Welcome to the Elevate Yourself Podcast -  where we talk about beauty and self care without judgment.

Jenna: I wanted to talk to you guys about something that I think can be so helpful for so many different people who are trying to pick the right style of lashes for their specific lash goals. 

So often, we don't really know what we're getting when we come and we book into a studio. Someone might change the service to adapt to your natural lashes. You might not know that they're doing a different technique, you might not understand why they're doing a different technique. And I know there's a lot of people out there who have a stigma against actually like receiving the right technique, because they think that it's going to look unnatural and it's not going to suit their face or their lifestyle, but actually, it will be the best dial for them. Instead, they pick a service that is not matched for their natural lash type. Therefore it does not last long for them. It creates damage in their lash line, and it also leads to them having wasted hard earned money, hard earned time. 

Definitely want to save this as much as possible for my clients. I would love to have this conversation personally with every single person but I am way too busy to do that. And so I put this into a podcast in hopes to save everyone who might be thinking about booking in for the wrong service. I have also created a chart for you guys. We are going to include that in the show notes for this podcast. Some people are more visual, this chart will really break it down for you guys. 

Basically I would say that every client has one of three types of lashes. There's fine and sparse lashes, regular and thick. The unfortunate thing about this is actually you can usually also identify these lash types with an age group as well. Unfortunately when we are like older we have a lot of benefits from our hair not growing as fast and thick, like less shaving, less waxing, but we do have also finer and sparser lashes due to our hormone levels changing. So when we are younger like 16 to like 25, we usually do have quite thick natural lashes that are very strong as well. Downsides also more oil production so can have problems with lash retention that way and then everyone in between mostly regular. 

Okay, so let's start with the thick lashes first because this is actually probably not so many clients. This is probably someone definitely from like 16 to 25 ish, not always 16 to 25 ish if you are fair skinned you might find yourself with thinner lashes but this is not always the case. If you have thick lashes you are blessed you could also get a lash lift and tint and probably look like you have a natural set of lash extensions. It would be less maintenance for you. You probably need to only get it filled every six to eight weeks instead of getting a fill from every two to three weeks. You do have that option as well if you were looking for a very natural look, but if you were looking for something a little bit more dramatic than you were probably going to want Classic Lash Extensions. Classic Lash Extensions are the thickest diameter of lash extensions, which I know blow some people's minds. I always hear from people that they think that Volume and Mega Volume is the heaviest type of lash when in reality a Mega Volume lash is about 16 times smaller than a Classic lash. Volume lash is actually about six to like nine. It depends what diameter you're using times smaller than a Classic lash. Definitely those Classic lashes,  they are the thicker, thicker chunky type so it gives you a really thick mascara look. There are smaller types of diameters of Classic lashes but usually you're getting like a point one five or something like that. Point two if you have really strong lashes that's going to give you a thick mascara look. It's also gonna feel a little bit more rigid to the touch and in my opinion it feels a little less natural because most of us don't have really hard thick, natural lashes like that. The most common misconception I think in the lash extension world is that Classic lash extensions are the most natural form. And I would really hope to persuade you for this podcast that this is not the truth. 

Bumping it up from someone who has thick lashes who wants a natural look who will choose to Classic. If this person wants to get a more dramatic look,  I would definitely recommend Hybrid lash extensions for them. Lots of people say what is Hybrid lash extensions? So Hybrid is basically just a mix of Volume lash extensions and Classic lash extensions. Our studio we hand fan all our fans which I think is really important. This is a topic I could speak on for a whole podcast so let's save that one for now. Hybrid lash extension is usually about 50% Classic lashes and 50% Volume so you will get that extra drama because we can add three to five lashes depending on the weight and the length of course to your natural lash to build a fan and to give you that extra. This is also really good if you've had maybe you have like a little bit of rubbing damage in your eye or something like that. Or you're just coming back from using strip lashes strip lashes are really bad they will leave you with gaps in your natural lash line. Even if you have a really healthy thick lashes to begin with. You might still need to bump up to Hybrid or Volume to cover that damage because it can be a bit asymmetrical and leave you looking a little bit patchy on one side versus the other where you don't have that damage. So and then of course over time is if you have a really good lash artist, they're watching that and making sure that your lashes aren't maxed out. So those will grow out to be healthy after you're not using strip lashes. 

Next column I have put them at Barbie, Barbie drama because Barbie looks great on some girls. It's not for everyone. I don't think it's for me, but some girls they fucking rock it so hard. So anyways, if you want the Barbie look if you want to have that thick strip lash look. Definitely even though you have thick lashes I would recommend Volume or Mega Volume lashes. It's going to give you the choice to do basically whatever you want with your lashes. It will also allow you to go longer because they are not as thick and bulky as a Classic lash. If you are doing a Classic set and you are getting bad retention and you want to go longer you can also choose Volume or Mega Volume. It'll be a lighter lash and it will last you longer. It is longer, it is thinner so it is lighter. And is not going to cause as much damage, also puts less of a burden on the adhesive. 

