saudi Arabia such an attractive (financially) place to call home.
In some ways Saudi Jawa, Jeddah feels like a different country (when compared to Riyadh)!
My elder son (05 years) has very long eyelashes. He has difficulty opening his eyes in the mornings because they are intertwined.
awwww, you must simply get a picture of that! I bet it is so cute.
Reuters chose to pick up this post:
http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/investing?bbPostId=B6kcqoGH9Pf8Bzn7nRZ5sNNoCzB80VdmQ6rYoB7d6RD57iQGD