My Own Lash-Perming Experience

I was invited to try Nail To Toe's lash perming service last Friday. It was one of their new roster of services offered along with their winner mani-pedis and thai massages. I've never had my lashes permed or had extensions done. I opted for the former rather than the latter since I tend to be quite OC with makeup removal and going OD with eye makeup remover on myself could dislodge the extensions. I've heard about eyelash perming from my friends who swear that it really made a lot of difference. I've heard good reviews and bad reviews too depending on where they went, so I was pretty nervous with my own experience. Lash perming is similar to head hair perming, so lashes stay curled for a longer period of time, which gives our curlers a rest.

When I arrived, I lay comfortably on the bed. Prior to that, the therapist asked me if I had any makeup on. I told her I came prepared with clean skin and only eye cream on my eyes (before lash perming, it's strongly advised to arrive with no makeup on, as in zilch, most especially eye makeup, waterproof mascara, mascara, eyeliner included). Still, my lids were cleansed so they're 100% clean.

So what's perming without rollers right? Of course, they didn't use the pink perming rods for me here. For lashes, we had sticks that look like cut-up barbecue sticks to serve as our lash "rollers" These were (temporarily) glued on the lid and our lashes were formed so they follow the form of the rollers. Don't worry, the glue came off without harming my eyes or lashes.

First up, my lashes were permed with a cold wave lotion. My eyes were closed most of the time here though, so I'll be describing based on the answers I got. The perming lotion used is similar to the one used for hair (I would joke that it's like Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion, only not that strong) and it was applied using a cotton bud on my lashes and then the lashes were moulded to the rollers so that they're shaped according to the curl. My lids were covered in plastic and the lotion was left for a good 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, the wrap was peeled off and neutralizer was applied on my lashes. Neutralizer, from the very word, neutralizes the pH balance of the solution and also locks the curl so the curl stays longer. It was then left for a while as I had my brows shaped while waiting. After that, the solution was rinsed off with lukewarm water on a cotton bud. The rollers were removed and my lids and lashes were cleaned of any glue residue.

Pre-perming, this is how my lashes looked:Without anything, they're stickstraight and practically invisible. However, after the curl, here's what I got:
This is without mascara, but my eyes were relatively more open. My therapist told me it's okay to wet my lashes tonight and even apply mascara, but I thought I'd leave my lashes for a while. I like how my lashes look like they've been curled well by a good lash curler. The curl is graceful and I get that perfect curve instead of the annoying check-shape.

Procedures like this usually last for 3 months. It's a relatively painless procedure. There's a very faint chemical smell though, due to the chemicals used, but no big deal. Lash perming at Nail to Toe usually costs Php350. The threading is a separate service though, for a very affordable price. The location is very convenient for me, since I live quite near the place. For a first-timer, they were able to orient me well, especially since it involves chemicals being applied on my lashes.