BL Lashes - Nov 02 2020
How To: Lash Extensions for Older Clients
As we age, our bodies change, many times in ways we’re not happy about. Whether that be hair loss (even in our lashes!) or sagging skin, it really can have a bad effect on our self-confidence.
As lash artists, we can help women reclaim a bit of their youthful beauty by helping them tackle some of these changes.
If your lash salon is only catering to the 20 to 30-year-old age group, you’re missing out on a big opportunity here.
North America’s anti-aging market was worth USD 16.58 million in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 21.36 million by 2025, which shows that older people are making massive investments into staying young-looking.
The aging demographic is ever-growing, and they should not be left behind by us in the lash industry.
That being said, doing lash extensions for clients over 50 carries a different set of challenges and requires smart planning. Luckily, we have some great tips for you for creating an age-inclusive environment in your lash salons.
Table of contents:
- How to prep natural lashes for older clients
- What type of lash extensions to use on older clients
- Which lash curl to choose for older clients
- Which lash thicknesses and lengths to choose for older clients
- How to reach out to clients over 50
How to prep natural lashes for older clients
Prep is important, no matter the client’s age. With age, however, come separate challenges, so it’s important to know how to prep their natural lashes for optimal results.
With age, our skin gets oilier
Alongside a variety of other changes with age, our skin gets oilier. However, when it comes to lash extensions, it’s a minor inconvenience since we can easily solve it with the use of the right products.
To prep an older client’s lashes, make sure to use BL Lash Foam and Lash Primer to remove excess oil on the natural lash. It’s as easy as that!
Lash primer dissolves any natural oil or makeup residue on natural lashes, as well as balancing the pH level of natural lashes, resulting in a secure bond between the extensions and the natural lashes, and, ultimately, longer retention.
Read all the rave reviews on Amazon: BL Lash Primer - Amazon's Choice
What type of lash extensions to use on older clients
Aging tends to create obstacles for a lot of different beauty treatments, not just in the lash industry. Luckily, we have found ways to create amazing lash looks and overcome these obstacles.
Older clients’ lashes are thin and dry
You will find that your older clients might have weak lashes due to being thin and brittle. As a result, they won’t be able to hold a lot of weight without breaking or falling out.
For this, you’ll need a much lighter lash than normal, and the BL Super Flat lash will not only create stunning volume, but it is 70% lighter than the normal mink lash.
Can you just imagine the joy in your client’s eyes when they see themselves in a mirror with a full set of gorgeous lashes that they know won’t fall out?
With age, bald spots might appear on the lash line
As women reach menopause, their eyelashes thin out, often creating bald spots. For some women, this can be tragic and heartbreaking. They need a savior, and that savior is a set of wide fan volume lashes.
You can either use a premade lash fan such as volume 5D lash, or you can create your own fabulous, custom look with super light mink lash 0.03.
Some women might have lighter color lashes with age
Hair as it ages slowly loses its luster and color, and the same goes for our beautiful natural lashes. After a time, even they fade and we end up with much lighter lashes than before.
What an ideal time for us as lash artists to step away from the classic black to a more subtle brown for our lash color! After all, perhaps your client isn’t comfortable with a dramatic change back to black.
To give them a boost not just to their look but to their confidence, you can use either Super Flat brown lashes for a classic set or Easy Fanning brown lashes for a volume set.
Pro's tip: If you find it difficult to see light-colored natural lashes against the white under-eye pads, try adding black paper tape (Buy on Amazon) on top of the under-eye pads.
You’ll see the light-colored lashes much better against the black background.
However, be sure to remove some of the adhesion of the paper tape before use as the paper tape can be too sticky to put directly on the natural lashes.
What type of lash extensions to use on older clients
Just as we have to adapt curls to eye shape for younger clients in their twenties and thirties, so do we need to for those over 50. Here is how to tackle a challenge that’s very common for older clients.
Age develop droopy eyelids
As our skin gets older, it starts to relax and droop. Often, older people develop droopy eyelids, and for us in the lash industry, that can present a problem when it comes to choosing the right curl.
Thankfully, we’ve found a great way to enhance even droopy eyes. The L and L+ Curl lashes were developed to create an open-eye effect to clients with hooded eyelids or deep-set eyes, but more importantly for us, older clients with droopy eyelids.
L+ is curlier than L, so if your client is happy to have a more dramatic set, they can opt for L+.
Pro's tip: downward turned lashes
Still, if your older client has lashes that are more turned at a downward angle, L curls may not be a great fit.
Since L curls have a long, flat base, they will appear heavy and unflattering. In this case, we recommend using
Which lash thicknesses and lengths to choose for older clients
We went over how to deal with thin natural lashes a bit above when it comes to choosing the right type of lash extensions, but what about thicknesses and lengths?
The eyelashes of clients over the age of 50 are naturally thinner than those of younger clients. To create lovely classic lash looks, we recommend lash extensions of a diameter between 0.10-0.15mm.
When it comes to length, keep them short, maximum 2mm longer than the natural lashes. Long lashes will only accentuate the bare spots on the lash line and it won’t stay long.
The only time slightly longer lashes can help is if your client has droopy or hooded eyelids since their lashes tend to hide under the eyelids when the eyes are open.
Reaching out to clients over 50
Ok, so it’s great to know how we can do lash wonders for clients over 50, but how do we get them into our lash salons? You might be surprised to know that the aging population is becoming much more active on social media.
Get yourself out there by running Facebook ads featuring before & after photos of an older client with lash extensions. Reach out to a specific audience group, such as women over 50 in your area, and see how many new bookings you can get.
Take care of your new older clients as you would any other client, and we’re sure that through word of mouth you’ll have plenty of very loyal clients in no time.
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Happy Lashing!
Team BL Lasehs
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