I know vanity has a price and sometimes the price means discomfort in the form of synthetic hair glued to your lashes for months. When the guy from the salon said I can wash it off right away, it is just natural that you will believe someone who knows what he is doing right? It is also natural he wouldn’t know ALSO because number one, he is male, and number two, he is not likely to have his eyelash extended. Let me tell how this all began.

On a Thursday afternoon, I blew off my friend’s invitation to hang out because I prepared months for my false lashes appointment. A guy (yes, who would expect?) brought me to this private room where they usually do facials and other services that require you to lay back on a stiff bed and face this overhead light that blinds you on the spot. I immediately sent an SMS to my boyfriend telling me where I was just in case, you know.

False lashes have several lengths to choose from and I picked the second to the longest length: 12.

“Are you sure?” The guy asked. “What’s the point of having them on if people won’t even notice them?” I asked. If women who wanted to have their lashes extended at a salon wanted “the natural look, short”, they might as well endure minutes of curling their lashes and putting on mascara. He warned me though that wearing shades might be uncomfortable because they might brush against the lenses. I’m lying on my back and waiting for him to tickle my eyes senseless and he is giving me a sermon on discomfort.

The procedure took almost an hour as the salon guy painstakingly glued one wisp of synthetic hair/lash at a time. He placed cellophane under my eyes keeping me from seeing what was going on the whole time. I almost fell asleep when he went, “You can get up now.”

He took off the cellophane and it took me a moment to flutter my eyes open. They sting like mad! The guy said most women who have had their lashes done sometimes even take 30minutes to open their eyes and get used to the sting. “It’s the glue,” he said. Such powerful glue it was smelling like burnt rubber and causing my eyes to tear up. He guaranteed that the lashes will stay on for at least 3 months. A week later, I noticed my lashes falling off one by one. You really can’t help lash shedding considering that the life cycle of an eyelash doesn’t even go up to 3 months.

How to make your extended lashes stay on longer:

Don’t wear contact lenses on the first day. They will sting more.
You can wash them off after the glue is dry. Usually takes about 2 days. In the meantime, avoid contact with water.
When wet, fan them out.
Every morning, separate lashes with a toothpick so they wouldn’t stick on top of the other
Never rub your eyes.
Retouch is advisable every two weeks and costs only half the price of what you paid for the first time you had them.

Oh, well. With that said, it is likely that I will have my lashes redone anytime soon but it is nice to wake up in the morning with long and curled lashes feeling like sans the makeup, you can never go wrong. It saves you time from putting on mascara and curling them, too. The entire agonizing procedure of putting them on is worth every P600-P1200 dime that you shelled out. I sometimes missed people doing a double take when they see my eyes, “Such long lashes you have!” they’d say. I’d flutter them madly wishing they won’t fall off in the process and demurely reply, “I know, right?”

Several salons in Metro Cebu already have lash extension services. Jessie Glova lash extensions are at P1200.