So now that we've covered thick lashes, we can bump up to what someone would do with regular natural lash extensions. If you have a regular set of natural lashes you want like a natural look. I would definitely still recommend lash extensions. Lash lift and tint is going to give you a little bit of a pop. It's like a push up bra right? We're not doing breast implants. It's just your natural lashes pushed up so lots of people would find lash lift a little bit disappointing if they are looking for a natural enhancement. So I would definitely recommend Hybrid. The reason why I wouldn't recommend Classic is because if you don't have a very strong thick lash, sometimes Classic lashes can be a little bit bulky. They can also look a little bit artificial when they're placed next to a finer lash. That is your natural lash. If you go for Hybrid it will blend that in a lot more naturally. And there's also a lot more freedom for the artist to make that look a little bit more natural and replicate your natural hair growth patterns etc.

If you are looking for more dramatic look, definitely bump it up to Volume if you have regular size lashes. If you're looking for a Barbie look definitely Mega Volume. It doesn't always have to be a Barbie look with Mega Volume. If you're getting bad retention, maybe you're very active. You have other stuff happening with your lifestyle that is going to be affecting your retention - which retention is a whole other podcast as well soon to come. I would also suggest Mega Volume lashes if they're again, they're lighter, we can still create a dramatic instead of a Barbie look with them, but because they're lighter, it gives you a little bit more of an edge on the lash retention game. They're lighter. It's not going to be as torquey on your adhesive and also when you brush your eyelashes or you touch your lashes accidentally and rub they are much more flexible so they are going to be responding with a flexibility instead of snapping that adhesive as much. 

Moving on to the fine or sparse lashes. This is definitely what I specialize in. I remember taking my first Mega Volume Class. I never thought that I would be doing so much Mega Volume. When I first learned to do Mega Volume until I actually began to apply it to the studio. First client I got a new client right after coming back from my training with Suzy - who is so amazing in Calgary. She had very very very damaged lashes. They were also very, very small. They were barely there. And I looked at your lashes and I knew I could not lash them with any of the other techniques that I had done. If I did Classic, it would look like very sparse like, very plucky just from like old lashing all the lashes and they probably fall off right away. I also knew that Volume lashes would be too heavy for those smaller fine lashes. I decided to do Mega on her but do a very fine Mega Volume set and respect the integrity of her natural lashes so that I was not maximizing the weights on her lashes. The result was a very natural looking set of lashes built on these very fine and damaged lashes that otherwise would not be able to be lashed or if they were lashed with other techniques, they would cause damage because of the extra weight from Classic lash extensions. I can leave those lashes that are especially damaged to grow instead of putting a lash extension on them perhaps with Mega Volume. It really helps repair that damage and let it to grow out while you're still able to have an enhancement for your lashes and feel glamorous. 

Moving on to dramatic definitely also Mega Volume and Barbie Mega Volume. Basically if you have fine or sparse lashes, I think that booking for Mega Volume is your best bet for sure. Booking fine or sparse lashes definitely requires a more experienced lash artist to be able to deliver lasting results that are not going to damage your lashes and are going to fill in the gaps and allow any damage to possibly grow out. Because it's so important we rehab these lashes. I know sometimes damage happens, maybe you weren't able to get into your lash artists like I know lots of us weren't at the beginning of lock down and things come up we totally get it. Sometimes that happens but we really do have to respect the lashes and make sure we're making the right choices so that we are not creating permanent damage and lashes. I really would recommend that we revise our idea of what a Mega Volume lash set looks like. Because actually, it is the most flexible type of lash extension application that is causes the least amount of damage and is most suitable for almost everyone.

I wouldn't really recommend it to someone with thick lashes who's looking for a natural set of lash extensions but almost everyone else like Mega Volume does not have to look Barbie if you don't want it to. What it is going to do is allow you to go longer than you would be able to with a Classic lash extension set and it also is probably going to last you longer. It also does look more natural in my opinion because it closer mimics the actual diameter of your natural lash extensions. The Classic lash extension is actually way thicker than your natural lash. So if you think about it, it is actually going to look more fake than putting in lash extensions that are matching your natural lash diameter. 

If you are thinking about booking a service, I am hoping that you really got a lot of value from this episode because I would love to see people booking in for the services that are going to make them the most happy. If you have any questions about this, I would love to chat with you. I will respond to your DMS on Instagram at elevatelash.ca - pretty much right away usually. Otherwise I can be reached through email or also through your phone of course. 

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