Life Before Lash Extensions

The Pros and Cons of Lash Extensions

There are some things I don’t like thinking about, including why has it taken me five years to start watching prison break and why I never started wearing lash extensions sooner. I tried them out in March as a “will I like wearing these for my wedding?” and the answer was yes I will, and I don’t want to stop wearing them between now and then either.

I’d kind of semi-ruled out lash extensions being something I wanted or needed – I’ll self admit that I do have naturally amazing lashes, my lashes with mascara on are what other people want to achieve with false lashes. That’s not me being big headed – that’s knowing that my eyelashes are good, I don’t even have to pick up a pair of eyelash curlers more than about three times a year. There are very few things I would boast about myself, but my lashes are one of them. HA!

Lash Extensions after being applied
Morning after being applied

There are some horror stories I’ve heard from people when it comes to lash extensions, and I think it all comes down to picking someone who is good – as silly as that sounds! Ben’s sister said that she had them done and had to have them taken off within days as she could feel them really irritating her eyes. Now I’m a little biased – except for I’m totally not because my best friend does them for me, she has an at home salon and is also responsible for my inability to bend and paint my toes, I’d be recommending her regardless if I’d known her for 15 years or not. My pedicures last 4 months chip free (at which they need to come off because they’ve grown out too much!). If you’re in the South Lincs/Peterborough area here’s her facebook page, she’s based in Stamford and is the one you need for nails, waxing, massage and lashes.

The Pros and Cons of Lash Extensions - 3 weeks in
After three weeks
The Pros and Cons of Lash Extensions - 3 weeks in
Again after three weeks

Abi has said out of everyone she does my lashes take the the longest to do due to how full mine are – it takes around about an hour to be done. Since March I’ve had them done three times, al be there for my forth this week. My lashes last around 6 weeks total, at somewhere around the 4/5 mark I do have to start topping them up with mascara again to fill them out due to always losing more lashes on my right eye dye to sleeping on that side. I was really surprised to find on the first time I wore them that I literally couldn’t feel them at all, other than the fact that when I blinked I could feel them skimming my cheeks they were un-noticeable. I was expecting them to feel heavy like a false lash which I imagined was going to annoy me which is why I wanted to try them but they aren’t at all.

The Pros and Cons of Lash Extensions - 5 weeks in
After 5 weeks – wearing a little mascara

I’ve had people stop me in the street to ask me about my “mascara” and then had a million questions as to what they’re like to wear. My mum literally can’t get her head around what they are when I’ve explained it to her – she just asks if I’ve got those things on again, whenever she sees me and they’ve been infilled.
Pros of Lash Extensions:

  • No flakey mascara, literally 24 hour flake and smudge free!
  • You look shit hot, even without makeup
  • Last 5+ weeks
  • Quicker to do your makeup
  • You can run out the house without doing anything and feel semi-made up
  • You can choose a more natural look where they look very full, I have mine as long as possible.
  • Glued to your individual lashes, No band so look natural
  • Cry and rain proof

Cons of Lash Extensions:

  • Pricey habit if you don’t have your BFF doing it for you, you’re looking at £40 for a full set + infills as and when you need them
  • Eyeshadow can get caught in your lashes, especially when they’re at their biggest and flutteriest, meaning you have to attempt to clean them off a little otherwise your lush black lashes are dusted in colour.
  • You’ve got to sit still for a long time (fine if you have good company and a heated couch to lay on!)
  • If you sleep on one side of your face you’ll notice that one side will thin out more than the other
  • No oily products around the eye
  • You do have to take breaks from them every now and again to let your lashes recoup.
  • Bottom lashes still need doing – I personally don’t really ever bother unless it’s a special occasion as they’re also quite long
  • You have to be careful about rubbing your eyes too hard

The Pros and Cons of Lash Extensions
You can kind of see my point here with eyeshadow getting caught

I keep getting mascaras and more mascaras in beauty boxes and have a massive pot of them which I won’t even touch – I’m going to give some away to my sister I think to give her some blogging material when she gets her bum into gear and starts! I can’t see me stopping any time with these any time soon – unless my friend Abi instructs me to take a break to let them recover, I know she will as we get close to the wedding!

rachael-signature

FacebookInstagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr

Helpless Whilst Drying

Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com

Follow:
Share:

30 Comments

  1. July 18, 2016 / 6:41 am

    Wow your eyelashes look amazing! I’ve never worn false eyelashes or tried extensions before but I’ve always wondered, do they get in the way if you wear glasses?

  2. July 18, 2016 / 7:33 am

    Yes, I was wondering about glasses/contact lenses too. Sometimes if I wear really long fake eyelashes they rub against my glasses so I have to push them down a bit so I can’t see as well.
    With extensions do you get to choose the length as well as thickness! If your lashes are sparse does it still work as well?

