I had no problems with this eyelash curler. It's very easy to use, and I've never pinched myself. I grab the eyelashes, then tilt the eyelash curler as far as comfortable and pump.
I am quite content with this, as it is durable and curls my thin eyelashes just fine. I got this as a gift, and since I'm cheap I would only repurchase if it was cheaper :)

**My friends however, really did not see the big deal wit these eyelash curlers So if you are looking for something amazing to give your eyelashes VAVOOM, this might not be it.

I bought this hoping for a great eyelash curler that was superior to drug store brands and was sadly disappointed!
My maybelline eyelash curler that is OLD as the hills works better than this one...The Shu pinched my eyes and didnt give a nice curl to my lashes and instead gave a crimped look especially on the outer corners...it seemed to small for my eyes as well...Back to the drawing board!
***EDIT - i have to revise my original post...i have tried using this some more and although it still is not quite wide enough for my eyes it does give a great soft curl instead of an L shape that i get with some others...I am much happier with this now and don't like the shiseido b/c it doesnt open wide enough for me! Still giving it 4 lippies b/c it was expensive and can't buy it in the store

This is my second favorite eyelash curler, maybe its because of my eye shape (asian almond shaped medium sized eyes) but I find the shisheido curler better.

This does a great job of curling my lashes. I have only used a cheap drugstore curler besides this one, but I noticed that I only have to press once per eye with this one -- whereas with the other I had experience with, I had to curl multiple times to see any lasting effect.

LOVE this curler, highly recommend and it's good quality, it does what it's supposed to do :)

I love this curler. Nothing comes close to it. I have a trick that I use with my curler that makes my lashes much more amazing. I run a little lighter over the curler, let it cool down, and curl my lashes and I swear it makes such a difference!

I have tried dozens of eyelash curlers. I don't know why, but this one is the best! Even though other curlers look the same, there is something unique about the shape. Also lasts much longer than regular curlers! HG!

Love this thing. But I don't buy that you have to replace it every 6 months or less. I just clean mine. Best shaped eyelash curler ever.

This is the best eyelash curler I've ever owned. Is it perfect? No, it doesn't curl my lashes quite as well as I'd like but it's a big improvement over my last curler. A trick is to use a hairdryer to warm up the curler a little before using it to set it, I can't say for sure it makes that much of a difference but it works with hot rollers so it should work on eyelashes too.

Also, I needed to replace the cushion part of the eyelash curler and ordered the shisheido replacements forgetting the curler was shu uemura but they were compatible so no problems there.

I HATE this eyelash curler, and it only adds to the burn that EVERYONE loves it. I have always had better experiences with drug store curlers. I have used the Tarte and other more expensive ones and wasn't impressed. I finally I decided to try the Shu Uemura curler just to see what the hype was all about. I used this thing for about 2 months and slowly and gradually my eyelashes in one spot started to fall out untill there was a cm long bald gap. I didn't even think it was the eyelash curler at first, so I continued to use it for a while until I actually noticed up close that it was pulling out my eyelashes in that one spot. I always clean my curler before and after use. This has never happened to be with any other curler. It has taken a REALLY long time and lots of lash serums to get my lashes to grow back. I'm half philipino but I don't have asian eyes at all, they are large and round so maybe it just isn't made for my eye shape? I have no idea, all I know is this thing wasn't even worth a buck to me, let alone the 20 I paid.