What’s all this fuss about lash shedding?

Fall Shed Is Coming.....

       The inevitable is coming up ladies..... that dreaded fall shed that all lash artists cringe thinking about.  Suddenly those lashes that once lasted so well for you are now falling off within days of placement.  You struggle to figure out what you've done wrong.   Nope! You are dealing with what everyone deals with around this time of year.  Fall Shed.

   First lets talk about the natural shedding process.  Our lashes have three stages to their life cycle, Anagen, Catagen and Telogen.   Anagen (the growth cycle) lasts for for 35-40 days for most people.  The majority of our lashes (about 40%) are in this phase at any given moment.  After this cycle we enter the Catagen phase, where our lashes stop growing and the hair follicle shrinks towards the skin surface.  Telogen is the shedding phase and lasts the longest, about 2-3 months.  As the new lash starts to grow it slowly pushes out the old lash thus causing it to shed. 

   So how do we as lash artists determine whether or not you are experiencing shedding or errors in after care. We rely on proper education of our clients and good detective work.

-Do the fallen extensions still have a natural lash attached? -If so does the natural lash have a root still attached? -Have you been using oil based products? -Do you wet the lashes before they were fully cured? -Have they been rubbing your eyes, do you have allergies?

    If its determined that this isn't shedding and its actually errors made in aftercare, I’ll work with you to understand better maintenance.  But if the extensions still have a lash attached to them, then we have to determine if this is from natural shedding or if you accidentally plucked a lash. A naturally shed lash will not have the white root tip still attached. You are just experiencing what happens to everyone, a natural shedding process.  Clients naturally lose 2-5 lashes a day per eye, hence the importance of regular fills.  As a lash technician it is our job during fills to inspect our clients lashes to see how they are handling the extensions.  If  we notice a majority of the lashes are grown out, but no baby lashes are present, we are approaching a large shed. Once this shed happens you will have many baby lashes, that unfortunately means you will need to purchase my root serum. We don't lash a baby lashes!! The root is not large enough to support the weight of an extension and in the long term their natural lashes will be damaged.  Natural lash shedding is inevitable and unavoidable.

    Now lets lets talk about the dreaded fall shed. Its natural for our bodies to prepare for winter by shedding our hair faster than normal.  We have all noticed when suddenly our showers are covered in more hair than usual as are our hair brushes.  We see it with our pets too, suddenly their pelts are shedding and preparing for winter.   Which makes sense, we are all mammals. As this time approaches, if you notice that your usually perfect lashes seem in need of love, and its only been a week, that they should come in sooner for their fill.  Assure them its normal and that its only a temporary setback.  This happens to everyone and unfortunately it will happen again in the spring. If you warn your clients that the inevitable is coming.

    Which brings us to talk about some products that we can offer our clients for lash maintenance. At Angelic Aura we carry bubble foam cleanser, lash serum and safe eye liners.  We educate our clients on proper maintenance!! For the health of lashes and longevity!