So as I sit at the airport at 2am in the morning, I get the chance to write my clients lash extension journey. This gorgeous woman walked into my salon the first time to get a Microblading appointment on 9/22/2018. She took one look at Penny whose set of lashes I had just completed, and fell in love. She asked if I could give her a set of lashes as well and I said yes! 

After advising her that I had to first remove her brows in order to redesign the shape, we used the time to give her her first set of lash extensions. We were both super happy with them, and she went home a happy camper. 

I got a text from her that evening saying her eyes were bloodshot and almost swollen shut. I asked her to come in the next day so I could remove them. She loved those extensions so much that she said she would try tough it out and see if it got better. Her eyes remained swollen, both upper and lids for 3 days, as per the photos. After 3 days she said she felt much better and loved the look of her lashes. Who can argue with that? She booked another appointment 2 weeks later. 

This time I decided to use my Saran Wrap method, that’s also on this blog, that’s usually a problem solver for me. I also misted frequently throughout the appointment. Initially we both thought YES it’s worked, but by that afternoon she was swollen again with bloodshot eyes. We texted back and forth and she once again decided to tough it out. This lasted 2 days this time around, and she was happy that they finally went down sooner than the last appointment. 

I then advised her to use Benadryl before her appointment. She used the liquid capsules as they are fast acting. As the Saran method had not worked previously I decided to work without this method. Instead I misted her throughout the appointment, and after I was done, she went to the basin and washed her lashes with Fresh Start. I told her retention may not be optimum but I wanted a solution. Yet again, this did not help. Her eyes were swollen and red for 2 days. 

I asked her to add Flonase at this stage before her appointment, along with the Benadryl. We also decided to add eye drops to coat the eye while I worked. She places these drops in her eyes just before I start placing her eyes pads under her eyes. I continued to mist her throughout her appointment. We also decided that we were going to do mini fills (1/2 hour) and lash each eye for 15 minutes and be done! This strategy was after 2 months of adverse reactions and we needed something to change. I will also say that she came to her appointments on Fridays so she could hid from the world while her eyes looked like this on the weekends. 

She went home after the mini appointment and had little adverse reaction. We continued to do mini fills each week for 6 weeks, until finally her eyes were completely clear after each appointment and she didn’t have a reaction after getting home. At this stage I advised her that maybe we should attempt an hour long fill again. We started hour long fills a month ago, and she has had NO reaction! Hallelujah! 

We continue to follow our regime. Benadryl capsules and Flonase before each appointment. Eyes drops (see photo) into her eyes before I start lashing. I also only place one pad on her eyes at a time. When I’m done with the eye, I mist like crazy, and she holds the lashed eyelid down, while I place the pad on the other eye and start to lash it. Time and patience on this clients part has worked miracles lash relationship! I love her and so happy this has worked out for us. It has been a 6 month journey to get to where we are now, and we will continue with our established protocols. 

Now for the products I use during this process!

I did not use the Sensi Addy as the retention is not good, but many lash artists have had success using this product. Instead I stuck to our amazing Clear adhesive and we have finally overcome her sensitivity issues.