    • July 18, 2016 / 9:23 am

      I will ask my friend on lash thickness and get back to you. Yes I think you can opt for a shorter length if needed. Sometimes I’ve found false lashes can rub on glasses/sunglasses, but I’ve not had that at all with the lash extensions – I think they stay more of a natural shape and curl than falsies do so there’s less inclination for them to go off board.

    • July 18, 2016 / 9:54 am

      Okay feedback from the Pro:
      “Looks depend on what your own lashes look like, someone with short or fewer lashes we use finer and shorter to start and build it up, it’s all about using the right thickness and length that their own eyelash can take. I could line 5 people up do the same size and thickness and all of them would look different depending on their own lash”

  3. July 18, 2016 / 8:40 am

    Your eyelashes look amazing. So thick and long. Your friend does a great job x

  4. yankified
    July 18, 2016 / 9:09 am

    I have serious eye lash envy over here
    Amy

  5. July 18, 2016 / 9:44 am

    I think you might have converted me! But i hate people touching my eyes, charlotte x

    • July 18, 2016 / 9:51 am

      If it makes you feel better so do I normally. I probably feel more relaxed because I’m sat with someone I’ve known for 15 years! The way she has hers set up is on a comfy massage table/couch, and she’s sat above your head – you’re just sat with your eyes shut, there’s not really much touching of the eyes as its done with tweezers, most of the action is going on the forehead! xx

  6. saturdayonwednesday
    July 18, 2016 / 10:26 am

    So jealous, wish my bestie dos that haha. I’m so afraid to try it out as I don’t have great eyelashes to begin with so if something goes wrong I’m afraid to be left with pretty much nothing 🙈🙊 xx

  7. tiptopjen
    July 18, 2016 / 1:57 pm

    i do semi permanent curl to my lashes and colouring them 🙂 less fuss than eyelash extension but you´ll need mascara 🙂

    • July 18, 2016 / 2:06 pm

      IPL? I’ve had that done once before and wasn’t as impressed as I have been with lash extensions! I know lots of people prefer it but it’s not as dramatic or fuss free for me!

  8. July 18, 2016 / 3:19 pm

    Your lashes look amazing! Although agreed that you’re one of those lucky people who have naturally long and voluminous lashes and don’t really need extensions.
    I’ve only had extensions once. I was OBSESSED with the way they looked, and felt really down for two months after once they all fell out and I was back to my regular short, stick straight lashes, haha. However, I hated that they required so much maintenance, and the fact that I couldn’t use oil-based eye makeup removers killed it for me. Also, that phase when most of the lashes have fallen out and there’s maybe 3 lashes on each eye that are much longer than the rest…it looks horrible. I just wanted to rip the remaining ones off. You probably don’t have too much of a problem with that since your natural ones are long, though!

    • July 18, 2016 / 3:29 pm

      The time before I had them infilled before this time was the worst, I’d gone 6 weeks and did end up picking a few off and soaking them with oil. I don’t really mind not using oil around the eye area, I don’t tend to like the feeling all that much around my eyes anyway!

  9. July 18, 2016 / 4:54 pm

    I think I’ve mentioned to you before that I had lash extensions done. I lasted less than a week with them on – they felt SO unnatural! Although, I don’t even wear falsies so taking the leap with lash extension was probably too much. The biggest Con for me is that I’m not able to use cleansing oils with it – I just can’t NOT use my cleansing oils! Oh yeah, and the maintenance of it all… it’s akin to having false nails and requiring fill-ins. These lashes really suit you though, I think it helps a lot that you have a good base of lashes to work with to begin with!

    • July 18, 2016 / 5:55 pm

      See I don’t love falsies at all, I can kind of get on board with an individual lash but ones with a band never seem to fit the shape of my eye and feel so heavy, I literally don’t know I’m wearing these they feel so apart of me. Maybe it is where you get them done and how much they have to initially build up the volume of they’re shorter and finer. I don’t mind a cleansing oil but hate them on my eye area so doesn’t really effect me all too much but I know you’re a lover of them so totally get where you’re coming from!

  10. Nevermind
    August 9, 2016 / 10:28 am

    Beautiful post <3 I like your blog a lot so nominated you for liebster award 🙂

  11. Jessica MacLafferty
    August 11, 2016 / 2:49 pm

    Great post! Been thinking about getting lash extensions for awhile, ever since I saw my favorite youtubers getting them (Aspyn Ovard, Alisha Marie, e.t.c.)

  12. August 11, 2016 / 10:38 pm

    This is so inspiring! I love the post:)
    irenethayer.com

  13. September 22, 2016 / 4:17 pm

    I love lash extensions. I’m sure you get compliments all the time! I’ve had them for a year now. I’ve learned some things along the way so I made a video about the battle of the lashes, extensions vs falsies. You may find it interesting. check it out! http://www.reviewbestskincare.wordpress.com

  14. Pingback: 3 – Helpless Whilst Drying

Leave a Reply and Let's Have a Chat