Hello! This is Jenna and welcome to the Elevate Yourself podcast where we can talk about beauty and self care without judgment. 

Jenna: We touched on some things last time in the lash extension episode. They were just too big to add into that one episode so I've got a couple of spin offs coming for you guys. This one is probably one of the most important ones and the most helpful ones I think for both lash artists and clients- lash retention. We all want to have our lashes for as long as we can and minimize those expensive appointments. I just wanted to put together a pretty comprehensive list of everything that I tell my clients and everything I coached them so that they don't have to be in every week, getting a mini fill or something like that. So that they can make it to three weeks consistently with 40% or more of their lashes remaining. 

I had a client who got trapped in those floods in the past month and I think she was at four and a half weeks and she came back for with about 60% of her lashes and this is up from having really poor retention like every two weeks having to come in for a fill because she actually has a more weak flexible lash type. So it is possible to change your lash retention. And most times you might have to add in a couple different products but sometimes it's some slight tweaks in your lifestyle that will really save you a lot of time and money. 

So I wanted to go through this list and before your appointment, it is very important for you to do some prep in your lashes. We can do this some prep during your appointment but it takes away from lashing time. Very important to think about coming to your appointment prepared to get the most out of it. We always recommend that you wash your lashes very well with your lash wash and your lash brush before your appointment.

If it's your first time please make sure you come with no mascara, mascara sticks like crazy. So after you think you've got all that mascara off, go in there and scrub like two more times because it's really going to save you a lot of headache and so that we can get that perfect bond there. If we do have to take time to wash your lashes, we also have to dry them and it's just not optimal during an appointment time to do that. We really want to give you our best quality time during the appointment. So if we can have that prep done before, it means that we can just do so much better job with your lash appointment.

Another consideration is to come without any lotions, perfumes, concealer, setting sprays or hairspray that day. These are all really important things. Lots of clients don't think about things like this because they think it's maybe not on the eyes so it's okay but things like hairspray, everything ends up on your lashes. It will affect the bond that we get with the lash. It's just going to make it really tricky for us to do our jobs when there's some foreign substance on there. Lots of these things like perfumes can actually affect the way that our adhesives dry or bond and so they can make adhesives not as strong. They can do some really funny things with lash adhesive so please skip the perfume, skip the concealer or be very very very careful applying concealer on the day of your appointment. Please get the setting sprays and definitely no hairspray the day of just to make sure we have that perfect bond there. So we can start with a clean slate for you. 

During your appointment, the biggest thing that clients face is tearing that is going to cause your lashes not to stay as well. So water does cure the adhesive which is a good and a bad thing. Because we need to be able to control the way that these lashes are curing as an artist to be able to guarantee a strong bond when an adhesive cures rapidly with the water then it is going to cure really fast but that fast curing process makes it also really brittle. So we want to make sure that we avoid the tears whenever possible so that we can maximize the adhesive retention there. 

These are my top tips for avoiding tearing during your appointment. Number one, definitely skip the caffeine before your appointment. Some clients even need to skip it three days before the appointment. If you set out your hand and you see any kind of shaking with your hand after you drink a coffee, just think about what your eyelid is doing. It's doing the same thing as your hand. And so it will be fluttering during the appointment. Because it's fluttering you won't have a tight seal with your eye and your eye is going to be having some of the adhesive fume in it that can get irritated and it will start to water so we want to make sure you're the most relaxed to enjoy your appointment but also so that you don't start tearing during your appointment or even worse start developing an adhesive allergy which means you'll have to take a lash break so please please please skip the caffeine. Oso Negro makes an amazing decaf coffee you won't even notice the difference. But what you will what you will do is save time. You'll be way more relaxed during your appointment. 

As a lash artist you can use anti allergy gel by your station. This will help to absorb any of the fumes that might be affecting your clients' eyes. If you have sensitive eyes as well as a lash artists are prone to having some sort of adhesive allergy I recommend using it anyways because then that will prevent yourself from getting exposed more than necessary to the adhesive fumes. They're very minor fumes. It's not like that we're doing a very toxic service, but our eyes are very delicate. For prolonged use of these things. We can develop allergies, or it can trigger allergies, allergies for us so I definitely recommend using anti allergy gel on your station to prevent any fumes in the air. can also ask your client to take a Benadryl or use allergy drops at least one hour before the appointment. This will really help you want to get in there before not after the clients able to take the drops an hour before the likelihood of them tearing or getting allergies during or after their appointment is dramatically reduced. I definitely would recommend that to anyone who has tearing clients or any clients that are tearing during their appointment. 

