Lash glue is the lifeblood of your work, so understanding how to use it is paramount to your success! Finding your perfect glue is a bit like when Prince Charming slid the glass slipper onto Cinderella’s little foot after trying it on every woman in the kingdom - it just fits. Sometimes though, your glue will start to misbehave. Is it you, or the glue? How can you tell? How can you fix it?
There are a few things you can do to make your life easier, and to make your client’s retention as amazing as normal - some might seem very obvious, but the obvious is often one of the easiest things to overlook, so stick with me!
DON’T BUY ME TOO MANY FRIENDS!
The most common mistake we make is overstocking our glue! Who doesn’t like a bargain huh? But think! How many clients do you do in a month? Are you changing your glue every 3 or 4 weeks? This will help you to plan your shopping and stock up on the exact amount of glues you need! Only buy what you can use in, say, 4 months. It’s never going to be good opening a bottle of glue to find that it’s gone gloopy because you bulk bought 10 in a sale and then it sat in the back of a drawer for 8 months. The money you saved on the glue will either be spent on more glue to replace those bottles, or it’ll go towards infilling your clients’ lashes for free. It’s harsh, but it’s the truth! From experience, having a maximum of 2 unopened glue bottles in stock is perfect, as it means you always have a back up!
SHELF LIFE!
This is one that sounds obvious. We’re all aware that before opening, glue has a shelf life of 6 months from the date on the bottom of the bottle or on the thermo pack the glue comes in. This is the glue’s DOP - the date of production - it also doubles up as the batch number, so if you ever need to contact us about your glue, we’ll ask about this so that we know which batch the glue was from!
We order a fresh batch of glue every 1-2 months, so that when it gets to you, you’ve got plenty of time to get the most out of it. We also go to great lengths to ensure that the glues are kept away from moisture and are temperature controlled - you all deserve the very best! Once the glue gets to you though, how can you ensure it stays perfect?
After opening, your glue has a shelf life of up to 2 months, however for the best retention it is worth changing it every 4 weeks. It can be difficult to keep track of this, especially in a busy salon or even just going from one client to the next - days merge into weeks, weeks into months and suddenly your glue is gloopy - but when did you open it? To make keeping track of this easy peasy, take a small piece of your tape and write the date on it. Stick it to the bottom of your glue and hey presto! Your very own reminder that 6 weeks from that date, it’s a pretty good time to start thinking about ordering a new bottle!
ROOM CONDITIONS!
Summer. It’s the time of year we start to look forward to the moment it ends - the lighter evenings, the warmth of the sun on our skin, barbecues… That being said, there are some drawbacks to the rising temperatures, and the subsequent rise in humidity we often experience - the main one being that our glue suddenly forgets how to behave!
Your room conditions are one of the biggest factors that can affect your glue - fluctuations in temperature and humidity can be the difference between a great set, and the set that makes you never want to look at a single eyelash ever again (we all have them - hang in there).
Temperature is arguably the more noticeable factor here - in other words, we’re more likely to notice if the temperature changes by two degrees than if the humidity changes by 5%. What is our natural reaction when the temperature increases? Cool it down. Cooling your space down is all so well and good, but it often has a knock-on effect on the humidity levels in your room - opening a window to let in a breeze is likely to increase humidity and speed your glue up, while putting on the air-conditioning will suck the moisture out of the air, and make your glue slow down. Similarly, in the winter, putting your radiator on will dry out the air.
TOP TIPS - How to Increase Humidity!
- Place a damp towel over the radiator
- Get a humidifier - you can pick up cute little ones on the internet, and for an added little touch of relaxation and luxury for you and your clients, you can add a little drop of essential oil to give out a delicate scent!
- Add some little droplets of water along the eyepatch using a microfibre brush
- Apply Primer in sections as you work to keep the lashes moistened
To keep track of your temperature and humidity level, make sure you add a hygrometer to your collection, if you don’t have one already!
DISPENSING AND USAGE
As a general rule, you're going to want to refresh your glue drop every 15-20 minutes during the treatment. Each time, you need to give your glue a good shake to make sure all the ingredients are properly mixed together. What will happen if you don’t shake your glue correctly? As you can see from the image below, the glue consists of a few ingredients that need to mix together in order for the glue to work.
The easiest way to spot that you didn’t shake your glue enough? Your glue drop will look a bit transparent, compared to a completely black drop if well shaken.
To ensure you give your glue a good shake, use a glue shaker before you dispense each drop. 15 seconds in a glue shaker will save you almost a full minute of manual shaking - that’s extra time for lashing ;)
KEEP IT CLEAN!
You shake your glue, dispense it, give it a small wipe and replace the nozzle. What could possibly go wrong? Well, glue nozzles like to ‘burp’ - they spit out any air left in the nozzle and send out some remnants of glue with it, which glues the nozzle to your lid. To avoid this, try the following:
- Remove the lid to shake - I know, this sounds ridiculous! Of course you’re going to cover the end of the nozzle; the only thing worse than glue stuck in a nozzle is glue stuck to literally everything else. Take a glue nozzle wipe and cover the nozzle, shake, shake it baby and peel back - any glue that burps out can simply be wiped away before you dispense. This applies only to shaking the glue manually! If you are using a glue shaker, the glue spins around so it is less likely to leak inside the lid.
- Don’t squeeze! Tip the glue up and let gravity do the work - it might feel like it takes a bit longer, but less air will be sucked into the nozzle, which means less air has to exit the nozzle!
- Give her a little tap on the bottom! Before you pop that lid back on after dispensing the glue, give the bottle a little tap on your trolley to encourage any air that did make it into the nozzle to come out. Wipe away the glue, and replace your lid.
- Have some back up of glue rescue kits - despite your best efforts, sometimes the nozzle and the lid just want to be together forever. Having some spares in your kit will SAVE YOUR LIFE!
STORAGE
Proper storage is so unbelievably important - if you follow all of the above advice but store your glue incorrectly, you might as well just be keeping it in a bowl of water for how effective it’s going to stay!
Glue should always be kept:
- Upright
- Somewhere cool and dry
- Away from sources of heat
- Away from direct sunlight
For even better results, keep your glue in either:
- An airtight thermo pack
- An airtight container
Whilst we're here, it's worth mentioning that you should never, ever keep opened glue in a refrigerator! Have you ever gotten a bottle of water out of the fridge? Almost immediately the change from fridge temperature to room temperature causes condensation to build inside and outside the bottle - the same will happen with your glue. What does water do to glue? It cures it - we don’t want that! A drawer or cupboard is ideal - so long as it’s not pressed up against a radiator or beside a window where the sun beats in, you’ll be fine.
How about unopened glue in the fridge? It’s fine to do so as long as you remember to take it out of the fridge at least 3 hours before using it!
Not sure about the perfect glue for you? We’ve made a handy glue chart with a summary of all our adhesives!
Still not sure? We’re happy to help! Pop an email over to info@londonlashpro.com and we can help you find your perfect match!
