How to stop your lashes falling off early — Sarah Anker

Fresh Russian volume eyelashes

Lash retention is a mysterious unicorn beast who can never be fully understood. It baffles the most experienced and talented lash artists at times with its unpredictability. However, I want to impart what I know, give you some tips to help keep your extensions full between infills and tell you what I do to help your lashes last.

Natural lashes shed in a cycle like your hair and you can lose between two and eight per day. At certain times of the year (usually around February and November), hair and lashes fall out much faster because humans shed hair in preparation for changes in temperature.

The number of lashes you lose naturally in your cycle will have an effect on how often you need to have infills. Some (including me) need their fills every two to three weeks, but other people’s can last for up to five weeks. The latter is quite unusual, but kudos to you if you’re one of the lucky ones.

Here are some tips for what you can do to ensure your lashes stay fixed as long as possible between your infills:

Foaming lash cleanser

1. Clean your lashes EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. This is so important because oil, dirt and sweat build up in your lashes and if you don’t remove it daily then you not only risk getting an infection and a multitude of nasty medical conditions, but the oil will eat away at the adhesive and cause your extensions to fall off prematurely. This gunk also weighs down and can cause damage to your natural lashes. When someone comes for an infill with filthy lashes, one cleanse from me isn’t going to totally remove all the build-up of dirt and grease. Therefore, when I try to apply an extension to a dirty lash it simply won’t stick and drops straight off. This means I cannot get them looking as fresh and full as they would have done were you to arrive with them squeaky clean. See my guide on how to clean your lashes for more information.

2. Wait 24 hours after your full set or infill before getting lashes wet, working out or steaming your face. The adhesive that lash artists use can take up to 24 hours to fully cure. It will be dry to the touch very quickly, but it cures from the outside in. Therefore, please don’t get lashes wet or steamy until this time has passed. Sweat is salty and dries out the adhesive and makes it brittle, thus lashes are more prone to coming off. Wait until you’re able to cleanse your lashes of sweat before you work out.

3. Don’t use lash growth products. They speed up the natural shedding cycle of your lashes. Some of these products also contain steroids and it can take up to 90 days for your lash cycle to return to normal after using lash growth serums and products.

4. Try not to sleep on your face. This can damage your extensions but can also cause your eyes to swell and give you pillow lines on your face. Try to sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees for support, or on your side with your lashes away from the pillow.

5. Don’t rub, pull or fiddle with your extensions. Repetitive movements on your lashes can cause you to lose your extensions and damage the follicles of your natural lashes. Don’t let shower water beat down on extensions for ages as the motion can cause the lashes to loosen and come out.

6. Categorically NO mascara, liquid liner, gel liner, or oils near your lashes. These products will dissolve the adhesive and cause it to form a sticky mess at the base of your lashes. Not fun. If you love the liquid liner look then my advice is to get a black powder and an angled brush. Dampen the brush, stroke it through the powder (tap off the excess) and use that as a liner instead.

7. Have regular infills. Unless you’re one of the lucky ones (if only I was), don’t wait a month until you decide to get an infill. Keep your lashes looking fresh and full with regular two to three weekly infills.

8. Don’t wear mascara 24 hours before a full set. It usually contains oils and leaves a residue on your lashes. I ask my clients not to wear it for 24 hours before they have a new full set and to come to the appointment with their lashes clean. If there is mascara oil and residue coating the natural lashes then the adhesive will stick to this and not to the natural lash, meaning extensions will fall off soon after they’re applied.

How I make sure your lashes last as long as possible

Here are the factors that I need to think about.

Cleansing

I clean the lashes before I start and then use special wipes that remove all proteins from the lashes, leaving them clean and well prepped.

Adhesive

A couple of the adhesives that I use

The adhesive that I (and all other lash artists) use is temperamental to say the least. The active ingredient is called cyanoacrylate and uses moisture to cure. Most lash adhesives cure in approximately one to two seconds from the time you’ve dipped the lash into them, to when the extension is placed on the natural lash.

If there is a lot of humidity in the room then that time is reduced and the adhesive will cure before I can get the lash on meaning when I brush through the set, the lashes will ping right off – not ideal.

If there isn’t enough humidity in the room then adhesive takes longer to cure, which can also cause problems like lashes sticking together. This means that I need to carefully monitor the humidity in my treatment room by using a hygrometer and a humidifier/de-humidifier to make sure that conditions are optimum for the adhesive that I like to use. By doing this it means that I can ensure the adhesive cures at the correct time on the lash and not before or after.

The way adhesive is stored plays a part in ensuring it stays fresh. I keep mine in black, airtight containers with a moisture-absorbing liner inside. This means that the adhesive is not affected by sunlight or moisture, both of which will damage it and cause it to go off faster. If I used adhesive that has gone off then it would simply not work.

By the same token, when I am working on a client, I change my adhesive every 30 minutes to ensure it stays as fresh as possible. If I’ve had a bottle of adhesive for more than eight weeks then I throw it out and replace it for new, which at £25 per tiny 2ml bottle can be a sting, but it’s important to make sure my adhesive is tip-top.

Application

Of course, the way in which extensions are applied will make a difference to retention. They must bond at the base of the natural lash in order to get the best retention results. All good lash artists will strive to get every single extension bonded at the base. We all practice long and hard to hone our skills, even when we’ve been qualified for years.

A special little something

Superbonder – a little something special

As an added extra, I use superbonder at the end of each set of lashes or infill. This is a product that’s been developed to add flexibility to the bonds of the lashes and help them last longer. This gives extra protection if you knock your lashes, meaning they won’t ping off as easily.

Here’s to keeping your lashes luscious.