Another thing to consideration during the appointment or before the appointment is to use the washroom before and to avoid water. Lash retention is a lot about getting a quality service as well. If you're using lunchtime to go to the washroom then you're losing,  this is time that could be better used on the lash bed. So we want to maximize the number of lashes we can get on there. So please make sure that you use the washroom before and avoid water before your appointment so that you're not wasting that valuable time in the washroom. 

So from a lash techs perspective also, it's really important to not over cure your lashes. Sometimes you might be tempted to use your mastery, couple times during the appointment. It can be very beneficial. You really have to be familiar with your adhesive and your temperature and your climate. This is another thing we can talk about in a future episode. But if you start over curing their lashes, it's going to be the same as basically like having a tearing client. Those lashes aren't going to stick for much longer, they're going to become brittle and your client will walk out looking like they have a full set, but they will not last. 

Another thing that's really important is to wrap the bases and to use the appropriate lash length and style. So even with the classic lash, you can still wrap that base the way that you choose to bond that lash with your direction ng is actually a lot more complicated than most people think you cannot just slap it on there and have like the best retention there you if you have any kind of hooking happening at the end of your base that's going to snap up your lash extension. So we want to make sure that the tails of extensions are flush and seamlessly wrapped with the base of the lash. Also if you use the inappropriate lash length or style, if the lash is too heavy for the natural lash, it's obviously going to break the adhesive down much faster and it's also going to prematurely cause the lash to shed the natural lash. So it's very important that we're using the appropriate lash length and style for the natural lashes and if you do see your client coming back with premature shedding and they're doing Classic lashes definitely want to bump them up to Hybrid lashes.

This is not only going to give them some forgiveness to work on their habits with their lash extensions, but it's also going to give you a chance to see if the Volume fans are staying on there longer. than the classic fans. If you have a client that comes back and you notice that all the Classic lashes are gone and the Volume fans are all there. You might even consider switching them to volume. You can do a really light set of volume and it can still look awesome and natural, even sometimes more natural than a set of classic lash extensions. But it will last year client way longer. You will not be causing that premature follow up from the natural lash due to it being too heavy because you're using the inappropriate lash style. This is also why I think learning to handfan is essential if you're going to become a volume artist and you're going to be doing a high quantity of work because you're going to see a lot of different situations where pre made fans are not just going to cut it. So you really do have to be building those lashes specific to each natural lash in order to ensure that you're not going to cause premature shedding with a natural lash and that everything is going to remain healthy in the lash line and your retention is going to be amazing. 

That is another episode as well. I love how we're getting into all these more detailed topics as we explore these little these little sections like lash retention. So if you're a lash artist, and you're interested in that please keep logging in here because we're going to be sharing some more specific knowledge as we go through investigating all these little nuances of lashing and beauty. 

The last thing I have on here for lash techs, which is super important is to control your temperature and your humidity. Sometimes going faster is gonna lead you to a worse result. Sometimes you need to go slower as a lash tech to go faster. Not sure if that's going to make sense to you. But basically, like there's a lot of different things you can do to speed up your lashing in a studio but they're not always going to lead to a quality long term result for your clients. So sometimes going slower and using the right humidity and not over curing your glue or using an adhesive that's maybe a little bit slower so you're able to really wrap that lash is gonna lead you to have a more longer lasting result for your client. And you're gonna have a lot less hassles in the studio as well. After the appointment, it is so important that you do not expose your lashes to water or steam for three full days.

