How To Choose Your Lash Artist (Part 1)

As if house-hunting, car-hunting, job-hunting or even husband-hunting wasn't stressful and time-consuming enough... now lash artist-hunting should be added to the list?!?!

With these few simple tips for hunting down the best lash artist for you, you should feel confident in narrowing down the field of available lash artists to a select few, and after trying one or two of them out, you may just have found your lash soulmate!

$$PRICE$$

Let's start with the most controversial and confusing part of selecting a lash artist! How is it Lovely Lila Lash Artist down the street charges $30 for a full set and Elegant Evelyn Eyelashes charges $300? Why is there such a disparity?

Lash Artists are popping up like Starbucks, there's one on every corner! And -spoiler alert- for every good lash artist, there are 10 other ones out there that are improperly trained, unqualified or -eek- even unlicensed!!! It's a sad state of affairs out there as currently (in California and most other states) Eyelash Extensions are not regulated by the State Board of Cosmetology & Barbering like say hair styling and esthetics services are. Meaning there is not a standard of training, qualification or even sanitary compliance checks happening regularly. All that is required of a lash artist is that you have a current Cosmetology or Esthetics license.

So let the price wars begin. Lovely Lila Lash Artist and her $30 a full set could be charging so little for a few reasons: Maybe she's not very business saavy and isn't making money off the deal. Maybe she's inexperienced and needs the practice, or maybe it's what Groupon told her she had to charge to be competitive and thus the $30 full set is born (BTW did you know Groupon requires a vendor to cut their regular price by HALF or more and then Groupon take HALF of that and then some as their cut of the deal! That leaves the vendor with making 25% or less of their regularly priced service...food for thought). Or lastly, maybe the term "full set" is loosely used to define the service and you are getting the bare minimum of extensions as 30 minutes of time will allow the service provider to apply. Or even worse, they're not really eyelash extensions but *cluster* lashes (run...no SPRINT as fast as you can and hide!)

What about Elegant Evelyn and her $300 eyelashes. Is she just the bomb.com and turning everyone into Kim Kardashian or what? Possibly. $300 in San Diego is on the high end for a full set of classic eyelash extensions but it's not unheard of. It could be that she is highly trained, educated and experienced and has the demand to warrant $300 per full set. It could be that it takes her 3 hours to apply the extensions and she needs to earn a certain amount per hour, or it could be that her overhead costs are astronomical and she has to charge this amount to keep her doors open.

There's no set standard of pricing that means you are or are not getting the best service and lash application possible, but you do want to research what the average full price is for your area and be realistic as to what you can afford for properly maintaining your lashes as you should be getting touch ups every 3 weeks (on average). From experience, I will tell you that an expert or Master Lash Artist (and FYI that is a self-designated title...there's no masters degree in Lashology...yet) is absolutely worth every penny you pay as they should know advanced techniques for protecting your natural lash health, eye styling, and they should offer you more than just slapping some lashes on your face. You should be receiving a total package of customer service and relaxation during your treatment as eyelash extensions are a luxury service meant to be a part of your pampering and self-care routine.