Lash Obsessed

Excuse the red eyes, I took this when I got home from the appointment..

I just got home from one of my favourite beauty appointments – eyelash extension fills!  I have been getting eyelash extensions since June, 2010 and I absolutely love them.  I thought a blog post about them would be good for anyone wanting to know a bit of information about them and my experiences with them.

I want to start off by saying that I don’t have a lack of lashes, I have pretty normal lashes and a good amount of them.  I have always loved the look that falsies gave me and there is such a significant different between my natural lash and the oomph power of the fake lashes.  Also, I was travelling to Mexico and I wanted something that would make my eyes stand out.

So I started to do my research and came across a place in my hometown that specialized in the service and thought a while about it.  Why?  Because it is pricey.  It costs around $200 for the initial application and you get around 30-40 lashes per eye.  I decided to go with the “Cat Eye” option, which was not as expensive, and it was basically like 20 lashes per eye concentrated to the ends of the eyelids to give you that cat eye, flirty effect.

So I went to my first appointment and after I thought that they did an okay job.  I didn’t find them that noticeable and they were a bit uneven.  After a few face washings they did get significantly more noticeable (they started to darken because of your makeup and they clump together but not in a bad way) but I didn’t know if I wanted to keep continuing with them (fills can cost anywhere from $55-65 depending on where you go).

A few weeks after I got them done the first time.

I decided to keep up with the fills because I did get people commenting me on them (“Oh my God, are those your real lashes?!”) and I mean, like everyone else, I loved the compliments.  Now I was still getting the cat eye fills but I wanted to try the complete look and get full fills so I got them and then after a while I switched salons (for a number of reasons) and I have been going back to the same place ever since (I go to Wink Studio in Winnipeg if any of you are interested, they do a great job).

There are a number of pros and cons with the lashes as I list below:

Pros:

  • No mascara needed
  • Waterproof- perfect the pool, beach, or the gym
  • Good for people with sensitive eyes
  • Cuts “getting ready” time in the morning significantly shorter
  • Easy to maintain
  • Make your eyes prettier
  • Low maintenance

Cons

  • Pricey
  • You can’t use oil-based makeup removers (the kind I love)
  • Once the lashes start to fall out you kind of go through an “awkward” phase, if that makes sense.. basically it’s like when your roots grow out
  • You have to go for fills every month to month and a half

So there are a number of things that are great about them and a few things that aren’t so great.  I know the number one thing is definitely the price.  It can get very pricey to maintain and it is quite an initial investment to get them in the first place.

If you want more information on them, I recently wrote an article for Clippings magazine which explains the process more in detail, as well as other ways to get bold, luscious lashes.  You can view the article here and here.

Anyways, I hope this blog post helps if you are deciding to take the plunge and invest in some longer lashes.  They are relatively easy to maintain and I really do love having them. Do I regret getting them?  No.  Will I keep getting fills for them forever.  Who knows? I do miss mascara some days, but you know it’s awesome with summer coming up and everything and I can go to the beach with them and still have that same look because they are great in the water.  It’s like having long, natural lashes.. the fake way.