Allergic Reactions to Eyelash Extensions. Can They Be Avoided?

Have you ever worked with a client for a while and out of the blue, they experience an allergic reaction after their lash appointment? When this happens, it can be a challenge to figure out why your client had a reaction, especially when you’re following the same application process for all of your clients and you haven’t changed the products that you use.

You may be tempted to accept the idea that perhaps this client is no longer a good candidate for lash extensions but before you do, you should know that this is a common issue among lash artists and there may be something you can do to help your client so they can continue to wear lash extensions.

Recently, I received an email from a fellow lash artist that has over 10 years of experience. She shared with me that lately she’s had several clients suffer from allergy symptoms shortly after having their lash extensions applied and she was curious to find out if the formula in the adhesive she’d been using for a few months had changed.

I mean, she had over a decade of experience and one could assume that she knows all there is to know about lash extensions. And she probably does however, her question reminded me that even if you’ve been a lash artist for a long time, there’s room to learn something new.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been having horrible allergy symptoms including watery eyes, stuffy nose, coughing and overall just feeling tired and worn down from all of the allergy meds I’ve been taking. However, I don’t wear lash extensions.

Her question reminded me of a discovery I made a few years ago when out of the blue, several clients I’d worked with for years reported irritation around their eyes, mostly on the upper eyelid.

Depending on where you are in the world, there is a really good chance that this is the time of year where flowers and trees begin to bloom and more pollen is floating around in the air.

It’s currently spring in the Bay Area and as someone that suffers from year round allergies, I tend to keep an eye on the pollen count in my area so I’m prepared to do whatever I can to relieve allergy symptoms.

However, this isn’t something that a lot of people think to do this time of year. Here’s why this information is important for you to keep in mind.

Our eyelashes by design, collect dust and pollen in an effort to protect our eyes. When spring arrives and flowers are blooming, this is the time that you’ll notice clients may come in for their touch ups with less extensions on than usual or they may even report irritation in their eyes after having their lash extensions applied.

So if your regular client or clients experience allergy symptoms after having their lash extensions applied in the spring, here'are a few things you can do to rule out the possibility of lash extensions being the culprit.

HOW TO AVOID SEASONAL ALLERGIC REACTIONS

If your client experiences what appears to be an allergic reaction shortly after having their lash extensions applied, one of the first questions you’ll want to ask your client is, “do you suffer from seasonal allergies?”

I remember one of my clients that always has amazing retention sent me an email after I applied her lashes asking if I used something different on her lashes at her last appointment because her eyes had become all red and swollen.

What she had completely forgotten about is that it was spring so there was more pollen floating around in the air, but also, she had just moved into a new home and that weekend, she’d done a lot of yard work where she was clipping branches, moving the lawn and sweeping up a lot of dirt and dust.

So after asking her a lot of questions and having her walk me through her weekend activities, we concluded that it wasn’t her lash extensions, but all of the dust and pollen that she had stirred up when she was gardening.

So always start by asking questions to rule out any other possibility before giving up on your client.

But outside of asking questions and knowing whether or not your client suffers from allergies, there are a few more things you can do to help reduce irritation for your clients.

The first thing you want to do is take ownership of cleaning your client’s lashes before the appointment whether it’s a touch up or a new set. I’ve heard of lash artists having their client’s arrive to their appointments with their lashes clean or they may send the client to the wash room to clean their lashes before their appointment and this is something that I’m totally against and I’ll tell you why.

In the early days of my career as a lash artist, I would have my client’s come in for their appointment and they would clean their lashes. And before applying their lash extensions, I would prime the lashes like I was taught and then begin lashing.

When I did this, I had terrible lash retention. And now that I know all there is to know about lash retention, I can clearly see that by me not taking ownership of cleaning my client’s lashes, I was not only creating the perfect storm for poor lash retention, but I wasn’t taking into account that my clients couldn’t even see their lashes super well to know if their lashes were clean. And sometimes there are dust and pollen particles hanging out of their lashes that you can’t even see with the naked eye.

So by you taking ownership of the process and adding the time to the appointment to take this simple step, you can guarantee the quality of your work and you remove any dust and pollen that may be hanging out on the lashes which will cause irritation down the line.

The second thing you can do to help reduce the chance of irritation to your clients is to use a barrier cream on the eyelids that’s lash extension friendly. The barrier cream that I use is by Lashologists choice and I actually learned a lot about allergic reactions and irritation when I bought their product.

You know how most professional lash adhesive takes 24 hours to fully cure? Well as they’re curing, they’re releasing vapor molecules that sit on the skin which causes sensitivity. By using a barrier cream that lash extension friendly, it puts a protective layer on the eyelids so it’s less likely those vapor molecules from the adhesive sit on the skin.

Lashologists choice is the only barrier cream I’m aware of that is advertised as lash extension friendly and they have a few tutorials on their website showing you how to use it to protect your clients.

Another way to protect your clients is to wash the lashes immediately after you’ve applied lash extensions so if any of those vapor molecules have settled onto the skin, you can wash their eyelids and their lashes which flash cures the outer layer of the adhesive and washes away any vapor molecules that may have settled onto the eyelids.

And one of the most important things you can instruct your clients to do is to keep their lashes clean by washing them at least twice a day. Especially when its a high pollen season. Remember, our eyelashes by design catch dust and particles to protect our eyes. So when they are cleaning their lashes regularly, it’s less likely dust and pollen will sit there or fall into their eyes causing irritation.

I hope this article serves you and helps you to avoid allergic reactions or irritation for your clients this spring. And if you want to have helpful articles, special offers, tips and tricks delivered straight to your inbox, make sure to click the button below this article to get on my email list.

I look forward to keeping in touch with you.