Eyelash extensions have fashion followers all aflutter
JACKIE WHITE - KNIGHT RIDDER Newspapers
Pauline Shadden works out of a truck, wears jeans on her job and often views her handiwork from the top of a ladder. She is in the roofing business.
But when she bats her eyes, her lashes are aflutter with womanly charm.
She wears eyelash extensions, a rising beauty trend moving across the country.
The procedure in which artificial lashes are glued, one by one, onto real lashes is gathering momentum. Celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Naomi Campbell and Jessica Simpson are said to be wearing them. Ditto for Oprah and Britney. Rumors are that Jennifer Lopez has mink ones, and Madonna’s are said to be diamond-studded. Gift certificates for the procedure were included in this year’s Oscar gift bags.
The products, methods and costs vary widely, and application can take up to two hours. Average costs run from $150 to $300 in the Midwest and $400 and $500 on the East and West coasts.
The lashes are said to last as long as six weeks, but less pricey touch-ups every two to three weeks are recommended. Colored lashes are available for a highlight effect.
The practice is growing at a time when false lashes reminiscent of Twiggy in the late ’60s are becoming popular again. Cosmetic companies are focused on researching and developing magical mascara wands that make lashes look long and glamorous. A Boca Raton, Fla., physician, Alan J. Bauman (www.baumanmedical.com), says he transplants hair from the scalp onto the eyes in the same way that balding men have hair transplants.
“We talk to a lot of stylists and they all say, ‘Never skip your lashes,’ ” says Tram Nguyen, a beauty writer with Glamour magazine. The extensions are a “sneaky way to look fresh and young.”
Extensions appeared on the radar screen a little more than a year ago. Matt Daoudi says he and his mother, a pediatric nurse, started Xtreme Lashes in Houston with four employees. Now they have more than 40. The company is conducting training sessions in cities around the country. (Its Web site is xtremelashes.com. )
Tim Dana, founder of Lavish Lashes in Riverside, Calif., estimates the number of companies marketing the lashes has grown from less than five to 30 in the year or so since he started his business. He says he and his wife were hooked after she discovered them at a salon where she had permanent makeup applied.
Extensions have been common in Asia for several years, and the most widely used procedures were adapted from South Korea. Dana, formerly with Tyco, was so intrigued with the idea that the couple flew to Korea and the Philippines to investigate.
With individual lashes, the false hair is usually glued on the lash near but not at the lash base. Technicians generally use 20 to 50 and in some cases 80 lashes. Sometimes they curl the real lashes first to fit the curved false lashes.
Lashes should be administered by a trained and practiced technician with a steady hand, like any medical cosmetics procedure. Most major companies supply only to people who have been trained and are candidates for certification.
The education involves six to eight hours in one day, and, more important, most companies require considerable follow-up, including practice sessions and before-and-after photos before the trainee can be certified.
Most professionals urge consumers to make careful choices and inquire about training, certification and experience before submitting their eyes to a treatment.
“My biggest concern is that someone is going to get hurt,” says Dana, whose company requires eight hours of workshop training and a follow-up of before-and-after pictures indicating the person has performed the procedure safely 10 times.
Catherine Piercy, a beauty writer for Allure magazine, says the one and only complaint she has heard is dry eyes. Caution is advised. Diabetics should check with their physicians. And it could be irritating for people who sleep in contact lenses.
Also, never wear contact lenses during the application of the lashes, Dana says. Adhesive in the eye could cause serious problems. Don’t try to take them off yourself. A special solution is provided for removal to be used by the technician.
