Lash Retention Issues
Retention issues are one of the most common concerns about lash clients and lash artists. Sometimes, even the most skilled lash artists encounter lash retention issues. It is important not to blame the client so getting to the bottom of lash retention issues needs to be conducted with care. When lashes are applied correctly, they should last until the client’s lashes start their natural shedding process. When coming off prematurely, it means that the bond of the adhesive has been affected somehow, whether during the application process or whilst they are applied on the client. There are many reasons why retention issues occur so below we will discuss a number of them for you to keep a look at for and mitigate the issues where you can.
- Lashes are applied poorly. Lets go straight for the jugular on this one. If lashes are not applied correctly onto the natural lash, they will not stay on for long. if the base of the lash is not adhered correctly, if the lash isn’t placed directly in line with the natural lash, if its too close to the lash line or too far away from the lash line, if the lash extensions are stuck to neighbouring lashes, you cannot expect them to last. Not only can these issues cause bad retention however they could inflame skin around the eyes, irritate and feel extremely uncomfortable for the clients as the lashes are not moving freely due to the way the extensions are attached. Isolation and placement are crucial to good lash application in addition to adhesive use which we will touch on.
- Not enough adhesive is applied to the extension before being applied to the lash.
- Too Many Lashes or Heavy Fans - When clients have a really dense lash line, you do not need to lash each individual lash if it means that their lashes will be extremely heavy overall when completed. Overloading the lash line can cause an issues when clients have asymmetrical lashes, extensions are overlapping or tangled causing lashes to twist and flip over each other. It can be extremely uncomfortable for clients or itchy in addition to causing the lashes to droop. Soon enough, the natural lashes and eyes will give up holding on to these lashes as they aren’t natural and the eyes will have had enough. Lashes will also drop off if the fans or lash itself is too heavy for the natural lash. When this occurs, the natural lash acts like a diving board with an elephant on the end until the extension gives away. The dangerous part about this is that the natural lash can also give way from the follicle, causing damage to the client’s natural lashes and lash line. It is super important to ensure lash weights, number of lashes in a fan and the health and strength of the natural lashes of the client are always taken seriously before application.
- Adhesive issues - There are a plethora of retention issues relating to lash adhesive. The first being, poor quality adhesive. Ensure you are purchasing from a reputable supplier where the features and ingredients of the adhesive are stated and reviews are viewable. The second issue is ensuring the temperature and humidity in your lash space are suitable for the adhesive. Always have a hygrometer on hand to make sure that you won’t have any curing issues. If humidity in a lash space is too low, adhesive will not cure and vica versa. You do not want your adhesive drying too quick as this can cause shock curing, which is where you’ll find white dots along the lash line as the adhesive is snap drying. When shock curing occurs, the adhesive dries without flexibility and can be quite stiff which causes the client irritability, no movement in the lashes which can cause the natural lash to snap or fall out. Too much adhesive on an extension can also cause retention issues as it will prevent the lash from curing properly, lash adhesive will drop down the lash or attach to neighbouring lashes and create clumps. The more strain on the natural lashes, the worse the retention issues will be and the health of the natural lashes. Moving on the next issue with adhesive - You must always shake your adhesive bottle to make sure its well mixed as it will not work otherwise. If you have ever expelled adhesive without shaking it, you’ll see the black ingredient swirled within the adhesive and separated from the clear components. In addition to shaking your adhesive bottle, its always important to expel and disperse the first dot or two of adhesives before expelling for use on your client to ensure you use fresh adhesive only. If you use the first dot or two, this could be the adhesive stuck in the funnel of the bottle, exposed to outside elements and can affect the effectiveness of the adhesive and ultimately retention. Once expelled, you need to clean the nozzle of the adhesive bottle to make sure you do not clog the bottle and adhesive dries around the top. To do this, you must use lint free or foil materials - not cotton. When cotton gets into contact with lash adhesive, it smokes and can catch on fire as it is flammable. This will affect the rest of the adhesive bottle if smoking occurs from the cotton fibres.
- Using a fast drying adhesive - Adhesive can dry before the extension has been applied to the natural lash if you are using an adhesive suitable for advanced lash artists or if you dip a lash and want to apply to a natural lash that is farthest from the glue dot. Try using a 1-2 second adhesive or a 2-3 second dry time instead of 0.5-1 second to com at this until your lashing speed and skill picks up naturally.
- Overusing Primer - Primer will strip a lash of oils and residual debris however if a client does not have overly oily lashes, it can cause overproduction of oil from a client’s follicles causing extensions to slide off.
- Not cleansing the client’s lashes before application. Make sure you always use. lash cleanser before application, therefore allow more time in your appointments to do this as excess oils and debris are removed allowing for seamless application without any obstruction.
Below are a few more tips that client’s will have to do in between appointments to ensure lash retention
- Avoid oil based products such as Micellar water, certain makeup, cleansers and moisturizers.
- Avoid mascara, waterproof eye makeup and gel eyeliners.
- Do not rub, twist, scratch, sleep on or pull lash extensions as this runs the risk of not only pulling out lash extensions but natural lashes. I recommend purchasing a silk pillow also so lashes do not stick to normal pillows causing pulling.
- Avoid steam rooms, saunas or sweating onto lashes.
- Clients will need to also brush lashes everyday to avoid twisting and overlapping.
For more lash information - check out our YouTube Channel - Lash'd Eyelashes