A week before my birthday, I treated myself to an eyelash extension. I was supposed to be going out with some friends on my birthday, and attend my cousin's engagement ceremony two days after that, so I wanted to look good for both occasions. Prior to this, I had no idea what an eyelash extension was like. I thought it would be something painful and permanent that involved needles and anesthetics, like a hair transplant, or cosmetic tattoos.
After an extensive online search, I bought a voucher on Fave (previously known as Groupon), where I only had to pay RM38 inclusive of a free eyebrow shaping, instead of the normal price of over RM150.
The salon name was Jesley, located in Da Men Mall, Subang Jaya. I had taken an LRT from my place to USJ 7, and walked the rest of the way to the mall. Nobody was at the reception when I got there, so I rang the bell. A short while later, a girl came out and pressed a button at the counter to unlock the door. She wasn't smiling.
I told her what I was there for, and she asked me to come back in 15 minutes.
"Fifty?" I asked.
"FifTEEN!" she snapped.
I realized that maybe I had made some mistakes. Mistake #1 was turning up without an appointment. But to be fair, I had called several times that morning with no one picking up. And when I got there, I had apologized and very politely asked if they had any free slot. It wasn't like I had demanded to be attended to immediately.
Mistake #2 was not looking glamorous enough. I was wearing my jeans and running tee, with sweat running down my neck because I had been walking from the LRT station under the hot sun. On top of that, I was holding a large paper folder because I had just returned from the Indian Embassy to apply for my visa so I was carrying all my documents in it. I bet all her other customers were so well-dressed and well-groomed that in comparison, I must have looked like some village kid wanting to ask about a job vacancy.
Anyway, after 15 minutes, I came back, just as she was done with a customer before me. She sat me down at a table and made me fill up a form. Then she showed me three different designs to choose from: cute, sexy or... I forgot what the other one was called. I had the option to pay an extra RM20 to get their signature Mel Lash Extension which was apparently softer and more natural, but of course I declined.
I chose the cute look (that would make my eyes look rounder), with medium thickness, long length and medium curl. For the package that I paid for, I would get 30 lashes per eye. You could have up to 100 if you were willing to pay more.
Then I was taken to a room where there were two salon beds, one of them unmade (poor girl didn't have time to tidy it up after the last customer). Still, she made me lie down on the unmade bed and proceeded to do my lashes there.
First, she put a tape under my lower lashes and used a wet tissue (I think) to clean my lids from dirt and oil. It made my eyes feel rather dry and itchy. Then she attached the fake lashes strand by strand, 60 in total. Lastly she used a dryer for about 30 seconds on each eye. The whole process took about 10 minutes tops. I think I spent more time filling out the form than she did putting on my eyelashes.
The glue stung my eyes when I opened them, making me tear up. The stinging sensation went away after a while but would occasionally come back for the next few days every time I got teary-eyed over something (usually due to yawning too much).
Throughout my visit, my lash stylist didn't once smile at me. She also hadn't done the eyebrow shaping as promised on the voucher but I couldn't be bothered to ask.
Before leaving the room, she handed me a mirror so I could see the result. It didn't look quite as stunning as the extensions some of my friends had, but I still liked it very much. It made me look five years younger. Now I had something else with which to draw people's attention to my eyes, other than my eye bags.
To care for my new lashes, I was not to touch them for the next 24 hours or use any oil-based products near my eyes for as long as the fake lashes were there. I also avoided sleeping on my stomach so as not to crush them.
But even after obeying all the precautions, the lashes still fell out. On average, I lost about 3 lashes per day, sometimes more. I had to get used to seeing this on my pillow every morning:
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| My precious lashes |
Fortunately they lasted long enough for me to attend my cousin's engagement in style. Here are some pictures I took of the before and after, from different angles.
BEFORE
AFTER
I can see how easily this can turn into an addiction. Having seen how my eyes looked with those long, glorious lashes, I don't think I'll ever want to go without. But first, I will need to find a salon where the stylists don't make me feel like a stray dog begging to be let in.