I know some people say 24 hours but in my experience three days is optimal. You really do want that adhesive to cure over the longest, slowest time possible to get a really strong yet flexible bond there. There's a lot of different thoughts about this here. But over my career in lashing I definitely have had a lot of issues with clients who submerge their heads or they get stuck in a rainstorm after having lash extensions or they head into a hot tub before three days. So I always use the benchmark of three days now with my clients and I find that most clients I'm able to coach to three plus weeks retention with over 40% remaining and it's definitely by following all these rules. The client if you're looking for the best retention possible and to save money and time, let's stick to three days no water or steam. It's okay to use your sealant to those three days and I definitely recommended. Most sealants are formulated so that they don't affect the lash adhesive. Once you leave your lash appointment, go through and you can definitely seal those lashes. It's almost best to actually because you're not going to be able to wash them for the first three days. So if you're able to get that sealant on there, it's going to give a protective barrier against all the other things like setting sprays, perfumes, lotions, concealer, hair sprays, all those things that you're going to want to do and use within those three days, but you're not going to be able to wash them off your lashes in those three days because you're not going to be able to get them wet. So please please please still continue to use your sealant right after your appointment, sp important.  At our studio, we recommend the bo lash crystal drops sealant. We did have the black sealant before I found clients aren't able to get up into their lash line close enough to where the lash adhesive really is. With the crystal drop, it's clear so there's no problems with smudging a black product all over your lash line. You use a clear lash sealant to recommend to your clients because it will allow them the flexibility to get up in there. As a client, you definitely want to make sure that you're applying this sealant on clean lashes wherever wherever possible so that you're not sealing in the dirt. We will definitely do a reel or something like this to demonstrate it to help you get a better idea of how to use the seal and to optimize your retention results. 

Last but definitely not least sorry guys,  this is there's so much to say about this the daily habits that you want to cultivate for the best lash retention are to use EyEnvy or Latisse for stronger, longer lashes. If you have a very fast lash growth, then skip out on this. We don't want you to be coming in for a fill more often than necessary because your lashes are going into overdrive and growing out way faster. But if you have weak or even normal lashes using EyEvy or Latisse can help you get a stronger natural lash which will in turn give your lash extension the ability to be on a stronger foundation. It can also hold longer lengths better. If you are wanting to go longer with your falsies, then you can definitely use one of those two products to be able to get build a stronger natural lash. 

Next we definitely want to highlight that if you do cry, I know it happens. It's just so necessary to immediately wash the tears out of your eyes. There is nothing that ruins a nice set of lashes more than tears. I don't know why but something about it will definitely ruin them especially if you have Volume lashes they will never fluff out so I know it's so hard to remember the moment but if you are able to please head to the washroom give them a quick rinse and if you can dry them and do a little brush but at least please rinse them out so the tears are gone. Also really important to avoid oils, oil breaks down most lash adhesive so we definitely want to be avoiding that in our eye area. If you have an oily skin using a wipe to control the oil around your skin is very valuable because it will take the oil from around your eyes. Also an oil blotting sheet can be very helpful there because it will just pull that off. It's obviously very important not to rub your eyes and not wear mascara. If you feel the need to wear mascara we should be adjusting your styling Volume, Hybrid, Mega Volume - these are all great options and mascara is not one of them at all. Please don't do it. 

Something you might not have considered that it's really important to is to eat a balanced meal. Keto is typically the worst for lash retention. It causes acidity on your lash line, and which will cause the adhesive to have a negative chemical reaction. Keto - if you have to do it then fine but you might want to wash your lashes more often to make sure you rebalance pH of your skin. Daily use of lash sealant is highly recommended after washing your lashes with lash wash and lash wash brush. Please never ever ever use your hands.

I know we hear this a lot and it's just never touching the eyes with your hands. Just always with either lash wash brush or your actual spoolie brush. Those are the only recommended things to touch her lashes so please never use your hands and absolutely never use a cotton pad or a face cloth because those are going to catch on your lashes and pull them right out. If you are tossing Turner you can also sleep with a bubble eyemask there's also a lot of girls that will take this bubble eye mask, insert it through their ponytail if you can picture that so that it won't fall off their face in the middle of the night. A satin pillowcase can also work really great. Optimally, we want to try and avoid tossing and turning but if you do toss and turn then at least use one of those two tools to try and control the damage on your eyelashes. 

So I hope that you guys have learned a lot of valuable things in this episode. We are definitely going to include a lot in the show notes for you for this so that you can download a little cheat sheet for this if you ever want to troubleshoot your lash retention personally, I don't care if you're from our studio or you're from a different studio. I would love to talk to you about ways that you can improve your lash retention. And same thing if you have clients that are having troubles. There's so many different things and products that we can suggest that will help you and your clients achieve a better lash retention. Definitely everyone should be getting three weeks. If you're not getting three weeks there are issues with either the styling the products you're using, or daily habits and routine that can be fixed. So to save you time and money, don't hesitate to reach out and we will be including some more episodes subsequent to this that will help out with these related topics. So keep watching as we keep releasing more information. And of course if you have any questions or suggestions on new topics for us, we would love to hear that on the ways that we can help you guys through this podcast. So thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us and troubleshoot your lash retention. We hope you have a great day and we'll talk to you soon.