Fort Sask Blotched Lash Job, Wrongly Handled?
Photo courtesy of the CBC
This article that was in the media really bothered me for a number of reasons, I decided it was time to break the silence!!
Its very clear to me that there is so much misunderstanding in our lash industry locally.
I can confidently say that Im one of the rare few in our local and maybe Canada wide lash industry who has a firm understanding about reactions and how they should be treated. I have also been educating not only the students Ive been training but also my clients..
If you have not read this article you can find it below here! I suggest you start by reading it first so I can explain how every interaction this girl had with people trying to help her actually made the situation worse
Ok. Did that article scare you a bit? Don't let it, sometimes its the people in the industry and the level of understanding they have in the industry you should be scared of and not the procedure.
Here at Lethal Lashes our techs who have trained with us know exactly how to pin point which one of the 3 main reactions the client is having, but also to prevent this from happening in the first place, and how to treat any one of the 3 reactions safely, all the techs with Lethal Lashes also have access to troubleshooting support, so no guessing how to handle the situations. To train at one of our locations click HERE!
I do not 100% blame the student who applied the lashes, maybe just the training and lousy course she took, but clearly by the article and the certified tech who seen the lashes, said they were not applied correctly.
There is no way Im letting any one of my students lash anyone if they can not lash or use proper techniques.
Alot of these so called lash trainers really need to stop being in it for the wrong reasons, or this is what happens to your students and there clients.
So Alexis Bizuk the girl who woke up with her eyes swollen shut, decide to apply olive oil to here eyes!! PLEASE PEOPLE stop with this myth that olive oil, baby oil, Vaseline, coconut oil, or whatever other substance is going to magically remove lashes that were applied with professional or unprofessional products. This is a huge MYTH in our industry!! Sure over 3-6 days the lashes might start to come off, but there is no way you are getting them off by letting them soak even for a hour or two..
When that didn't work she went to the hospital, now again I don't blame the hospital, the reason is, lash extensions and the products used are relatively a new industry and product is always changing, and many hospitals have not dealt with this.
We need to work together as an industry to education eachother on proper methods of dealing with these unfortunate occurrences that can happen with our clients.
At Lethal Lashes our Lash Instructors / Educators are not just taught to send there clients with extreme swelling to the hospital but WHY we DO! This is so what happened to Alexis Bizuk at her hospital doesn't happen to anyone else, so when they show up they can ask for something to take the swelling and reaction down.
We have been teaching this for a long time before this incident came to light. We also education all our new clients if they do need to seek medical attention this is why you are there... The why is to take the swelling down, the doctor should prescribe something to take the swelling down for the client... Not smear Vaseline or another substance over the eyelashes.. As the article states this method at the hospital did not work..
Once the doctor gives the client something to take for the swelling, the irritation will subside along with the swelling. Once the swelling and irritation is controlled typically the body has rejected any remaining lashes and nothing will remain. Also keep in mind we only see reactions with in that 48 hour window with the swelling stopping on its own..
This should have been the end of the problem, prescription, cool compresses, then once the eye is back to normal proceed where needed.
So now we find out that the hospital calls a lash salon to do a removal on the lashes. BIG MISTAKE HERE!!! The Lash tech proceeds to remove synthetic lashes and adhesive with a lash remover!!
We will never ever apply a lash remover on to swollen irritated eyes.. what sense does this make? You and I would never apply a chemical to a cut or an irritated part of the skin, let alone our eyes. Imagine taking a cotton swab putting some acetone on it and apply that to your cut or inflamed skin.
Don't panic, get something to take the swelling down and then also remember the reaction will stop within the 48 hour period as the adhesive will naturally cure and stop fumigating.
These burns that we see on and around the eyelids are actually from the remover itself, I can't imagine the pain this girl endured when they should have been left alone.. If any way of removal should have been done it should have been done by gently peeling off each extension if it was a bad lash job.. or waiting for the swelling to cease before applying remover.
Another lash salon says in the article about reactions, "but are usually easily detected when the client is still on the table." This is not true! Typically you will see the reaction in the first 24 hours. This is why we use our checklist and go through it with a client to determine if a patch test is needed, or will be requested!
I also do not agree with the article when stating what a lash tech says "She's seen many women suffer from bad eyelash-extension applications, and the number of botched procedures continues to rise as the service becomes more popular."
4 or 5 years ago absolutely this would have been correct! This is why I got into training eyelash techs, and consulting for eyelash businesses not just locally but worldwide as there was a local need for great lash artists... You still get a few bad lash jobs but the majority of them have stopped, it is not on the rise locally, I spent a large portion of my lash career before I started teaching lash extensions to just those who had bad lash jobs!! I was the go to girl to fix and deal with them.. I can no longer make a business off fixing bad lash jobs, as they are not happening frequently enough anymore. Thank goodness!
Cassie Lewis
Founder Of Lethal Lashes
*Note; This article is soley the opinion, expertise and experience of the author
