What is Superbonder, Anyway? Your Most Common Questions, Answered.
Superbonder joined the London Lash collection back in 2019 and quickly became a staple of the kits of lash techs all over the world, but what is it? Put simply, Superbonder is a lash adhesive sealant that’s used to cure your glue at the end of an eyelash extensions treatment.
When Should You Use Superbonder?
You can use Superbonder at the end of every eyelash extensions treatment, whether it’s a full set or an infill. When you’re done with your set and you’ve gone through and checked for stickies, you can apply your Superbonder.
How Do You Use Superbonder?
Superbonder is applied in much the same way as the majority of your pretreatment - take a microfibre brush or a cleansing applicator and apply a little drop of Superbonder to the brush. Dab off the excess onto a tissue to ensure it does not run into your client’s eyes and then dab the Superbonder along the glue bonds on the extensions. Give the lashes one final brush and then reveal the set to your client!
What Does Superbonder Do?
Superbonder cures your glue but it does it in a different way to water, which means that the glue bond remains flexible and doesn’t become brittle like it does if you cure it with water (this is why we recommend using Superbonder over a nanomister). Added flexibility means that your glue bonds - and by extension your lashes - can move as the natural lashes move without snapping or crumbling which increases your retention times.
By curing the lash glue instantly you also lock in the glue fumes, which increases your clients’ comfort upon opening their eyes at the end of the treatment, and also helps to reduce the risk of allergic reactions to eyelash extensions glue as they are not being exposed to the lash adhesive fumes for as long as if you had not used Superbonder. We must mention here though, that if a client is known to be allergic to the eyelash extensions glue this is not a remedy and they should still avoid having eyelash extensions treatments to protect their health.
Does Superbonder Cause Shock Polymerisation?
Any liquid applied to fresh lash extensions glue will cause shock polymerisation. Shock Polymerisation is a result of the cyanoacrylate molecules in the glue curing too quickly, and instead of staying clear or black in colour, it takes on a white appearance. Shock polymerised glue is also really brittle, which isn't great for retention to say the least.
Superbonder, when applied as directed, doesn't cause shock polymerisation in your lash extensions glue, it just cures it nice and quickly whilst maintaining flexibility, the colour (or lack of) that your glue is supposed to be. This is due to the stabilising ingredients present in Superbonder which don't exist in water alone.
What’s the Shelf Life of Superbonder?
Before you open your Superbonder, you have a full 2 years to open and use it - just check the date on the bottom of the bottle for the DOP (date of production) to make sure you know when those 2 years will be up.
After opening your bottle of Superbonder, you have 6 months to use it before it becomes less effective. It won’t become harmful at all once that 6 months is up, it just isn’t quite as effective as it will be when used within that 6 months - to ensure you get the best results, we recommend that you take a piece of tape and just write the date that you opened the Superbonder on it so that you can keep track of how long it’s been open.
How Much Does Superbonder Cost?
A bottle of Superbonder is £27.99 (you can get a version in a plastic bottle for £24.99, but this of course is a little less environmentally friendly and is something we’re doing our best to move away from). Based on the assumption that you’ll be using around 0.15ml per treatment, you can get around 50 treatments out of a bottle of Superbonder, costing you £0.56 per treatment (£0.50 if you've opted for the plastic bottle).
I don’t know about you, but 56 pence per treatment for client comfort and longer retention times sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
Can You Put Superbonder in a Nanomister?
No. Definitely not. While a little bit of Superbonder accidentally coming into contact with the skin during application isn’t the end of the world, it is recommended that you avoid the skin. A light dusting of Superbonder A. won’t be able to do its job on the glue bonds properly and B. may cause irritation to your clients’ skin. Superbonder was developed specifically to be used on the glue bonds at the end of treatment so if you use it in a way that it has not been developed for, you will be the one liable if your client has some adverse effects and seeks legal action. Putting it in a nanomister is not a clever hack, don’t do it.
Can You Use Superbonder on All of Your Clients?
Yes you can, it’s mostly advisable for those clients who like to swim a lot or who shower soon after treatment and struggle with their retention as a result (we’d also highly recommend pulling out the Booster for any client who is likely to cry, be it a breakup or just someone who loves weepy films of an evening)
Superbonder can absolutely be used for any of your clients though, there is no-one it won’t work well for so you may as well round the treatment off with it! As we’ve mentioned, you’re reducing the risk of stinging and of allergic reactions while increasing retention times, so there’s really no downside!
