A couple of years ago, I went through a phase when I was pretty obsessed with eyelash extensions (I wore them at my wedding and for my honeymoon). I’ve only tried them once in the years since – mostly because man, they can get expensive to keep up – but yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to give the extensions at Paul Labrecque a go, so, obviously: yes.
Eyelash extensions are clearly an indulgence (they cost anywhere from $90-$500, depending on where you go, the type of lashes that are used, and how experienced your technician is), but my honest opinion is that they’re completely worth it for a big occasion or any vacation that will require lots of swimming and/or sweating…because you simply don’t need to wear any additional makeup if you don’t want to, and you emerge from bodies of water looking far more like this than like this.
When it comes to where to go, I used to get them done at Ebenezer (a relatively low-priced place in Koreatown), but as the place got more and more popular it began to feel more like an assembly line than a salon, and the last time I went all of my lashes fell out after just 2 weeks (they usually last up to 4 weeks, and I’ve found that they often hang on up to 6 weeks if you take good care of them – no saunas, especially steamy showers, rubbing, or pulling, and try not to squish them down when you sleep).
Above: me getting all pose-y with my new lashes (in this shot, there’s nothing on my face save for the lashes and a little lip gloss – they’re really all you need.)
Taymour at Paul Labrecque applied something called “Extreme Lengths” (70 lashes on each eye), and I really could tell the difference: they’re much lighter and more natural-looking than the lashes I got at Ebenezer, and took no getting used to at all. Also, I very much appreciated Taymour’s willingness to answer my many questions about the procedure. As I’ve mentioned, I’m presently having some issues (pain, puffiness, etc) with my right eye stemming from last summer’s incident at Cynthia’s wedding, and I was a little worried that the lashes would clog my tear ducts or somehow make the problem worse, but Taymour explained that the lashes aren’t applied to the skin, but rather directly to the existing lash, so there’s no danger that they’ll worsen my eye condition. I do suspect that there would be some potential dangers (glue in the eye, lashes affixed to the skin, etc) that could arise if you had a less skilled technician, which is why it might be worth the extra cost to go somewhere really good if you’re considering getting extensions yourself.
Ooh – I almost forgot! Paul Labrecque has an offer for you: go to any of their NYC salons for eyelash extensions and mention Ramshackle Glam, and you’ll get a makeup application valued at $75 for free. Thank you, Mr. Labrecque :).
Service generously provided gratis by salon.
