Eyelash Extensions

Over the past couple of months, I've considered getting eyelash extensions. I've always admired my middle eastern friends who are blessed with long, thick, dark and curly lashes and wished that my Asian lashes weren't so short and limp. I've only held back until now due to the high cost of the application and the constant returns for refills (should I fall in love with the way they look). To add fuel to the fire, the place that I go to to get waxed, Biogenie Aesthetics, recently started to offer eyelash extension trials. The trials allow you to have a couple of lashes installed at a reduced price so that you can give it a test run and see if extensions are the thing for you. So at this point my interest had been seriously piqued. Luckily for myself, a friend placed a request for eyelash models at the beginning of this week in order for a friend of hers to complete her eyelash extension technician program with Liquid Beauty FX. As you can obviously tell due to this post, I jumped on this opportunity. What better a way to determine if I like eyelash extensions than to get them done for free and to help someone else out?

The whole experience started out with a short consultation to determine if I had any allergies to chemicals or if I had ever had extensions before. My eyelash extension technician, Donna, then went on to ask me a series of questions to determine what look I was after:

What kind of makeup do I wear and how much do I wear?
How many layers of mascara do I usually like to use?
Did I want to lengthen my eyelashes or thicken them?
What kind of look was I going after?

I was then shown a series of photos with the four different styles that were offered; Natural, Cat Eye, Kim K and Glamour. Naturally because I don't usually wear makeup and even when I do, it's the bare minimum, I deviated towards the natural look. However in the end I chose to go with the cat eye look as per Donna's suggestions as it would really open up my eyes and make them look more noticeable.

The first step of many was to apply a serum onto my under-eye area to prevent the adhesive tape used to protect my lower eyelashes from sticking to my skin and causing a reaction. This process was very gently done and I didn't feel any tugging on my lower lids whatsoever at all. A primer was then applied to my upper-lid lashes in order to cleanse them of any  body oils and dust that may be present. Donna's trainer then applied a couple of lashes of various lengths on each eye to demonstrate the distribution and division of appropriate lengths to use for each segment of the eye. After a couple of minutes, Donna took over the process and I slowly drifted off to a nap for the duration of the procedure.

I'm usually a pretty heavy sleeper but awaken easily to any disturbances, and didn't once get woke up by Donna's work. That's how painless and relaxing the whole experience was! I was only woken when asked to hold a portable fan over my eyes in order to fully dry the lashes. Once Donna determined my lashes were dry, she made sure to check that none had adhered to the tape on my lower-lids. The tape was then removed and I was given a hand-held mirror to take a look at the final product.

I loved it! I only had half a set put in, which gave me the exact look that I was after; natural, long and with a slight curl. The overall effect looked as if I had quickly curled my eyelashes and swiped on one or two coats of mascara. An effortless beauty look that most girls are after. What's even better is that fact that for at least the next 4 weeks, I won't have to worry about doing anything to my eyes in the morning or night and still look as if I had done something, the perfect solution to any girl in a rush with a hectic lifestyle!

Please note that all photos were taken a week after the process due to lack of good lighting (ie. It's been raining all weekend) and I only had time now to take them. I've lost a couple of lashes from each eye, but no more than 4-5.