Do Eyelash Extensions Damage My Natural Lashes?

Here are some facts and myths around this commonly asked question.

Carole Charles, owner/trainer of Ceecees beauty and training has been doing Eyelash extensions for 17 years and training others for over 10 years. A lot of people have asked this question in the past and here is her response.

Like any beauty service there is the good and bad, we have all heard the horror stories and seen pictures of disasters! Anyone wanting to try Eyelash Extensions will be worried after seeing these stories. For many years the Eyelash extension industry has not been regulated, meaning there was no Nationally Accredited Training so the standard of training in many cases has not been fantastic.

No formal training, prerequisites or training qualifications have been a mandatory requirement. This has resulted in technicians not always applying them correctly, like using too much glue or sticking multiple lashes together that inhibits the growth of the natural lashes and not educating clients on aftercare. In theory, this would not be their fault being that they were not taught correctly in the first place. Many technicians are self-taught, have learnt on the job or from YouTube and many don’t hold any current, correct qualifications. So, my advice is when seeking a technician make sure they have the correct qualifications. Ask as many questions as you can to make sure they are up to date and sound professional. You must feel assured with their answers, so you feel completely comfortable that you are in safe hands.

Now that Eyelash extensions have been added to the scope of beauty in Australia, Ceecees is approved to offer students Nationally Accredited lash training by certified trainers. This will for the future ensure all students are correctly trained and will go out into the workforce with the correct skills to apply lash extensions safely and correctly and hopefully start to eradicate the bad side.

The prevention of damage to natural lashes is an agreement between the client and technician, the client is given instructions on how to look after her extensions and the technician will apply them correctly.  If both don’t follow these rules, then yes damage can occur from both sides BUT that damage is temporary! It’s almost impossible for technicians to cause permanent damage because you would have to get into the follicle where the cells grow the lash to stop it growing, abet like laser hair removal.

Technicians only graft the extensions on top of the natural lash. In very rare cases constant abuse to the natural lashes by technician doing bad work or clients constantly pulling them out could trick the follicle into not growing any more lashes but as I said this is very rare. What you will notice is a temporary interruption to the lash growth cycle. To make it simple to understand if you pull a lash out before its time there will be a gap and time lapse before the new lash has grown in the follicle and grown through. If the lash falls and sheds naturally because a new lash is there, then there is no gap. Below is a description of the lash cycle.

Basically, on average we turn over a new set of lashes every 90-120 days and during that period there are different stages of growth and all this happens without us even knowing unless we notice a loose lash that has fallen. This is why clients require refills between 2-4 weeks we shed in 1 week 20% 2-3 weeks 40-50% and 4 weeks onwards 70-80%. If left most of the extensions will have fallen with the shedding of the natural lashes after a few months.
That’s why lashes are short they have a short life span. The lash cycle can vary depending on many factors age, medication and seasons.

So, to sum it all up – ‘No’, Lash extensions do not damage your natural lashes if applied correctly and looked after correctly. If temporary damage has been noticed, then it needs to be addressed. It could be caused by you or your technician. Take the appropriate action, remove the extensions try using an eye serum we recommend Eyenvy which stimulates the cells to grow the lashes quicker, longer and healthy. But rest assured your lashes will grow back and YES Eyelash extensions are safe.

So, go out there research your technician and enjoy your new addiction!