How to Safely Remove Eyelash Extensions

With the “Stay at Home Shelter Order” in effect until April 25th, you may be wondering how to remove your lash extensions without causing damage to your natural eyelashes.

Whether you’re staying home or have to still go to work, no one wants to have lash extensions that have grown out and that don’t look as neat as they were when they were initially applied.

So today, I’m going to share a few things you can do to encourage the growth of your natural lashes so that your lashes are healthy and strong when it’s time to get a new set of eyelash extensions.

One of the most important steps you can take right now is to continue cleaning your lash extensions on a daily basis using a lash extension friendly cleanser. You may be thinking that not cleaning your lashes is the best course of action to take since it’s unclear when or if they’ll be touched up anytime soon and if you’re spending your days at home, you aren’t wearing makeup or any products that need to be cleaned from your lashes. The point of cleaning your lashes however is not necessarily to maintain the lash extensions you have on or to make them last any longer. Instead, the reason why you want to clean is to keep your eyes clean and prevent the possibility of a build up of bacteria which can lead to infection. Even if you don’t wear makeup or apply skincare products on a daily basis, your skin, including your eyelids produces natural oils, If that oil isn’t cleaned from your face often, it can lead to build up, bacteria and possibly infection.

Another reason why you want to clean your lashes daily is because by cleaning, you’re keeping the lash follicle clean and free of dirt and oil. When the lash follicle is clean, it encourages lash growth. So, keeping your lashes clean is a great way to ensure your natural lashes remain strong and healthy until it’s time for your next touch up or full set. At a minimum you should be cleaning once a day however if you have oily skin, you can clean 2 times a day.

While it’s not recommended to attempt an at home removal of your lash extensions, if you have a few lash extensions hanging on that don’t want to come off on their own, there are a few things you can do to encourage them to detach from your lash.

The 3 main culprits to premature lash shedding is excess oil, friction and heat. I wouldn’t encourage you to rub your extensions excessively creating friction because that could break off your natural eyelash in the process. I also wouldn’t suggest using oil because as mentioned above, we want to keep your lash follicles clean and encourage growth. I would however encourage the use of heat.

When lash adhesive is exposed to high temperatures, it weakens the bond, causing the extension to slide off of the natural lash. So an easy way to encourage your lash extensions to shed naturally is to give yourself a facial using steam. Simply boil water, put it in a heat safe bowl and covering your head and the bowl with a towel, lean into the steam with your eyes closed for up to 10 minutes and proceed with your at home facial.

The benefit of using this method is that you can make your skin glow (just in time for spring) and open your sinuses while helping your lash extensions to come off on their own. You may need to do this for several days in order to get the lash extensions to fall off of your lash depending on the amount of adhesive that was used by your lash artist.

Do not use any other heat source such as a blow dryer or anything else that’s not near your eyes as it could lead to serious injuries.

Questions or comments? Let me know.

Originally Written by Dela Antionette.