Why can't I apply mascara to my lash extensions?

"I just applied a little mascara to the ends the last week, so there might be some left on there" - clients who want to make their lash tech very unhappy

So you've been wearing your lovely volume lash extensions for a couple of weeks and maybe they are looking less full and are in need of an infill...

You're missing the fullness of your full set and just want a little something to fix them until your infill...surely a little mascara wont hurt.

"Put the mascara down!" - lash techs everywhere

This picture shows exactly what happens when you apply mascara to your volume lashes:

If you're not sure what 'Volume' lashes are, go to my blog 'What are volume lashes?'.

Volume lashes are pretty little fans created by your lash tech. The fans are what create the soft fluffy look.

When you apply mascara to them, this closes the fans! So those pretty fans get stuck together and you lose the fluffiness and create a spidery look :(

Now try and get that mascara off of the lashes...

How do you take your mascara off of your natural lashes? Make up wipes? Rubbing them for a while to get it all off as it creates lovely panda eyes? Depending on which mascara you use...it isn't the easiest product to remove without a good rub, right?

If you know how to care for your lash extensions you will know that you cannot use make up wipes or cotton pads on them as the fibers get caught in them and can pull them out. And you definitely can't give them 'a good rub'!

For more information on how to properly cleanse your lash extensions, please visit my blog 'Why shampoo my lash extensions?'.

So cleansing the mascara off of those fans can either be impossible or extremely difficult to do properly without losing more lashes.

You are able to use eye make up when wearing lash extensions such as, powder eyeshadow or pencil eyeliner as these can be cleansed off easily with the appropriate lash cleanser. So if you want to make your lashes look better, either use make up that can be removed easily with lash cleanser at the end of the day, or you may need to book your infill in sooner! The truth is if they look gappy enough for you for want to use mascara, you need an infill!