STICKIES: WHAT, WHY AND HOW?

What, why and how? A full guide written by Sonja Bogesch, one of our very talented trainers, to combating stickies! 

What is a sticky? Why are stickies so bad for us and our client? And how exactly can we prevent stickies? 

• The first type of sticky is whena baby lash gets stuck to an adjacent extension. These are one of the most common mistakes in lash extensions and also one of the most damaging types of stickies! 

• The second type of sticky is whentwo extensions are stuck together.This type of sticky is the easiest to spot when checking your work at the end of the treatment, and the easiest way to separate. We always advise you to check your work for stickies when you’ve finished!

• The third type of sticky is whentwo natural lashes are stuck together.This can happen when you have placed an extension on a natural lash but have taken it off again, either due to bad position or too much glue.

And the reason it is so important to check your work for stickies is because they are extremely damaging to the natural lashes!

But what makes them so damaging? 

Well, we know lashes have different stages of growth.  Baby lashes grow much quicker than a full grown lash that is in “resting stage”. If a baby lash becomes stuck to a fully grown lash, it will keep growing and could simply pull the resting lash out, permanently damaging the hair follicle.  And how many times have you heard someone say´eyelash extensions have ruined my natural lashes´?Well, if it wasn’t stickies and poor application, eyelash extensions would never cause any damage to natural lashes! 

So here’s a few tips on how to prevent them:

1. The first step to prevent stickies is to correctly isolate the lash. 

1. And always use the correct amount of glue, just a small ball but not a big blob!

There are different techniques you can use to avoid stickies. The first technique is‘lash by lash.’ This is where you simply apply the lash, then apply the lash directly next to it but this technique can be risky.  If the lash you just applied hasn’t dried properly, you can easily get into a sticky situation when applying the next extension!

The next technique is probably the safest. This is where youapply one lash, then leave a gap of, say, 10 natural lashes before applying the next extension, giving the glue time to dry. It is also beneficial to work evenly across both eyes - giving glue even more time to dry before lashes are moved once again!

And here’s how to check your work:

Checking your work for stickies, is an important part of your lash procedure - it’s all about safety! Always save 10 minutes at the end of a treatment in order to do this thoroughly and correctly. 

• For competitions this is also very important too, you can lose points when you have too many stickies!

• The first way you can check for stickies is to check each individual lash from root to tip with your tweezers.

• Secondly, you will need to check layers - you are almost guaranteed to find at least one stickie between the layers!

It may seem that checking stickies is time consuming but it is 100% worth the time! You should pride yourself in quality and checking for stickies ensures that. Do not risk the health and safety of your client’s lashes for a 10 minute longer treatment! The client’s safety is ALWAYS the priority.