In my freshman year of college, I began to develop a better appreciation for make up. With that, I began to wear false eye lashes for special occasions and more natural strips for everyday looks. To this day, I still love wearing them but on the days that I need to rush to school or work, I don't always have the time to do a full face of make-up. I had known about lash extensions but never wanted to try them until recently when Karolina from Dr. Gerstman's office in NYC reached out to me.
In this post, I'll be sharing before/after photos, my experience with Karolina and the pros and cons of extensions after having them for about two weeks now. But first, a little background information on eyelash extensions in case you're not too familiar with them.
WHAT ARE THEY?
Most people don't have the patience to put on false eyelashes on a day to day basis, so eyelash extensions are fake eyelashes that can be made from synthetic, mink, or silk and are attached to your lash line with a semi-permanent glue. They're essentially falsies that you do not need to apply and remove every single day, they will stay even when you shower, wash your face, etc. Typically, they last from 4-6 weeks. Karolina sat down with me and asked me a series of questions so we could both properly decide on what would be the best set for me. In the end, we decided on these volume lashes.
AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE
I arrived at the doctor's office with no eye-makeup, just a quick fill of the eye brows and some foundation. As you can tell, my natural lashes are short, thin, and straight. Because of this, my everyday make up routine for the past few years included liquid eye-liner and some falsies to open up my eyes a bit more. The process took about two and a half hours, laying down, eyes closed. My suggestion, take a nap, it's a great chance to catch up on sleep. It was a very comfortable experience with Karolina, answering all my questions since I had never had extensions on before. It was definitely a great experience being a first timer and she informed me how to take care of them properly.
CURRENT EXPERIENCE
Since getting them on, I can definitely say I'm a lot more comfortable walking out of my house with barely any make-up. It's been so convenient not having to fuss over putting on my falsies and it has shortened the total amount of time that it takes for me to put on my make-up. With that being said, here's a summary of the pros and cons of lash extensions based on my personal experience, preference, and opinion.
THE PROS: With eyelash extensions, you save time on getting ready. No more daily falsies, reapplying your glue, curling, or mascara. I am more comfortable without any make-up. You can go swimming with them, perfect for going on vacation. All around very convenient in terms of make-up.
THE CONS: You have to keeping them clean to make sure you don't get an infection. You can't rub your eyes, this is something I can't wait to do when they're all off. It does get expensive, this particular set runs for $200 but some places charge $50-$60, and you will have to pay to do maintenance between full sets. Once they begin to fall out, you'll notice the gaps and will have to go back to where you got them in order to maintain them or deal with uneven lashes until they're all out. Sometimes my lash line gets itchy from the extensions and I've had to moisturize my eyelids better.

Overall, my current experience of having lash extensions is going very well. For most of the year, I will definitely be sticking to my falsies, but if I'm going on a trip, I think that splurging on extensions will be worth it. If you're interested in getting lash extensions, Karolina's information as well as the doctor's office is below. Let me know if you prefer falsies or extensions as well as any tips and tricks you'd like to share regarding maintenance! :)
Location: 24 East 64th st Fourth Floor NYC, NY 10065