Eyelash Extensions Noob

One of my friends got eyelash extensions. It looked so good on her that it makes her look like a doll. I was smitten. I wanted one just like hers. So last Saturday, when she asked me if I wanted to go with her to Let's Face It Salon to have her extensions filled in, I tagged along. Exploring my kikay-ness! :))

The procedure was easy to explain. The technician asked me to close my eyes. She the taped my lower lashes and lids with micropore tape. She taped the lower lashes to avoid getting glue on them. She them proceeded to gluing the extensions on my lashes (one extension to one lash). Painstaking process. The glue hurt my eyes :'( It burned. Good thing whenever I feel pain or discomfort in my eyes, they have this pump to blow air on them. To speed up the drying of the glue, I guess, and to blow away the hurtful fumes. :P After almost two hours, the extensions were done! Yey!

The technician handed me a mirror and told me to open my eyes and when I did---PAIN!!!---huhuhu My eyes were red and in pain so she offered to give me a few drops of eyemo. It felt so much better after that. I got the mascara effect for a 1000php price tag. A bit steep but hey it was my first time getting them so I was a wee bit excited. I was advised to not wet my eyelashes for the next 24 hours and some other reminders (sorry, I forgot). The extensions should last for about 2-3 weeks and then I'd have to get fillers if I want to maintain the look. I was really happy with the results. It was a bit too dramatic for me but it was good. It totally changed my aura (at least, that's how I felt :P)

When I was about to go to sleep that day, I really had a hard time washing my face. I had to wash it in two parts. First part's for the area above my eyes and then the second part for the area below my eyes. Then clean the eye area using a wet cotton ball. Spell effort? And that's not the worst part. The worst part was when the morning came and I had to open my eyes again. It was like someone kicked some dirt in them. Same feeling when I took a shower and water got in them. The redness of my eyes became even more visible. And there was still this burning sensation. Not intolerable but disturbing nonetheless. I attributed the redness to the micropore tape since only the lower part of my eyes were affected. The burning sensation must be due to the glue. I was really scared because eyes were irritated. All negative thoughts came rushing to my brain. What if I go blind?

My paranoia got the better of me and I checked with my doctor aunt. She told me to talk some antihistamine. I talked to my dad, also a doctor, who told me to take another tablet of antihistamine a day after and also to consult with an ophthalmologist. I did just that and the next day he told me that the irritation might be due to the glue and prescribed an antihistamine/ anti-inflammatory eye drops. Wow! So much for my journey to kikay-ness!

Two days after my check up, I decided to have my extensions removed. The mascara-effect was too heavy for my lashes that they tend to droop down. Also the extensions poked the area around my left eye. And some of them already fell off. So a few days after getting them, four days  to be exact, I said bye-bye to my extensions. I rather have them removed than suffer anymore!

Having eyelash extensions seem to be okay for some people. My friend really enjoys hers and keep getting them filled religiously. But sad to say, I guess they're really not for me. I don't enjoy the hassle of maintaining them and also the allergy was a high price to pay for fashion. I'd rather keep my lashes au naturel...at the moment. :)