If you haven’t been a rock-dwelling creature for the last 5 years, you would have seen an exposè on the dangers of eyelash extensions either on as a video piece on the news or an online article. The piece is usually very one-sided and features a very sad, swollen pair of eyes and the words ‘DANGER’ and ‘WARNING’ splashed all over it.
As a leading lash salon, we find that many of our first-time clients have also seen these stories and are very scared of having lash extensions applied. Many women avoid trying extensions for years because they think they’ll end up in hospital after reading all the horror stories.
We’re all aware that news programs are designed to grab attention and get people watching – and the best way to do that is to tell one side of a story and blow it completely out of proportion. And these lash reaction stories are a perfect example of that. So let us provide a few facts 🙂
Will I end up in the hospital if I go and get eyelash extensions?
The answer is simply no. We can’t sit back and let our industry be criticised unfairly any longer. We can’t let women who long for beautiful, time-saving lashes be terrified without offering any sort of response. SO if you’ve seen those stories and have found yourself a little nervous at the thought of having lashes applied…keep reading…
Swollen Puffy Eyes = Allergic Reaction…
Firstly..the photos you see where the woman has extremely swollen eyes is 100% of the time an allergic reaction to the main ingredient in the lash glue called cyanoacrylate. These are very uncommon and occur in less than 0.5% of clients. These women generally also have allergies to latex and will never be able to get eyelash extensions due to their allergies.
It’s like having a shellfish allergic reaction – it causes redness and puffiness but in this case around the eyes. It’s also similar to a food allergy in the way that you wouldn’t actually know that you have the allergy unless you try it.
The salon can’t do anything to prevent a reaction from occurring because it comes down to genetics. As I said – so so rare but this article is all about honesty which is why we’re mentioning that it still is a possibility (although the chance is minuscule).
Untrained, inexperienced people do bad lash jobs…
When you see photos of badly damaged lashes and eyelids that have been glued shut, cut or just butchered in general – this is also possible and something we DO see every single day. You can EASILY avoid ending up like one of those cases by going to a reputable salon.
There are untrained people offering eyelash extension services at all sorts of places, from nail salons to massage parlours. You can get lash extensions pretty much anywhere but why would you?
Would you book yourself in for botox at a professional clinic with an experienced doctor or nurse OR go to your local mall and walk into a hair salon who put an A4 sign up on the window?
Don’t risk going just anywhere, go to a salon that specialises in lashes and you will be okay. Check their reviews, go and look at their social media and see what their work looks like for yourself. If they’ve got no website, no social media, no results photo gallery, and no reviews then those are all huge red flags!
I once had a client come to me from another salon for an infill, she’d had her original lashes applied by a man at a popular chain waxing store (I didn’t even know they did eyelashes there). Her lashes were a complete mess and required a full removal and intensive treatment with EyEnvy before we could even think about putting a fresh safe set of lashes on.
Another client who I met just last week who had barely any lashes left after going to a dodgey day spa. She’d purchased a Groupon with her friend for eyelash extensions.
The ad for the Groupon looked and sounded amazing – it featured a stock image of beautiful long lashes (not a photo of their actual work) and the description was well-written. Plus, there had been hundreds of this Groupon purchased so it looked like a popular and good deal. If I didn’t know any better – I probably would have bought one myself.
But here’s what happened to her…
When she arrived to have the lashes applied it first seemed a little weird because the business was located down a dingy side-alley in an undesirable part of town. It was inside a Vietnamese nail salon that no-one had ever heard of before.
The owner of the business was the one applying the lashes which offered her some reassurance. Sadly both eyelids were glued completely shut and she couldn’t open them when the lashes were finished. She was very scared (imagine not being able to open your eyes!) and the woman tried for a little while with a pair of scissors to open them back up. Cutting at her lashes and eyelids with nail scissors!!
In the end, the business owner told her to leave the salon and go somewhere else to get them fixed because she couldn’t do it. She refunded the Groupon and the poor girl left with one of her eyes glued shut and damaged lashes.
She couldn’t believe how different the two experiences were when comparing her Groupon lash experience VS her experience here at The Lash Spa.
I’m not telling you this to scare you, I just want to make you aware that quality is everything when it comes to eyelash extensions. If you click around our website you’ll quickly begin to see how passionate we are about lashes and how much knowledge we have.
We aren’t the only lash salon in the world with these attributes either, a couple of minutes spent Googling salons in your local area will be enough to pick the professionals out.
Eyelash extensions aren’t scary at all if the lash tech knows what they’re doing. I’ve written a more in-depth article about how you can find a reputable salon in your area.
Here’s what you can expect at an appointment with us at The Lash Spa for any local Gold Coasters who may be reading this.
Scary stories = more money for the news
The final thing to remember is that the main job for the news is to produce exciting content that’s going to get a lot of people talking and clicking in. The goal is to get people tagging their friends and if you think about how many of your friends get lashes, you can see how quickly these stories can spread.
It’s all very one-sided when it comes to the dangers of eyelash extensions. In Australia, the industry is unregulated which means that legally anyone can apply lashes and in a lot of cases, people don’t really know what they’re doing.
However, all you have to do is have a bit of common sense as a consumer and just look into the salon before you make an appointment. Check google reviews, check Facebook reviews, see if there are photos of their work.
When you get the idea of having eyelash extensions, be patient and wait for an appointment at a good salon. The popular salons may be booked out and you can’t get in on the same day – but they’re popular for a reason. They do good work!
We hope to see you soon at The Lash Spa on the Gold Coast. If you’re reading this from overseas then I hope you can find somewhere great to have your lashes applied!
Thanks for reading 🙂