Lash extensions
My husband, Zack, is lucky enough to be blessed with
beautifully long, thick and curly eyelashes. My
lashes, like many Asians, are short, sparse and
straight. Though I rarely wear mascara (can't stand
the stuff), an eyelash curler is an essential part of
my daily beauty regimen. Zack claims that long, thick
and curled eyelashes are a bit of pain. I say, how
would he know? Last weekend, I got my chance to find
out.
By now, everyone's heard about the newest beauty
craze, eyelash extensions. My friend, K., decided she
wanted to get them for her wedding. When L. told us
of a place in her neighborhood in SF that did them, we
decided to try it out.
The process takes one and a half to two hours. You
lie down and close your eyes. Medical tape is
carefully applied to your bottom lashes as the
technician uses a pair of pointy tweezers to glue
individual false lashes to the roots of your own
eyelashes. The glue does sting and burn, and there is
a bit of poking and prodding, so it's really best to
remove contact lenses. My eyes were watering
something awful, but my technician told me it was
normal. Also, if you crack your eyes open even a
little during the process, it makes the glue run even
more, so don't do it! After she was done with the
application, she held a fan to my eyes to help dry the
glue and relieve the sting. After a few minutes, I
was able to wear my contacts again, but if I'd brought
my glasses and lens case, I would have waited a little
longer.
How did it look? K. had been the first to go. She
chose the medium length. When I saw her across the
room, the lashes were pretty dramatic - like she was
wearing winged eyeliner and mascara, except natural.
I can't really explain it better than that. Up close,
they're very long, velvety and thick. I opted to go
with the short length. They're easily twice as long
as my natural lashes. When I went downstairs,
L. walked right past me "I didn't recognize you!"
she gasped (I also chopped my hair off). Zack says
that they look pretty and kinda sexy, but would take
some getting used to. "Even more than the haircut,"
he says. I didn't tell him until the next morning, so
he had thought I was wearing lots of mascara all that
time.
Once the lashes are applied, you're not supposed to
use waterproof mascara, lash curlers or oil based
makeup remover. When you wash the eye area, you
should dab, not rub. During the first 48 hours,
you're not supposed to wet your lashes with warm
water, swim or go in the sauna. When we first left
the salon, the weather was really drizzly and windy,
so all three of us felt irritation, down to the roots
of our eyelashes. I wore a pair of sunglasses, even
though no sun was out. We had our makeup
professionally applied at the Laura Mercier counter
afterwards, and the makeup artist used a budgeproof
liquid liner that was a real bitch to remove. It's
been a few days, and I can still feel the extra
"weight" of the eyelashes at my roots. I'm not going
to use eyeliner for a while, because it's just too
difficult to remove without pulling at my eyelashes.
Surprisingly, I was perfectly fine with swimming two
days later - I just have to be careful not to rub my
eyes when I remove my goggles. In the morning, I need
to "rearrange" the lashes, because sometimes they turn
the wrong way, and they clump a little, but an eyelash
comb usually fixes it. A few have already
fallen out (they fall out as your natural lashes grow)
but it's hardly noticeable on me. A larger clump had
fallen out on K. (who had chosen the medium length)
and it was more noticeable.
I must admit, it looks GREAT. I'm not entirely sure
if the entire process is worth it on a regular basis -
after about two weeks, a refill is necessary to
maintain the look. I think that for a special event,
sure, go ahead.
posted by connie @ 12:45 PM
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