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So, youre considering Eyelash Extensions?

after eyelash extensions big fluttery lashes
before eyelash extensions
after eyelash extensions

Sick of your straight, short and boring eyelashes… so was I!

I am a big fan of spas and pampering sessions. I get my hair dyed every 9 weeks, my eyebrows and eyelashes dyed whenever I can and I’m rather fond of a massage or two. The one treatment I hadn’t yet received though was eyelash extensions, a treatment that in honesty I wasn’t entirely sure of the process involved. I knew that I would come out with fluttery and pretty eyelashes, but how we would get to that point I wasn’t aware of.

I went along to the Manchester Debenhams Urban Oasis Spa, a place I would highly recommend for great service, a relaxed environment and well priced treatments. I got there often for either shellac manicures, eyelash tints and eyebrow tints. So this time I went for their semi-permanent lashes, booking the treatment through Wahanda – a website that helps you to find any treatment in any spa in your area. I love it!

Start with a tint

I’ll just cut to the chase then. I first of all got my eyelashes tinted so that they would match the colour of the lashes. I’d probably recommend this and it only takes about 15 minutes. Easy peasy, the beautician paints your eyelashes with a dye of your choice and you lie with your eyes closed for 15 minutes before she wipes it away. I also got my brows dyed a dark brown whilst I was at it, so they would be much stronger and need much less maintenance. Again, easy peasy, paint on the dye, wait a few minutes and then wipe away. 
Then it was time for the extensions. This can take up to 2 hours depending on how many lashes you have. You lucky things with lots of amazing fluttery lashes would probably need 2 hours, where I took 90 minutes. You lie back, close your eyes and the beautician tediously glues an individual lash to each and every one of your own individual lashes, hence why it takes some time. They will ensure they use the right length and thickness of lashes so that you can create more fluttery shapes; for example, I had smaller lashes to the corners of my eyes and longer lashes to the outer corners, so the eyes looked more open. 

Cons

I’ll start with the negatives so we can end on a high. First thing, during application, sometimes your lashes can get a little glued together accidentally, or even worse, your lower lashes can get stuck to your top lashes and the beautician needs to try to unhook the two. This can be a little uncomfortable, I’ll be honest, but nothing you can’t handle. Lying on your back for two hours is also not a dream come true as some may think. The back of my scalp began to ache due to being in the same position for so long and I could not wait to open my eyes and sit up. Plus, you’ll have to make sure you don’t have an incoming call imminent as you literally cant do anything for 90 minutes. There was me waiting for a conference call half way through… 
Other drawbacks would be not being able to wash your face as freely. You’re always worried about rubbing your eyes or pulling any extensions off, as lets be honest, you’ve spent £100 on them. I love to give my face a good scrub, so this got a tad annoying. As did taking off eyeliner by swiping along the lash line carefully. It took a while longer to remove makeup really. I also found that because I like to apply eyeshadows every day, so much powder would fall out onto my lashes, as it always does, so then your eyelashes are coated in champagne glitter. You’re not really meant to apply mascara over eyelash extensions, so in this case, it was hard to make the lashes stand out nice and black when they were coated in shimmer. Due to this I took to applying mascara and it definitely reduced their life. I only had my lashes in full tact for maybe 7 days before they started to diminish. About 12 days later, I had only a few left on one eye and a lot reduced on the other, and after three weeks, one eye is completely free of extensions and the other has three left. These are supposed to last for 6 weeks or so, so I’m a little disappointed they fell off so quickly. Other cons include how much the lashes touched the pillow whilst you slept, so you felt aware of your lashes at all times. And also how they twisted on the lashes, so some extensions were pointing down or somewhere el, rather than up and curly the way they should have been. Sorry to bombard you with negatives there, but for the price of extensions, the number of drawbacks I found were pretty extensive. Probably the worst one being that right now, after the extensions have fallen out after 3.5 weeks, my eyelashes are shorter and unmanageable as ever. I’ve lost length and a number of my lashes, so I’m going to have to wait months for them to grow and look like they did. Or at least I hope they will look the same.

Pros

Moving onto positives though, the glaringly obvious one is just how beautiful they look. The images above, in the top one I have the extensions whereas in the lower image I am only wearing mascara on my normal lashes. They take hold of your usual lashes, curling them upwards, adding length and thickness and they’re just so gorgeous. I was imagining them to look even thicker and fuller than they did though in honesty, but the overall finish was so pretty. Also, those days when I could not be bothered with makeup, my lashes still looked amazing, especially as my brows were dark brown and shaped too, it was like ready to wear makeup. Plus, for holidays, weddings, special occasions and other events, these are perfect, you cant really go wrong. Anything to save you from trying to glue a strip of lashes to your eyes. Just be sure to have these applied a few days before your wedding, as I have heard horror stories of brides and bridesmaids who have had allergic reactions and therefore swollen face wedding photos.

Would I have them again?

Yet, does the fact they look amazing for around a week really equal their expense? I really don’t think so, which is why I’m holding off getting infills, which are about half the price. I feel that this process is a vicious cycle, as now my eyelashes are broken and stubby after the extensions, I want extensions again because of how short they look and how much length I want back. If I was to have them applied again, this cycle would only continue on and on. I think if I was to try again, it would have to be for a special event, like my best friends wedding, so my eyelashes looked irresistible. But otherwise I have a feeling they’re not quite worth the price and discomfort .

Any other opinions on this? Id love to hear how you feel about them?

 photo victoriasignature_zpsd29616f2.png

   

    

  

Some of these items may have been sent to me for review. Please see my disclaimer for more information

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