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Pauline Shadden works out of a truck, wears jeans on her job and often views her handiwork from the top of a ladder. She is in the roofing business.

The procedure in which artificial lashes are glued, one by one, onto real lashes is gathering momentum. Celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Naomi Campbell and Jessica Simpson are said to be wearing them. Ditto for Oprah and Britney. Rumors are that Jennifer Lopez has mink ones, and Madonna's are said to be diamond-studded. Gift certificates for the procedure were included in this year's Oscar gift bags.

The products, methods and costs vary widely, and application can take up to two hours. Average costs run from $150 to $300 in the Midwest and $400 and $500 on the East and West coasts.

The lashes are said to last as long as six weeks, but less pricey touch-ups every two to three weeks are recommended. Colored lashes are available for a highlight effect.

The practice is growing at a time when false lashes reminiscent of Twiggy in the late `60s are becoming popular again. Cosmetic companies are focused on researching and developing magical mascara wands that make lashes look long and glamorous. A Boca Raton, Fla., physician, Alan J. Bauman (www.baumanmedical.com ), says he transplants hair from the scalp onto the eyes in the same way that balding men have hair transplants.

"We talk to a lot of stylists and they all say, `Never skip your lashes,'" says Tram Nguyen, a beauty writer with Glamour magazine. The extensions are a "sneaky way to look fresh and young."

Celebrities and their media coverage have given the lashes a glossy cachet. But the products are apparently enticing real people like Shadden, of Kansas, who live and work far from the glamour track.

Lisa Sangster of Overland Park, Kan., says she was always obsessed with lashes and wished for longer, luxurious flutterers like her son had. When he was 7, she says, he made her a Mother's Day card on which he taped a few of his own lashes. "If I could trade you my eye lashes today, I would," he wrote.

Sangster, who works as a senior administrative assistant and a baby-sitting instructor and also markets health products on a Web site, says she was in a doctor's office when she spotted an ad for lash extensions. Without a second thought, she scheduled an appointment with Patricia Thomas. Thomas also trains other aestheticians on the technique.

Tim Dana, founder of Lavish Lashes in Riverside, Calif., estimates the number of companies marketing the lashes has grown from less than five to 30 in the year or so since he started his business. He says he and his wife were hooked after she discovered them at a salon where she had permanent makeup applied.

Extensions have been common in Asia for several years, and the most widely used procedures were adapted from South Korea. Dana, formerly with Tyco, was so intrigued with the idea that the couple flew to Korea and the Philippines to investigate.

With individual lashes, the false hair is usually glued on the lash near but not at the lash base. Technicians generally use 20 to 50 and in some cases 80 lashes. Sometimes they curl the real lashes first to fit the curved false lashes.

Lashes should be administered by a trained and practiced technician with a steady hand, like any medical cosmetics procedure. Most major companies supply only to people who have been trained and are candidates for certification.

The education involves six to eight hours in one day, and, more important, most companies require considerable follow-up, including practice sessions and before-and-after photos before the trainee can be certified.

Most professionals urge consumers to make careful choices and inquire about training, certification and experience before submitting their eyes to a treatment.

"My biggest concern is that someone is going to get hurt," says Dana, whose company requires eight hours of workshop training and a follow-up of before-and-after pictures indicating the person has performed the procedure safely 10 times.

Catherine Piercy, a beauty writer for Allure magazine, says the one and only complaint she has heard is dry eyes. Caution is advised. Diabetics should check with their physicians. And it could be irritating for people who sleep in contact lenses.

Also, never wear contact lenses during the application of the lashes, Dana says. Adhesive in the eye could cause serious problems. Don't try to take them off yourself. A special solution is provided for removal to be used by the technician.

Meanwhile, the lash adhesive has been at the center of a competitive fray. Sophy Merszei, the co-founder of Houston-based Nova Lashes, says the Korean glue is unsafe. She says it can trigger allergic reactions and contains formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen. A cosmetic chemist, Merszei says she has created a safer substance for the kits the company markets in salons and on the Internet.

But other companies report no negative reactions and brush off the claim as a competitive ploy. Most people use a surgical glue. It should never get into the eyes, and if used correctly with individual lashes, it doesn't necessarily touch the skin.

"It's a huge trend, and it's getting bigger and bigger," Piercy says. True, it's expensive and time-consuming, but "you just budget it into your schedule."

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