Eyelash Extension Review

If you follow me on Instagram stories, you already know some of this story, but I’m going to explain all of my thoughts on eyelash extensions further.

Some backstory: Two or three years ago, I got eyelash extensions for the first time. I was very nervous to get them, but the place I went to in Greenwich had glowing reviews and I decided to try it out. When I start thinking about doing something, it nags at me until I just go for it. Getting eyelash extensions was something I had thought about a great deal and I was just curious as to how I’d look. The process was simple, although long and a little boring. I was so afraid of coming out and looking like I had giant fuzzy caterpillars on my eyelids. I asked the lady for “very natural,” and honestly, it was too natural. I could hardly tell the difference, but I still had eyelash extensions so I couldn’t rub my eyes, wear mascara, etc. I kept wanting to put mascara on because I thought my eyelashes looked worse now that I couldn’t apply it. I also had these recurring nightmares with them on that spiders were falling onto my face (haha) and I’d wake up every night in a cold sweat plucking my extensions off. After two weeks of this, I went back to the salon and had them removed. An expensive experiment, but it at least got me to stop thinking about them.

Fast forward to this April: My best friend was getting engaged (!!!) and I was an emotional wreck leading up to the excitement. I literally would tear up every time I thought about her getting engaged. I remember thinking, “Oh I should make sure I have waterproof mascara.” And then I started thinking about extensions again.

I found a salon in Hoboken (W Lash, they are GREAT, if you say that I sent you, you’ll get a discount!) and just went for it. I got the “classic” set which has 90 pieces and told the girl that I wanted it to look like I had a GREAT coat of mascara on. I meditated through the first application because I felt a little claustrophobic with my eyes taped shut, but it was so worth it in the end. I LOVED the way they looked. People were asking me what mascara I was using, not if my eyelashes were real or not, which felt like a win.

The biggest pro is just how beautiful extensions can look. They really make your eyes popped and I felt totally comfortable not wearing makeup. Even though I wear makeup whenever I do blog photos, I typically don’t wear makeup, so I loved that fresh-faced look with zero effort.

Extensions are both high maintenance and expensive. I had sold some old camera equipment through Facebook Marketplace for cash, so I was using that stack of “play” money for the extensions. The salon I went to offered a discount if you paid in cash too, so that was nice. Had I not had that extra cash, I don’t think I could have stomached the hundred dollars every few weeks.

I’m sure if you’re a better sleeper than I am, they might last longer, but I toss and turn a little and sleep on my stomach. So I’d find a few on my bed every morning upon waking. They looked AMAZING the first week, still pretty great the second, and by the third, they’d be a little straggly. No one ever noticed, but it’d sometimes bother me if one of the extensions flipped and would be in my line of vision until I could straighten the sucker out.

I also REALLY missed being able to rub my eyes. I’d use a q-tip dipped in Micellar water to remove my eyeliner every night, but I wished I could scrub my face with my hands and not have to avoid my eyes. One day I got a TON of shampoo in my eyes and even though it burned like crazy, I couldn’t rub my eyes on a towel. I could only try to blink it out and gently dab at my eyes.

Going to the salon every three weeks also took a lot of coordination. I had to maximize when I wanted my eyelashes to look their best, when I could get them done, and what I was doing the next day/that night. You can’t get your lashes wet for the first 24 hours, so I was taking a shower, doing my hair, and going in fresh-faced at 5 or 6 pm on Mondays. I could wake up on Tuesday and be clean enough to get me through to Tuesday night before I had to shower, remove makeup, etc.

I kept up with it until this week, when I had them removed on Monday night.

Removal: I really love the way eyelash extensions look and basically just wish that it’s how I looked all the time. Like, I wish I was born a little more beautiful. Which is a sad thought. Once I had the extensions, it felt like a slippery slope for other beauty fixes. All of a sudden I was thinking about how great it would be to have permanent eyeliner and a tan and hair extensions. I hated that I was thinking about that and realized it’s not what I wanted to do ultimately.

(Side note: But sometimes I look at girls on Instagram who have had work done, and I’m like gosh I guess I could look a lot better if I had plastic surgery, fake tans, hair extensions, hair dye, botox, fillers, lip injections, photoshopped images, etc…. I am who I am though, both naturally and with what I’m willing to do to myself.)

Plus, I wanted to be able to SWIM. My plan was originally to keep them up through July because I had so much travel scheduled, but because of my travel schedule and when the salon was open, I basically had to get them done on Monday night if I wanted a fresh set for my upcoming trips. But then we decided to leave Monday night instead of Tuesday, which meant we’d definitely be swimming all day Tuesday. And, well guys, I am not going to miss out on water skiing and swimming because of some stupid eyelashes. So I had them removed.

It felt glorious to be able to rub my eyes again and to wash my face without having to be dainty around my eyes. My lashes are definitely shorter and thinner, but I know they’ll grow back normally with time. They still look fine when I put on mascara and give them a little curl with a curler.

The serum. When I posted about removing my lashes on Instagram, I was INUNDATED with messages about serums. Like, the only time I’ve gotten more messages from one Story was when I asked for recommendations for doormats 😂 I couldn’t respond to everyone individually, BUT, I had already purchased a serum from Sephora before leaving for the trip since my lashes took quite the beating from the extensions. I read reviews about a bunch of different brands and formulas, but I wanted to start the serum ASAP and didn’t want to wait for shipping. (#Impatient) I went to the Sephora in Hoboken and purchased this serum which has pretty compelling reviews online and was one of five of the most recommended serums from readers. I’ll keep you posted on how my eyelash regrowth goes!

So would I recommend eyelash extensions? I wouldn’t not recommend them. If you’re willing to put in the maintenance and to pay for it and give up some freedoms (like rubbing your eyes!), then I wouldn’t be discouraged. But it’s not totally a necessary thing and if you don’t want to spend the money or put in the energy for them, I wouldn’t.