Ever since arriving in Taiwan, I’ve been enjoying a variety of beauty services on offer here. Like a lot of things, they’re relatively inexpensive here (but remember our average wage is 1/2 of Australian wages) and the ease of access make them even more enticing.
One of these services is eyelash extensions, which I didn’t venture into whilst living in Oz. Partly to do with cost, but partly to do with a few reasons I’ll go into later.
The process of lash extension is pretty universal – individual strands of hair is attached to your existing lashes with semi-permanent glue. The whole process takes around 2 hours, and refills are generally required every 3 weeks if you want to maintain the look.
If you have Asian hooded lids and are considering having eyelash extensions, here are my thoughts listed in Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Even though I’ve maintained my eyelash extensions, I can think of only one positive thing about getting them, but it’s one big positive:
It gives you long, lush eyelashes with no effort required on your part
Being Asian I have naturally short straight lashes, that required curling and coats of mascara to make them decent looking. That takes time to do, to remove at the end of the day, and even then doesn’t give me the length that most Caucasian people enjoy naturally 
Since having eyelash extensions, I save a good 10 minutes from my everyday makeup routine, as I no longer have to worry about doing my eyelashes or eyeliner, and can simplify my eyeshadows to one or two washes of colours on my top lid and bottom lashline.
Cons
There are a number of cons, and these are the reasons why, especially in Oz, that I just didn’t want to even try eyelash extensions.
Upkeep:
The obvious con with eyelash extensions is the time and money required to upkeep. As mentioned before generally you need to refill every 2-3 weeks, and even with that you’ll need to get them re-done every 3 months (Note: there may also be extra costs for removal).
Cleansing:
In order to keep the eyelash extensions for as long as possible, you need to take extra care when cleansing around the eye area. Water is advisable as oil can dissolve the glue, but as you may gather, this is not as effective at removing eye makeup so at least twice the time is needed to ensure proper cleansing of the area.
Another rather annoying thing is that eye “goop” gets caught up in the lashes, and I wake up with half crusty eyes every morning *yuck*.
No Eyeliner or Heavy Eye Makeup:
This is the main reason for me not to get eyelash extensions in Oz. I love my eye makeup and with hooded lids, eyeliner and smokey eyeshadows are the key for dramatic looks, which I do for nights out on the town and FOTD posts. Since lash extensions doesn’t allow the use of oil-based eye makeup removers, it’s best to just avoid heavy eye makeup and eyeliner totally.
Here in Taiwan I have a much less active social life so no need for heavy eye makeup, and the humidity makes eyeliners impossible for everyday wear (it smudges after an hour). I do miss eyeliner though… :/
It doesn’t prop up hooded lids like fake lashes
This is a major disappointment for me. I love fake lashes not just cos they give me fluttery lashes, but also cos they prop up my hooded lids and give me wide, open double eyelids.
I was hoping that eye lash extensions would do the same, but without the spine that strip falsies have, it doesn’t have enough strength to push the eyelid upward unless I’m sleepy (as in above pic, but the double lids are not as deep or wide as when they’re propped up by strip fake lashes).
Some length gets “swallowed” by the hooded lids
Partly due to the fact it doesn’t prop up the eyelids, and partly because lash extensions are, well, extensions of the natural lashes, the first few millimetres of the lash extensions are not very visible. They follow the direction of the natural lashes (downwards), and is covered by my hooded lids just like my normal lashes are.
Summary:
All in all, I like eyelash extensions but I don’t love them. I like them enough to maintain them for the time being, as I can afford the fairly regular refills and they suit my sedate lifestyle. But for hooded lids, they don’t looks as good as fake eyelashes, and can be a hindrance if you like playing around with your eye makeup.
What do you think? Do you have eyelash extensions regularly? Do you love them or feel a bit “meh” about them like me?
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I’m pretty conflicted about lash extensions too…They sound very high maintenance.
Beauty Box recently posted..What’s Your Most Embarrassing Beauty Mistake?
BeautyBox: They are especially when it comes to cleansing. So I’ll probably have a break from them in a couple of months. Even with careful cleansing I still feel like there’s always residual makeup around my eyes – rather annoying
I am always enticed by eyelash extensions too, especially here in HK (like Taiwan), so much cheaper than getting them done in Sydney. However, I still decided not to do them because to me extensions still look unnatural (since we have straight downward pointing lashes, curve of the lashes is a dead give-away). I am also paranoid of my lashes falling out,… do you experience this?
