Spooky Lash Myths: Cleansing

We’ve all heard the many legends of how getting your fresh set of lashes wet will cause them to shed prematurely. This just isn’t true and is just another spooky lash myth that discourages cleansing.

“Then why do my lashes shed whenever I cleanse them?!” you ask. Keep reading I’ll explain.

Since the beginning of lash time, lash artists would instruct their clients to avoid water at all costs for the first 24-48 hours 🙅🏻‍♀️ So, I totally get it! You see a couple of lashes shedding here and there so you think, “It must be true.

As I’ve personally seen with my clients, this sadly inaccurate aftercare instruction has created a long-lasting fear in clients around getting their lashes wet. Why is that an issue? Well, you need to clean your lashes, and in order to clean your lashes you have to get them wet….

The basic function of lashes is literally to catch and prevent any debris from entering the eyes. When you add extensions, you add surface area, which means more square feet or whatever to catch more debris.

Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains, dead skin cells, makeup, oils etc.

Not cleansing the lashes is the top cause of lash-related issues like blepharitis, styes, and even sometimes just irritation.

The idea of avoiding water for 24-48 hours originated from a basic misunderstanding of the way lash extension adhesive works. Understandable, because every industry evolves over time.

Let’s break this down (unlike what cleansing does to lash adhesive)

We use a very specific adhesive for lashes, chemically identical to superglue… Obviously, we are extremely careful, delicately balancing a generous amount of adhesive - for best retention - and precision application. When adhesive “drys” or cures rather, it hardens into an acrylic-like substance. In its cured state, lash adhesive requires a solution even stronger than itself to break down the bond. Think acrylic nails or no-chip that need to be soaked off.

There was a point in time when lash artists were made to believe that a little adhesive goes a long way. We've since learned this doesn't make for a very strong bond. With new science and a little more generosity with our adhesive, we are seeing much stronger bonds and better retention. So, it may be true that any extra agitation was causing any poorly bonded extensions to shed.

Fortunately for us, this means that your basic soap and water, or gentle lash cleansers do not break down the adhesive. The shedding you see is natural eyelash shedding due to the cycle of each hair coming to completion combined with a little bit of agitation from the act of cleansing. It’s like brushing your hair. It doesn’t force your hair to fall out, it just collects all of our hair that has shed, bringing it to our attention.

I totally get it, you still want to keep as many lash extensions on your eyes as possible, but any lash that is shed during your cleanse will likely soon make its way off of your face at some point throughout the day, and if not, when they come into contact with your pillow. ItIt'ss just that lashes time to go.

We've come a long way with our understanding of lash adhesive, and have since learned to optimize its functionality to give our clients the best retention possible. Using a generous amount of adhesive helps immensely with seeing lashes “pop off” so that you don’t have to….

So anyway, continue keeping those lashes squeaky clean. We recommend a deep, thorough cleanse 3-4 times a week, post-makeup removal, and post-workout cleanse. This will keep your lash extensions and lash line in optimal shape. Cleansing your lashes between appointments can also ensure that we have a super clean surface area, free of any oil or debris for a perfect bond between natural lash and extension.

Any lash-formulated cleanser will do. We did the work for you to find the best: LashMakers Lash Cleanser, and we carry it in the salon for your convenience.

As always feel free to email us with any questions: info@rebellashandbrow.com