Classic? Check! Timeless? Check! Beautiful? Check! But Are They Versatile? Absolutely!
Classic by name, classic by nature – it’s easy to run away with the idea that classic lash extensions are something of a one-trick pony, but in actual fact, they’re a lot more versatile than you might think. Classic eyelash extensions are – in case you don’t know – a single eyelash extension on a single natural lash.
The benefits of classic lashes are that they’re much easier to learn than volume lash extensions, and they’re also faster to apply than volume lashes, which means that you have more appointment slots available, or more time to invest in your business. In case you feel like classic lashes are stifling your creativity, here are our three favourite ways to apply classic lash extensions to keep things fresh, and treat our clients to the gift of variety.
Before We Get Into It…
Just before we get going on those three looks, we’ll go into a little bit of history where classic lashes are concerned. Up until the 2010s, the closest thing to eyelash extensions as we know them that were available were cluster lashes (sometimes known as party lashes), which is actually where a lot of the myths that lash extensions cause damage came from, because they’d be stuck onto the lashes in – as the name would suggest – clusters with no attention paid to isolation.
In the early 2000s, the first eyelash extensions were introduced after gaining popularity in South Korea. They were either made from synthetic fibres (as they are today), or were made from animal fur such as mink, which is where the myths that A. eyelash extensions aren’t vegan, and B. you can’t get eyelash extensions wet. Those myths are to be unpacked another day – for now, let’s get back to that timeline.
The 2010s were when we saw eyelash extensions really take off. When they were first made, they were 0.30 thickness, which is WILD to us now – not only were they huge and clunky looking, but they were also way too heavy for the natural lashes to handle (which is where damage occurs, and why people still think they need to take breaks from lash extensions). It didn’t take long for education to develop, client lash health to be assessed, and lash extensions to become not only safer but the powerhouse of a beauty treatment that they are today.
Now, classic lashes come in thicknesses ranging from 0.10 to 0.20. Sure, you can still get 0.30 from some places if you try hard enough, but take it from us – they don’t look nice, and they don’t do your lashes any favours.
With all that in mind…
Natural Eyelash Extensions
Classic eyelash extensions lend themselves really well to creating natural looks, as you’re essentially lengthening each natural lash with a single eyelash extension. Even when a client asks for natural lash extensions, they could be asking forheaps of different things. For the purposes of this post though, let’s assume they mean something between ‘barely there’ and ‘mascara effect’.
For Nude Look Lashes, try using black brown lash extensions in 0.07. While 0.07 is typically a thickness you’d use for volume lashes, you can use them to just accentuate a client’s eyes without it being obvious that they have lashes at all – just a little je ne sais quoi! Brown eyelash extensions just soften the look of the lash set, so they add to that natural vibe.
For Light Classic Lashes, try extensions in 0.10. This is such a good thickness of lash to have on hand because you can use them for 2D volume fans as well as a nice light lash set.
For a Mascara Effect, you can use either 0.12 or 0.15, depending on the client’s natural lashes. For reference, this lash set uses 0.12 Mayfair Lashes (C and CC curl, 6-11mm, Dolly Style).
Wispy Lash Extensions
Wispy Lashes can be achieved with any kind of eyelash extension, the most important thing is just to play around with lengths, mixing together long lashes with shorter lashes to create a light and wispy texture with spikes.
A really popular style of wispy lash extensions at the moment is Angel Lashes, which typically combines classic 0.10 lashes with closed 2D fans in 0.07. You can achieve a similar look by only using classic lashes though, if you mix 0.10 classic lashes with 0.15 Flat Lashes. Flat Lashes have a tapered split tip and a flat base, which means that they only weigh around half as much as a regular classic lash of the same size. When you’re picking your lengths, add a millimetre for each layer you go up, and add spikes that are 2-3 mm longer than the longer lengths in the rest of your lash map.
The key to a wispy look is mixing lengths and adding in slim spikes throughout the lash set to give that lightweight top line. You can be creative with this – see what your client would like and go from there!
Wet Look Lashes
Sure, wet look lashes are a type of volume lash set that uses closed fans to create texture and the look that the lash extensions are wet. With that in mind, you might be wondering how we’re going to turn a lash style that relies on closed fans into a set of classic eyelash extensions.
Flat Lashes! We’ve mentioned flat lashes in the previous point, so you’re at least slightly familiar with them, but to create a set of wet look lashes with flat lashes, we’d recommend using a mixture of 0.20 and 0.25 for added texture.
Flat lashes aren’t squashed classic lashes – we describe them that way sometimes because it’s easier to explain, but they’re actually made from fusing two finer lashes together to make the extension the width of a 0.20 lash, but weighs far less. This is how they have a split in their tip which adds fluff, softness, and texture, and means that they’re technically closed fans. Owing to that, they make a really good stand-in for closed fans in a set of wet look lashes. Again, play around with lengths and thicknesses to see what kinds of looks you can create.
All in all, there’s a lot more to classic lashes than meets the eye (no pun intended) – the key to versatility is creativity, which is one of the things that makes being a Lash Tech so rewarding.
