How Winter Can Affect Lash Glue And What You Can Do To Fix It!
We're always prepared for trouble with our glue in the summer months, but it seems like each year we're caught out by the sudden drop in temperature, and how this too, can have an impact on your eyelash extensions retention.
So after doing some research, we've found out everything that could go wrong with your lash glue in the winter, and what you can do to protect your retention and reputation!
Changes to Your Clients' Skin
Before we get into the issues that can arise due to our room conditions, we need to consider that our usual lash glue might take longer to dry because of the changes in our clients’ bodies.
What do we mean by that? Well, many people will usually experience drier skin in the winter. This can spell out issues in several ways.
The lack of moisture will cause your glue to dry more slowly, and result in more fumes being emitted. Or, the lashes leaning after you let them go, meaning you'll have to sit and hold them in place for longer, which is super annoying and time consuming! Your client could also be over compensating for this dryness, so you may find that their skin and lashes are oilier, which we all know spells the end of retention time!
If they are super dry, opt for Booster to help your lash glue dry faster and apply it throughout the treatment to keep this topped up. If you find that your glue is still taking way too long to dry, it will be worth getting a faster glue.
If you’re currently using Lady Bond, switch to Flexie, and if you’re used to Flexie, try Royal Bond as it will react better to fluctuations in the temperature and humidity.
If your client is using lots of moisturiser or oilier products than normal, you’ll need to make sure you really go hard on the pretreatment to assure the lashes are completely oil free! We’d recommend our tried and tested 5 step routine, but if you have a bit of a tighter budget, we have some other options available!
Changes to the Temperature
We all know how temperature can affect lash glue while we’re working, but what about when we put it to bed for the night? In winter, temperatures can drop rapidly overnight, and while we might keep the heating on in our homes, we’re unlikely to do the same in our workspace.
This lower temperature - in the UK at least - is rarely low enough to freeze our glue, but it can reach fridge temperatures (3-5 degrees) and cause problems in a couple of ways. Firstly, when we come to use our glue in the morning, it can be thicker than normal, which would cause anyone to panic. Gloopy glue spells disaster!
Leave it to come up to room temperature for an hour or so, and go from there. You may find, if your glue was stored in an airtight container, that the glue will go back to its usual consistency once it comes up to your usual room temperature.
That being said, there’s a reason you should never keep an open eyelash extensions glue in the fridge, and that’s condensation. If you’ve ever taken anything out of a fridge, you’ll know that you get little water droplets building up on the outside and inside of the bottle or container.
If any condensation gets into the bottle at all, that moisture will begin to cure the glue. The consistency will end up being stringy at best, if not completely cured inside the bottle. Either way it will be unusable!
It might seem silly, but taking your lash glue home at night, or taking it into the house if you’re mobile, can make a big difference!
How Does Humidity Affect Lash Glue?
Humidity levels can play a crucial role in your glue’s effectiveness, and therefore your client's lash retention. There are two things can happen to humidity in the winter, and we need to be prepared!
The first thing that can happen, and the most obvious, is the increase in humidity due to the weather being colder. There's a higher chance of rain, or even snow, and the fact that those of you who work from home will have to keep your laundry indoors now instead of putting it out on the line. This can all have an impact on the glue in your workspace, sure, but what about when your client leaves?
It’s a little bit dramatic to say that the outdoor humidity will affect the glue bonds in such a way it’s worth mentioning here, but at the same time it’s a running theme at this time of year. We get messages saying ‘my pretreatment is perfect, my room conditions are the same, my glue is fresh, and my client still lost loads of lashes the next day!’.
So what’s the issue? Well, glue doesn’t like extremes! Before it’s on the lashes or afterwards, so it’s well worth making sure that the glue is cured before your client leaves.
Once you’ve finished the set and checked for stickies, you’re going to take a drop of superbonder on a microfibre brush, dab off the excess, and then apply it onto the glue bonds to cure them instantly. This will maintain the elasticity so they won’t become brittle!
Something that’s easier to overlook is that in the winter, is our room can become super dry! What do we do when the room gets cold? We turn on the heating!
The heating can be very drying though, so we need to be careful that we’re not impacting our glue. It’s not quite as detrimental as glue drying too fast, but just like that lack of moisture caused by those clients with dryer skin, we can end up spending lots of time waiting for the glue to form any kind of bond between your extension and the natural lash.
The excellent thing about having low humidity is that it’s super easy to fix! You can:
- Pop a damp towel on the radiator.
- Use your Booster just like on your drier skin clients.
- Apply Primer onto the natural lashes throughout the set (be careful not to touch any existing glue bonds as this can cause shock polymerisation!).
- Add some droplets of water along the eyepatch using a microfibre brush.
- Invest in a small humidifier to have in your work space (it’s important not to have this too close to the bed as this can lead to issues with humidity being too high!).
Parties
The last thing to consider is that we're coming up to party season - let's think about those clients of ours who LOVE a glittery eyeshadow, (Who can resist those Huda Beauty eyeshadow palettes?) they'll need a good lash cleansing routine now more than ever. It's good to start reminding them to stock up on an excellent Lash Shampoo to keep their lashes looking fresh!
Whatever you do this Winter season, you can rest assured there is a solution out there to make your life easier! One of the best things you can do, is to ensure that you stay on top of your room conditions, and the rest will follow!
