Just when we all thought that the lashing game could not get any more exciting, 3D lash extensions have entered the scene! With that, a new concern arose. 3D lashes are drop-dead gorgeous, however, they may look too fake for those who like to keep it a bit low key.
So when a client arrives at your door asking for natural-looking volume lash extensions you need to know how to make seemingly impossible possible. In this article, LivBay Lash has gathered all the information that’ll help you handle it like a pro.
What are 3D Lash Extensions?
If you are new in the lashing industry, we’re sure you could use some basic info about 3D lashes, so you can get excited about them with the rest of us, lashionistas. The thing is, some people haven’t been blessed with naturally thick lash-lines and they have only so many lashes that beauticians can work with. This used to make it super hard for us to achieve the beloved volume princess lashes for some clients. And 3D lash extensions made it possible to volumize even the most hopeless-looking lashlines.
The name 3D lash extensions comes from a technique that involves attaching 3 faux lashes to a single natural lash instead of one. This is made possible by joining the bases of three individual falsies and making a fan that is then glued to the client’s lash. The result? Breath-taking, jaw-dropping, fluffy lash-line that adds extra definition to a person’s face.
Lashing Materials For 3D Set
3D is a technique that makes the fluffiness possible. The length, shape, and style of a final look can be customized as far as your imagination can take you. Now the biggest “problem” with 3D lash extensions is the fact that they appear a little too fake for some clients. To balance this out, you need to know which type of lash extensions will give your 3D set a result that your customer requests. We’ll take you through the different materials that lashes are made of so you can choose one according to your client’s preferences.
Real Mink Lashes
Want realistic 3D lash extensions? Real mink lashes are the first choice. While they create objectively the most natural-looking lash sets, there’s some dark side to it. Real mink lashes come from actual animals, which means that there’s animal violence involved. Even though the fact that authentic mink lash manufacturers claim that they get material only during the natural shedding period of the animal it is a little hard to believe as minks shed only two times a year. Even if it’s true, those lovely creatures are still held in huge animal farms, which in our opinion, is enough to be against the natural mink lash industry.
Apart from this disturbing truth, real mink lashes are super expensive compared to other options on the market. So even though 3D lash extensions look the most real when they are created by natural mink hairs, we don’t believe they are worth it.
Synthetic Silk Lashes
Silk lashes, on the other hand, are the great substitutes of real mink hairs to create real-looking 3D lash extensions. Silk is a great material for crafting naturally fluffy lash line. Silk lashes come in a vast selection of curls and lengths, so it gives a lash artist a room to experiment and improvise.
Silk lash extensions are a great material for making 3D volume lash sets because they are super fine and allow fans to turn out quite fluffy. Another great benefit of silk lashes is the fact that they are quite low in weight. This means that gluing 3 faux lashes to a single natural lash, won’t add too much pressure to the hair follicle. Note, that silk lashes aren’t the best in maintaining a curl for very long. And as using a lash curler on lash extensions is dreadful for retention, we wouldn’t recommend using dramatic curls (D or DD curls) when it comes to silk lashes.
Faux Mink Lashes
There was a time when faux mink lashes were considered to be the fakest of them all. Which was kind of true a few years ago. Synthetic mink lash extensions that are made of polyester used to be weighty and plastic-looking. While some people still believe these to be true, technical innovation has made faux mink lashes by far the most flexible types of lash extensions.
When it comes to 3D lashes, synthetic is the best material. A wide variety of choices makes it possible to create any (like literally ANY) kind of look that may come in mind. Weight and thickness are not a problem anymore as faux lashes can be as thin as 0.03mm. So, you can be sure that your 3D fans won’t add too much pressure to your client’s natural lashes.
If your client is concerned about the shininess of their lashes, you can even use matte synthetic mink lashes that blend into natural lashes seamlessly.
Last but not least, the amazing benefit of using faux mink lashes for 3D lash extensions is the fact that they don’t lose curl. So your client won’t have to make a choice between long retention and using an eyelash curler.
Which Curl Looks The Most Natural?
If your client is really, truly all about 3D lashes that look as natural as possible, you need to use lash curl accordingly. Some curls are way too extra to pull off the natural appearance. For example, D, DD, and CC curls are so curved up that they won’t be the best choice if realness is your main goal. Although, if you have enough experience and confidence, you can mix D & DD curls with a greater portion of more subtle curls. This way the final look will come out to be quite impressive and most importantly, it will look natural.
Now let’s talk about the curls that can make 3D lash extensions look the most real. In our experience, you can not go wrong with a C curl. It gives a little bit of lift to the eye while keeping things super simple and low key. Depending on the shape of your client’s natural lashes B curl can also do you justice for creating a natural 3D set.
3D Lash Extensions: Final Words
Now let’s conclude our search for the ultimate materials for realistic 3D lash extensions. In our experience, faux mink lashes are the ones that won’t do you wrong. A great variety of choices makes faux mink a super flexible choice for working on any type of lash look, including the 3D one. If you’re looking for quality lashes, take a look at a wide selection of lash extensions favored by LivBay Lash’s artists.