Five Lash Technician Horror Stories!
Ask anyone on the street what sends shivers up their spine and they’ll list ghosts, demons or spiders. Ask a Lash Tech and the list will be very different. From stickies to chemical burns, broken tweezers to client no-shows - we thought now would be the perfect time to take a close look at this particular set of horror stories and what we can do to avoid them!
Stickies
A stickie is, basically, one lash stuck to another - this can be an extension stuck to a neighbouring extension, or to a natural lash. In the worst cases there are more than two lashes involved. There are 4 main types of stickies, and we need to avoid them at all costs if we want our clients to come back to us, and to have any kind of positive reputation as a lash artist.
Stickies pose such a huge threat to the health of our clients’ lashes, and to our business - they result in pain, discomfort, and they potentially kill off the hair follicles entirely, meaning that our clients’ lashes will end up with gaps if we don’t separate stickies when they occur.
We should be setting aside 10-15 minutes at the end of each lash appointment to separate any stickies which do occur - simply go through lash by lash and use both pairs of tweezers to gently pull the lashes apart which are stuck together. Remember that even if we take every precaution possible stickies happen so easily that it’s entirely normal to find at least a couple at the end of every set.
If you’re not too familiar with stickies, take a look at this blog post for a really in-depth look at how they come about, and how to avoid and fix them.
Dropping Your Tweezers
Not a lot needs to be said here - the thought alone of dropping your tweezers is enough to send a shiver through the core of even the hardiest of Lash Artists. Tweezers will always land on their tips - this is either due to aerodynamics, or just the universe having a little laugh at your misfortune - either way, it’s not ideal.
One of the main ways our tweezers can meet this end is due to our clients knocking them off of the pillow and not actually due to us dropping them, so when we have to put our tweezers down for a moment it’s always better to have somewhere super safe to put them.
We’d highly recommend a Magnetic Tweezer Case to keep your tools safe and clean, you can find out all the reasons that a tweezer holder is great for business in this blog post! We have also recently introduced the new Tweezer Insurance Policy, where we will replace any damaged tweezers for only £9.99.
Client No Shows
This might not sound like a horror story as such, more of an annoyance. What about the loss of income though? Let’s say your average price for a treatment is £150 - one missed client a week becomes £600 a month, or £7,200 a year.
What can you do to prevent this? The easiest way possible is to have a deposit system which involved clients paying a portion of the final treatment price at the time of booking - it’s not unusual to set this at 50% for the simple reason that it covers you for the time slot that you can no longer fill. Sure, you didn’t have to use any products but for a set of lashes, you’re looking at closer to £10 for products (less, actually, we’ll have a blog post on this soon 👀) so all told, you’re still losing out on about £140, which pays your rent, bills, insurance, salary, etc….
For in-depth advice on cancellation and no-show policies you can implement, check out this blog post.
Chemical Burns
There are few things more disappointing than your client opening their eyes at the end of treatment with the most amazing set of lashes, only to see their eyes red and bloodshot. Not only does this make for a less-than-perfect set of photos for your instagram feed, but it’s uncomfortable for the client - some start to panic thinking their eyes will never go back to normal while others will just politely smile and say it’s fine.
What causes chemical burns is actually the fumes from the eyelash extensions glue, which gets into the eyes if they are opened at all during the treatment. This can happen because your client checked their phone (yes, it happens), because they were chatting or fell asleep and their eyelids were flickering, or even due to the shape of their eyes.
Chemical burns are easier to avoid than you might think, it’s all about keeping those eyelids closed! For a super in-depth look at chemical burns and how to avoid them, check out this blog post whichcompares chemical burns and allergic reactions.
Running out of Glue
Plan as we might, this is bound to happen at some point! Maybe we didn’t notice that we were opening our last bottle, maybe we left our glue out and it dried up - whatever happens to cause us to run out of glue, it’s a nightmare sitting down to lash and finding out that the main component of your kit is not available.
What can you do to prevent this? Well it depends on exactly why your glue is no good, but the main tips here would be:
- Don’t lose track of how much glue you have, keep inventory
- Try something like a glue subscriptionso that your glue is just delivered when you need it
- Don’t leave your glue sitting out - it needs to be in an airtight container somewhere cool and dry away from sources of heat and direct sunlight
Check out this blog post for the lowdown on our very own glue subscription service, and why it’s one of your most valuable tools as a business owner!
Whatever happens during this spooky season and beyond, it’s always good to know that there is a hack or tip to help you solve the issue!
