Lash Technicians: How to Work with Lash Glue in the Summer
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 lash glue suddenly forgets how to behave! There’s no question that even the best glue for eyelash extensions is temperamental, and will react to any little changes in their environment.
Your room conditions are one of the biggest factors that can affect your lash 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 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.
Lash Glue Conditions: What To Do If Your Humidity is Too Low?
Low humidity will cause your lash adhesive to slow down and become difficult to work with - it will have you holding your extensions in place for much longer to let the glue dry, or it will cause your fans to close and/or lean to one side, affecting the fullness and professional finish of the set.
- 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
- Use Booster on the lashes to give the glue more to grip onto - Booster has an alkaline pH which causes the hair cuticle to open up a little bit, making the hair more rough and giving it more surface area for the glue to stick to
- Use Booster on the lash strip to prevent fan closure and speed up glue’s drying time.
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! Similarly, remember that storage is important - nobody wants dried up eyelash glue.
What If Your Humidity is Too High? Best Eyelash Extension Glue for Humidity:
High humidity means that lash glue dries MUCH faster than normal, which can be really detrimental to lash retention. If you’ve ever been happily applying lashes, then brushed the set part way through (or worse, at the end!) only to find that half of your extensions brushed out, it’s because the glue dried too quickly to form a lovely strong bond between the extension and the natural lash.
Unfortunately, there is less you can really do for high humidity compared to low humidity, but we can still make some suggestions!
Get a dehumidifier. The pros of this are that they will reduce the humidity in your workspace, however it should be noted that there are some drawbacks to this - dehumidifiers tend to be kind of loud if they’re big enough to reduce the humidity in a large space, and if they’re smaller then they’re not as effective.
The better option is really to use a lash glue that cures more gradually.
High humidity can cause your glue to dry up to one second faster, so if you’re used to dipping and placing a lash within 1 second, you’re really going to struggle when humidity speeds up the drying time to half a second or faster! Combat this by swapping your glue for the summer months - if you’ve been using Power Bond, swap to Flexie or even Lady Bond, which will suit your working speed much better!
Remember to also change your glue dot more regularly - the increased humidity won't just cure the glue more quickly on the lashes but also on your jade stone, so pay close attention to your glue's behaviour. If your glue is in any way stringy when you dip in an extension and pull it out, it's time to dispense a new drop to work with.
Okay, you got through the lash set - what happens when your client leaves the studio?
In the summer, of course it’s hot and humid for many of us, but we also tend to do more activities that impact how the glue behaves after treatment - whether it’s outdoor sports, cook outs, swimming or just existing in high temperatures and high humidities, you may find that retention is affected a lot in the summer! There’s not a huge amount you can really do once your client leaves you, but what you can try is using Superbonder at the end of your treatment to instantly cure your glue whilst keeping the bond flexible and not brittle.
After that, it’s in your client’s hands! Make sure you advise them on the best aftercare, and get them booked in for an infill in three weeks’ time to keep those lashes looking fresh!
Lots of love,
