Interview: 10 Things You Should Know About Eyelash Extensions

Blind for Beauty

Staring down into the latrine on the Metra BNSF line, it was like peering into an abyss of shame — because shame is the only force strong enough to coax someone inside the facilities of a commuter train. A lot of things ran through my mind. I thought about the people who used that bathroom before I did. What they were like. What they did for a living. How often they did or did not brush their teeth. I wondered if a part of them still lived inside the murky waters I nervously considered diving my hand into.

My date was in the suburbs and it wasn’t just any date. I was to meet what would become my future husband’s parents. I knew these people slightly already. I liked them, a lot. And I really wanted them to like me.

In preparation for this moment, if only subconsciously, I had spent the previous 7 years developing a tolerance to sharp objects pointed at my eyeball. I held the tweezers with surgical stillness. My technique was enviable. The first eyelash went on seamlessly in under 2 minutes, including the time it took for the glue to develop its appropriate tackiness, um, stickiness.

The second lash was recalcitrant from the start. It flopped out of the packaging like a fish off a hook. I carefully dotted the edge with glue, waited, and attempted to repeat the success of the first appendage. As if it knew and wanted no part of my face, the lash shook itself from my grasp and dived into the oily waters below. Regretting the decision immediately, it looked up at me longing for its mate.

Alas, I knew blindness was too severe a consequence for beauty. A single tear fell from my bald eye as I recalled the final nail in my cosmetic coffin. I had forgotten my mascara at home.

The Thing with Falsies

No, that experience did not stop me from replacing mascara with false lashes because false lashes are bomb.

Period.

They’ve been everything to me since a childhood friend applied my first $2 pair. I quickly graduated to pricier boutique lashes, clumped like Twiggy’s or fanned out like Rihanna’s. These days, I crave a new fix weekly, sometimes twice a week. I’ve even got a plug at The Makeup Show. My collection is now costlier than I’d like to admit. It’s like my eyes have teamed up with my insecurities for extortion. And my taste has crossed the line to costume a few times, more than a few. I fear I’m losing my way.

All Aflutter: 10 Things You Should Know About Lash Extensions

As a respite to my dependency, I’ve considered professional lash extensions. I love the natural look of single synthetics applied directly to each lash. Of course, I’d like to glam them up a bit on certain nights. And it wouldn’t hurt to add some color, perhaps a bit of purple. Oh, and longer lashes at the corners for a cat-eye effect.

I also don’t want to go blind … but is that even possible?

We sat down with Janelle Panozzo, owner of Amazing Lash Studio in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. In under 5 minutes, she answers all of our lash questions and gets us glam with a personalized full application. Stay to the end for the results!

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