Last week I went to a salon and had a lovely young woman glue tiny hairs to my eyes. Isn’t it super weird when you think of it that way? Here’s money, please glue things to my face. So weird.

So yeah, eyelash extensions. I finally got some. I’ve been considering it for a really long time but I know two things about myself: I would get addicted to it if I liked it, and I would be mad at myself for spending all that money. I finally bit the bullet and got them done because I’m getting married next month and I thought I might want them for the wedding, but I also didn’t want to take a chance and get them done immediately before hand. What if I had a reaction? What if they looked weird on me? So many variables.

I should also mention that this is not my first time around the block with “eyelash extensions”. Yes that is in quotes for a reason. When I was on my early 20s and eyelash extensions were a brand new thing, I went to a woman to get them done and they were NOT really eyelash extensions. I was just too young and new to the lash game to know better. She used semi-permanent glue to put cluster eyelashes, like the ones from the drugstore onto my eyes. Yup. They looked great at first and I was happy with them, I even went back and had them touched up, but when I decided that I didn’t want them anymore, and they began to fall out they looked TERRIBLE. . . and they took a good percentage of my natural eyelashes with them. Not cute. When I was searching around for a place to go, I ran across a few that did the same thing, so I highly recommend checking that they do it properly and glue individual strands to each eyelash before you make your appointment.

THE APPLICATION:

I arrived with my eyes in their natural state by recommendation of the girl who booked my appointment over the phone. No eye makeup, no mascara, just a little eyebrow pencil.

They had three choices “Natural” “Natural Glam” and “Glam” I chose natural glam which is the medium choice, obviously.

The application process is a little boring, but overall pretty pleasant. My technician had some relaxing music playing (Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall to be precise) She had me lay back on a comfy table and she put little protective pads over my bottom lashes so they wouldn’t get in the way. They were a little uncomfortable at first but she adjusted them again for me and then they were fine. Then she asked me to keep my eyes closed, turned on a bright light and got to work. I could barely feel her doing anything, it was all very gentle. Most people could probably dose off during the process but I’m not a good napper, so I didn’t. I just let my mind wander, and it went a lot faster than I expected. I did bring headphones with me, but I felt sort of rude using them for some reason so I didn’t. I’m probably just a weirdo though, I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded. I also wanted to be able to hear her because I had a lot of questions about the process. I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t 😉

As far as how they look why don’t we let the photos speak for themselves?

THE BEFORE:

Those are my natural lashes. Not curled or anythings. They’re on the long side but they’re a little saggy and could use some help.

THE RESULT:

The result is long, black curved lashes. They’re a little more perfect than I usually prefer my lashes to look, but they are really beautiful and she did a great job. They didn’t feel like there was anything on my eyes at all. I do wear a lot of mascara and occasionally I wear strip lashes, so I’m used to a little weight on my eyes. If you aren’t you might feel them at first, but they are WAY lighter than strip lashes if you are wondering about that.

ONE WEEK LATER:

A week later they are still intact, and let me tell you I was NOT easy on them. I was in Jamaica for a few days so it was super humid and I was swimming and sweating and all sorts of stuff. They have shed a bit, for sure BUT I kinda like them better now than I did when they were first applied. Now it looks like I’m wearing a pair of Ardell Wispy lashes all the time, and I really like that look.

SOME TIPS & HINTS:

My Technician gave me some soft spooly brushes to comb through them and put them back in place when they get messy. . .and they WILL get messy when you sleep on them or swim or shower. I recommend using the spooly on top of the lashes and brushing them while scooping upward. That put them back into place pretty quickly.

Another thing I have been doing (not recommended by my tech girl, but I read it online) is fluffing them back up with the blowdryer on cool. I just hold the dryer below my face and about 4 feet away and let the air fluff them back up. Works like a charm, but it HAS to be on cool for the safety of your lashes . . .and your face, obviously. You don’t want to cook your face off.

I haven’t used any mascara on mine, but the salon suggests if you DO wish to use some that you only use a tubing formula like Blinc.

It’s much easier to put makeup on with these than I thought it would be. It doesn’t really affect my makeup application process at all.

THE (First Impression) VERDICT:

As of right now, I recommend trying them if you want to shorten your routine or just look good when you wake up with minimal effort. They are very pretty and natural looking if done correctly, and some places even offer brown lashes for a more subtle effect.

I will post an update in a few weeks with how they held up, how the touchup goes etc etc. So that will be more of a full, start to finish eyelash extensions review.

(UPDATE! So the day after I wrote this I suddenly lost a bunch of the extension off of one eye. That was the eye that was watering more during application so I’m thinking it may have had an effect on how the glue cured. The salon is currently trying to find a place to squeeze me in ASAP to fix it, but for now it’s been pretty easy to blend it with mascara and look normal. Will keep this updated with how it goes!)

Do any of you get eyelash extensions? Let me know how you feel about them!

UPDATE:

Part Two: One Month Later

Part Three: Did my real eyelashes fall out?