How Lash Texture Affects Retention 

Do you have clients who always seems to have the worst retention? You apply lashes on this client along with others in the same day but she’s the only one who had a major fall out. And what about those clients where lash lift just doesn’t seem to work.

Let’s face it, we’ve all retention issues but in some cases we just can’t wrap our heads around what you’re doing wrong. You blame the product majority of the time.

Well in some cases, it’s not you or the product, it’s the lash texture itself, also known as lash porosity. This is a fairly new concept for many because it’s not something that is covered in your lash courses. So what exactly is it?

Lash porosity is the ability of the lashes to absorb moisture and actually retain that moisture.

There are 3 levels of porosity: low, medium and high. This is based on the lashes’ cuticle layer, which is the outer layer made up or small cuticles that look like shingles on a roof.

• Low porosity lashes: cuticles are tightly knit together
• Medium porosity lashes: cuticles are slight open
• High porosity lashes: cuticles are widely open

Lashes that are porous will be able to absorb products easily (like the lash lift products) and is prone to dryness. Think about your hair, you know that dryish feeling of the hair. You probably need a lot of conditioner. Well, lashes are no different. Good news is that when lashes are porous (ideally medium porosity), the retention is better! The ability to absorb moisture will help create a stronger bond with the glue and seal the extension in for longer.

Lashes that are non-porous (e.g., silky) typically have a nice sheen. Moisture cannot penetrate easily in these types of lashes. As a result, the retention will suffer.

So how do you really combat this?

For porous lashes (medium to high porosity), avoid applying too many pre-application products. This includes a primer, protein remover or pre-treatment. You should always cleanse the lashes but for high porosity lashes, even this may be too much. In this case, you have to a trial and error. If they come back with bad retention, you know you should skip the cleanser as well but only when you know the lashes are clean!

For non-porous lashes (low porosity), make sure you always cleanse the lashes using our specially formulated lash foam cleanser - Renew

 

You will also need to apply the primer, protein remover or pre-treatment like this one here:

 

Because it contains alcohol, it will open up the cuticles allowing the moisture to be absorbed and helping bonding the extension more easily.

 

Make sure you also end the process with the superbonder.

Trust me this product is a game changer! It will really help with the retention.