Chicmcmuffin: I haven’t had the extensions for that long and got them refilled, so I don’t know if my normal lashes have fallen out because of it. I’d say that some would have – cos I really don’t think glue of any sort is good for the lashes. Will definitely have a break from them in a couple of months.
I, too, have been contemplating on eyelash extensions for the longest time! I’ve concluded that I wouldn’t do it simply because 1) You lose a lot of your natural lashes 2) I like playing with different looks 3) Upkeep!! However… It’s always good to try something at least once that you’re considering… That way you know exactly what you’re missing out on or can do without… So after all that… I’m probably going to try them anyway LOL
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Tina: LOL I love your beauty philosophy! Yeah definitely give them a go if you’ve never had lash extensions. It’s still quite cool to have lashes all the time – I just wish the upkeep isn’t so troublesome GRRR
Oh thanks for the review! I’ve thought about getting eyelash extensions but I did read about avoiding oil based products. I’m personally a fan of smokey eyes, dark eyeshadow etc and oil based makeup remover is my saviour! I’ve used an oil-free makeup remover for my eyes and it takes me ages to remove my makeup!
Thank you for listing the pros and cons of eyelash extensions! It really gives me a better perspective before taking the plunge!
♡ M.May
M.May recently posted..Tightlining Eyes
M.May: You’re welcome! Yeah if you love your smokey eyes then lash extensions are definitely not for you. I now wear very minimal eye makeup and even then it’s such a pain to try to remove it with water
Thanks for posting about this. I’ve been wondering about lash extensions. Seems like there are too many cons and pros. However if I have the chance I’d really like to at least try it once. Just to see how it’s like.
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Coco: Definitely still give it a try – so you know how it suit you. I’m taking a break from them after the existing ones fall off, I miss being able to wash my entire face all at once, and am getting a bit sick of brushing out the eye goop from my lashes every morning.
Love your review. This is not meant as a criticism but just a couple of thoughts and my own experiences;
I used to have eyelash extensions (got them from various Korean and Japanese beauty places in Australia) and when I moved to Japan, I continued them.
They were great in the beginning but like normal hair extensions, after some months, my eyelashes became weak and brittle. The funny thing is that my eyelashes grow very fast and I find that I have to have my infills up to 2 weeks!
My original lashes broke easily and I was left with shorter and stubbier eyelashes. Even when my eyelashes grew back, they would keep breaking and remain weak. It has taken me about 2 years for my eyelashes to recover – they are finally “normal” in length and I could technically go back to wearing extensions again.
However I discovered the strip lashes and after a lot of practice I can now put them on in under 5 mins! I love them because they keep my natural lashes in good condition and I still achieve the look. I used to live in Japan so I bought a whole heap of short versions and most people don’t realise that I’m wearing fake eyelashes as they aren’t that long. Ocassionally if I want to glam it up at night, I will wear more fancy ones but for now I’m wearing short cross-hairs.
I am Chinese Asian and it could be that my lashes just can’t take long term falsies; so that’s why it didn’t work. I do have two non-Asian friends who also got obsessed with them (actually they were the ones who introduced this to me) and both experienced the same issues as me and eventually gave up on the process.
But I also figured that eyelash extensions might be like hair extensions, in that prolonged use can cause the hair to fall out due to constant weight, glueing etc. I don’t think that people should avoid it totally but I do think that they are beautiful and great when you want to have long lashes for a short while. However they are addictive!
I do still highly recommend them for anyone wanting the glam look but just be cautious to take a break for a few months to give the lashes a breather!
Thank you again for your review
Alex: Thank you for your insights! I love strip eyelashes and am fairly good at putting them on, though removal is still a bit of a pain… since I have straight lashes I need to curl and mascara them before applying the strip falsies, so at the end of the day I’d have to remove both the mascara and the eyelash glue.
I am giving my lashes a break from extensions though, whilst they haven’t caused my real lashes any harm, I got sick of not being able to cleanse my eye area properly. My eyes are almost entirely free of extensions now, and I’m thinking it’ll remain that way for at least a couple of months. It’s a great feeling to be able to wash my entire face in one go like I used to! (I’m soooo lazy
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