Lashing Difficult Lashes
Written by Sara Gittens @poppsbeauty
We all have that client that arrives for their lash appointment, they lay down and you instantly know it’s going to be a challenging set. The anxiety kicks in and you say to yourself ‘How am I going to get through this set?’.
This may be due to the client having curly natural lashes, crisscross lashes, downwards facing straight lashes, or extra thin and short lashes. All super tricky lashes which no doubt we all come across as at some point.
Although this type of set can be scary, there are ways to make them easier to manage. I have learnt to try not to panic or you will waste time stressing with sweaty palms, and we don’t want to drop our precious tweezers do we?
Here are some of my top tips when dealing with difficult natural lashes:
If my client has extra curly natural lashes a D Curl might be the best fit. If you use a C Curl on an extra curly natural lash, the base of the extension may not bond properly. The extension may ping off and cause poor retention. Extra thin lashes or baby lashes can be tricky to lash as they may be very weak. I always use a lighter extension to make sure it doesn’t drag the natural lash down or cause premature lash shed or damage.
Where should we place the extension?
For extra curly lashes, I place the extension under the natural lash, for downwards facing lashes I place the extension on top. For crooked/ crisscross lashes I place the extension to the side of the natural lash to ensure I get straight direction throughout the set. Placing under on an extra curly natural lash may mean you can get away with using different curls as long as there is a 2mm bond of the extension to the natural lash.
A lot of us feel like we should lash every single natural lash for 100% coverage. Sometimes you may have that one tricky lash that just doesn’t look right. The extension just doesn’t sit straight and it can ruin the whole set. Sometimes its best just to leave it and move on because its ok to lash 90-95% if it means your sets look neater. You can always come back to it later if you feel it could leave a gap. More so with classic sets, with volume you can hide a gap by creating a wider fan next to the lash you left out.
If your client’s lashes are extremely crisscross, curly or crooked you could give them a lash lift to help straighten the natural lashes. This will make application and isolation a lot easier.
Crisscross/crooked lashes can be tricky when it comes to isolating. Taping lashes to the side as you go along can help make isolation a lot easier. Taping to pull the lash line outwards can help straighten out the natural lashes making isolating a lot easier. Taping the eyelid upwards can help downwards facing lashes by lifting them off the lash pad, this can prevent lashes from getting stuck to the pad. Taping in between layers can help get those tricky extra curly lashes or baby lashes.
Sometimes it’s just not possible to give your client the set that looks exactly like the photo they showed you. I always do a consultation with my clients to find out what their expectations are and what is possible to achieve. If my client has weak, thin, and sparse natural lashes, a mega full volume set just isn’t possible. Being honest will save disappointment at the end of the treatment and manage client expectations.
That being said, sometimes our sets may not turn out how we imagined. Not every set will be perfect and let’s be honest if the natural lashes are extremely difficult its more than likely you won’t be happy with the set and sometimes, we just need to accept that. We tried our best with the base we had and sometimes we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves.
I always take pictures and look back on what I could do different next time. Every set you learn and grow.
Remember don’t let a difficult set dishearten you!
Love Sara @Poppsbeauty
A big thank-you to Sara @poppsbeauty for writing this post! As always if you have any questions then please get in touch on Instagram @LashBase_us and we’ll be happy to help!
