Like many girls, even the ones who may not want to admit it, I'm pretty hung up on my looks. The constant battle with my self image has been something I've struggled with since the age of 14, and not just weight issues, but with cosmetic issues too. I've always longed for long lashes, years of watching Maybelline adverts and being envious of my dark haired friends for having such naturally dark and lustrous lashes was something that secretly got me down for years.
Since then I've been on the hunt for the perfect solution in a bottle, I've tried every potion under the sun, every home remedy and exhausted the drug store mascara options to no avail. My eyelashes are naturally white, as you can see in the left photo on my bottom lid, so unless I smother my eyes in mascara, of which usually weighs them down, my lashes just lack impact.
Whilst at Mango, A few of the beautiful ladies I worked with were regular users of semi-perm lashes, they looked thick, beautiful and made their eyes look so god damn gorgeous! - & I was sold. It seemed like I'd found my answer, so on payday I went to a local salon and got some semi-perms for myself, over the moon that I might have just found the solution.
Ok, so first off, my eyes watered like hell for days afterwards. Its normal for your eyes to water whilst the lashes are wet with glue. The fumes are pretty intense and a little irritating, however I experienced uncomfort for several days after them being put in place. - Not great. However, I was so unbelievably happy with how they looked, I just blotted the tears and continued to flutter my newly framed eyes. Then, Not a week into having the lashes on, the corners of my eyes began to ache, closely followed by a splitting pain when ever I closed my eyes. It was time to get them off. Rather than taking them off myself, I went back to the salon to have them taken off professionally. They covered my eyes with a serum, and shortly after began picking them off.
I have genuinely never felt such pain. I don't know whether they used the wrong glue, if the lady who removed them was new, or whether they didn't leave the removal serum on for long enough, but as she began pulling the false lashes off, she took my own ones with them too, leaving me with several half length stubby lashes and only a handful of longer ones. As you can see from the right photo above, a large patch of lashes are missing, and it's the same on the other side too.
I can safely say that no amount of insecurity would be worth going through that again. I went through a period after the removal feeling utterly disgusted with myself, I genuinely felt lower than I had in a long time. But I've picked myself up and began the painstakingly slow process of trying to grow them back. My only solution is to wear more black eyeliner to compensate for the lack of impact, whist I wait for them to return.
I would however like to point out that although I had a terrible experience, many friends of mine have had positive treatments, so I by no means want to tell you that semi-perm eyelashes are dangerous. I'd also like to thank some of the girls on twitter for lending a hand and reassuring me that this isn't the norm and eventually I will have my natural lashes back.
Have you ever had any beauty related disasters?
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