The Japanese understand a woman's obsession with eyelashes like no other. Japanese beauty magazines routinely feature step-by-step instructions for producing va-va-voom lashes, using something like two different lash curlers, a mascara base, two different mascaras, a mascara top coat, a mascara protector to prevent smudges, and a lash comb to separate lashes (that now look like nothing so much as spider legs). If I incorporated this into my daily morning routine, it wouldn't leave much time for the rest of my eyes, much less my face. So there is every reason to believe that the Japanese invented the first battery-operated heated lash curlers. For the uninitiated, these cult beauty gadgets come in two varieties: wand and crimper, both of which promise a more natural, longer-lasting curl to your lashes.

National manufactures a series of quality heated lash curlers, but what the beauty-obsessed woman who has everything needs is their latest split crimper model, the Matsugekurun EH234P. It allows you to work on the inner and outer halves of your lashes separately, particularly those lashes right at the end (so crucial to that doe-eyed look) that a regular curler never seems to get at. No more unevenly curled lashes - hooray!

Available in pink and blue from Amazon Japan, JC Shop in Hong Kong, and SinaMall (based in California).