While your eyelashes may be one of your smaller features, they also have one of the biggest impacts on the look of your face. Short, thin, or lightly colored lashes can leave your eyes looking small and sunken. Thick, dark, and long lashes, on the other hand, can make your eyes look wider and brighter, bringing youth and vitality to your face.
That is why for over a century people have been finding ways to use new technology to enhance the look of their lashes. Today, there are three main lash enhancing techniques that many salons and spas offer: lash lifts, lash perms, and lash extensions. While they all have lash in their name, they are very different. Here are some of the key similarities and differences between them.
Technique
The first thing to consider when comparing these enhancements is how they are done. Lash extensions use a medical grade adhesive to bind tiny hairs to your existing lashes. The process takes about two hours for the initial visit and requires touch up visits every three or four weeks if you want to maintain your look.
Lash perms are a lot faster. They apply a chemical similar to what is used to perm hair to the entire lash. Then, they wrap the lash around a rod and apply the activator. The whole process lasts about 45 minutes.
Lastly, lash lifts are similar to lash perms. The biggest difference is you can customize the curl a lot more, and the chemicals are only applied to the base of the lashes. Instead of the lash being wrapped around a rod, the base of the lashes are lifted onto the rod. The rod used is chosen by your technician to compliment your natural lash. Since this process is a lot more gentle on the lashes, tinting can be done at the same time to boost the appearance of lashes further. Lash lifts take between 45 minutes and an hour depending on if you are getting tint or not.
Results
Not surprisingly with three fairly different procedures, you do achieve very different results. With lash extensions, you have a high level of customization. If you want to glue tiny neon blue feathers to your lashes, you can. If you only want to add a subtle length and curl, they can achieve that, too. Lash extensions are highly customizable in color, length, thickness, and curl.
On the other end of the customizable spectrum are lash perms. One of their biggest drawbacks is they are a one-size-fits-all curl that is often referred to as “doll-like.”
Lash extensions are in the middle. The degree of curl is based on your lashes and your face. The result is lashes that don’t look artificially enhanced, just naturally exquisite.
Pros and Cons
All of these enhancement techniques are safe and effective for making your lashes stand out. As with most things though, just because it is safe doesn’t mean it’s right for you. There are pros and cons to everything in the beauty industry. For lash extensions, the pros are lash extensions are highly customizable and can dramatically alter the appearance of your lashes or be used more subtly. The cons for extensions are they take a long time, you can’t wear oil-based makeup around your eyes, and they require fillers every two to three weeks. If you miss a filler appointment, it’s not the end of the world, but unless you are done with extensions, it will mean a more expensive and time-consuming visit to get them redone.
Lash perms are a different matter. They last up to 12 weeks with no maintenance required and are the least expensive of the three enhancements. Since they are also a slightly older technique than lash lifts, there are more salons and spas that offer them and more technicians who have experience performing lash perms. However, many people find that the curl is too tight, and it leaves their lashes looking shorter, which can defeat the point. Also, much like a hair perm, it is easy for the lashes to become brittle and burnt if done incorrectly or the chemicals are left on a little too long.
Lash lifts are relatively new. They bring some of the customization of the lash extension to the light maintenance of a perm. Unlike the lash perm, however, lash lifts use lighter chemicals and only apply the chemical to the base of the lash. This preserves the delicate tip and prevents brittle burnt lashes. Lash lifts last up to 12 weeks and after the first 24 hours, you can apply makeup and resume normal activity with them. They are life proof!
So there you have it. Three different techniques to enhancing your lashes. We hope you have learned what you need to know to decide what technique is right for you. At ANU, we are big fans of the lash lifts, so keep an eye on our special offers page for discounts on this effective, pain-free procedure.
