These days, eyelash extensions are huge. Everyone is getting them, and everyone is doing them. Who wouldn't want to wake up with beautiful, long, fluttery eyelashes and not have to use mascara? While there are many pros to extensions, there are also cons. And, truth be told, they're not for everyone. I had been wanting to try them forever. After doing extensive research and watching many YouTube videos, I decided to finally take the plunge.
I bought a Groupon (and yes, many people would tell you not to do this), but the place I bought it to seemed reputable. It had good reviews, and her normal prices were pretty comparable to what others in the area charge. I think what most beauty gurus will tell you is don't buy a Groupon just because it's a good deal--make sure you research the place and check their reviews ahead of time. When I went to book my service, she was booked out for over 2 weeks. From everything I read, I took this as a good sign--if you can get in right away, she might not be too experienced, and she might not have that many customers.
When I went in to have them done, I told her what I wanted--something on the more natural side, and something that would open up my eyes. She gave me exactly what I wanted, and I was very happy with the end result. It took about 1.5 hours. I did have some discomfort, which I was not expecting at all--in everything I had read and watched, nobody had ever mentioned this. In fact, all I ever heard was that it is relaxing, and you can't feel anything as the lashes are being applied. The discomfort started shortly after she started applying the lashes. It felt like the glue was really irritating my eyes. My eyes really started to water, which made it a bit difficult for her to apply the lashes, but it was something I had absolutely no control over. She was able to work through it though and mentioned that I was not the only person that had happened to, and that if I were to keep coming back to get the lashes refilled, my eyes would get used to it. Once the procedure was done, the discomfort and watering (and red eyes) quickly faded, and I was back to normal in no time.
While I found it really convenient to wake up and essentially already have my mascara done, lash extensions are not maintenance free. In fact, at times, they felt quite high maintenance. I was told to not get them wet for 48 hours. After that, I had to be careful when washing my face. I could get them wet, but I had to be careful about it. After getting out of the shower or washing my face, I used a clean spoolie to brush through the lashes in order to keep them separated and going in the right direction. As time went on, this got harder and harder to do, and the lashes eventually got all clumped together and didn't want to separate. Typically on a daily basis, I don't wear any makeup except mascara and eyebrow makeup. There were, however, a couple occasions when I wanted to wear eyeshadow and liner. I was able to do it, but the lashes made it much harder. If you are someone who wears full on eye makeup every day, these might not be for you.
Eyelashes have a growth cycle, and dead lashes fall out on their own (just like the hair on our head). Therefore, the extensions gradually shed with your own lashes. I was a bit concerned when I noticed that some of mine started falling out the very next day. I also noticed that when they fell out, they were in clumps. What I had heard is that there should be a 1:1 ratio with the extensions to your natural lashes--there shouldn't be several lashes glued onto one. I got one refill after 2 weeks. After that, I got them removed after 4 weeks. They still looked decent at that point, but they were definitely more sparse and natural-looking than I wanted. At that point, I really missed just wearing mascara and being able to make it as dramatic as I wanted. As they started to shed, I could see some of my natural lashes peaking through. While I was relieved that they were still there, I was concerned that they appeared a bit shorter than they were prior to extensions. That was when I had a small panic attack and scheduled an appointment to have them removed.
I contacted a different lady, one who specializes in extensions, to have them removed. She noted right away that the extensions look very different than the ones she applies. She uses Nova Lash, which is a very reputable and high-quality brand of lashes. She also noticed right away that several lashes were glued onto one and warned me that I might have some lash damage. Once they were all removed, I saw that she was right--I did have some damage. It wasn't terrible; I had the same amount of lashes, they were just shorter than before. I was sad but also relieved that the damage wasn't worse. She said my lashes would return to normal in about a month. I started right back up with using castor oil on my lashes at night. I am happy to say that just one week later (after using castor oil every night), I've already seen an improvement. They are almost back to where they were before extensions--thank god!
So, what did I take from this experience that I could pass along to you? Here is what I learned:
1. Do your research. I already knew this, but I didn't do a good enough job here. Do not take this lightly! Though the place I went to had good reviews, she didn't have an overwhelming amount of reviews. If I recall, there was only one picture of her work that someone had posted on Yelp. My advice to you would be to find somewhere with A LOT of good reviews and pictures. Also, the lady who took them off for me offered a free eyelash consultation, so try to find somewhere that will do that for you. Ask them a lot of questions--do research so you know what kinds of questions to ask.
2. I hinted at this in the first point, but don't go the cheapest route. This is an investment. I don't always believe that you get what you pay for, but it's true in the case of eyelash extensions.
3. Extensions just aren't for everyone. Are you willing to spend the money to have them applied then have them touched up every few weeks? Think about your lifestyle and how you like to wear your makeup. Think about if you're willing to put up with worrying about them (being careful not to sleep on them, taking extra time to be careful washing your face and combing them afterwards, etc). I'm trying to figure out how much time the extensions really saved me. Sure, I was able to skip mascara every day, but with all the maintenance (not to mention the hour it took me to get a refill, which you would need to do regularly every 2-3 weeks), I think the time saving aspect might have been a wash.
4. You can have them professionally removed if you don't want to wait for them to all fall out.
5. If they do ruin your lashes, castor oil can bring them back to life! There are also products like Neulash which have been said to work miracles, but if the $6 castor oil option works for me, I'll take it.
Thank you for reading! I hope this was helpful. Please share your eyelash extension experiences with me!
