Today I wanted to discuss with you the very important, at least in my opinion, subject of lash shedding. 

When I first started doing lashes, I very often came across the client’s statement that the lash extension from other technicians lasted them for MONTHS!! And frankly, I was crushed and felt like I’m doing something wrong, I just wasn't exactly sure what. Of course, on every single training I had taken, they were briefly talking about the lash growth cycle and necessity of doing infills every 3-4 weeks but I still felt, that this subject needs to be discussed in far more detail!

First, a quick reminder of the lash growth cycle. Our body is a very complex unit where every cell has a specific function and expiry date, the same is true for our hair.

 

The average life expectancy of our lashes is 9-10 weeks and it starts with the ANAGEN stage - those teeny-tiny, sometimes very annoying baby lashes. Now, let’s stop here for a moment and talk about these lashes. There is a lot of controversies when it comes to extensions and baby lashes, and the main question is: should we apply for extensions on them or not? Well, definitely yes! In the past, when we had only classic, very thick and heavy extensions to choose from, it wasn’t recommended, but today with all the different thicknesses to choose from, you can certainly go ahead and try! All you need to consider is to not overload them, so go for shorter and thinner extensions. 

The next stage is called CATAGEN and that is when our lash starts to become thicker but it may still be growing. I like to call it puberty ;-) These are the perfect lashes to apply for extensions too because they will last the longest.

The last stage of the lash cycle is the TELOGEN phase. By now, our lash is fully grown and getting ready to shed to be finally replaced by the newborn. Lashes in that stage can be very tricky because you can’t really tell when that specific lash will decide to leave their sisters forever. That’s why you may sometimes have clients messaging you 3 hours after their appointment and complaining that they already “lost” one or two lashes :-/  And as annoying as it is, please get ready that you will have to repeat yourself over and over again because you will always find clients surprised when you tell them that its actually part of the process. But from now on you can, with confidence, give them a short biology lecture!! Just remember it is perfectly normal for your client to lose from 2 to 5 lashes a day!!

 

Shedding usually lasts 3-5 weeks, so within a month everything supposed to get back to how it should be.