5 ways to speed up your lashing time!
Time is most certainly valuable. Here are some tips and tricks I have accumulated over the years that have helped me lash more quickly and efficiently without sacrificing the quality of my work.
Set up for success
If you have 5 clients booked for the day, have 5 of those tiles sterilized, prepped, and stored in a clean lash case until it is ready to be used. Did you know using a strip of lashes on more than one person is cross-contamination? It’s a common thing I see on the Internet and while we do want to make our money worthwhile, this isn’t something we should be frugal with. Instead, only cut what you need and use the rest for another time! For example, if you are doing a fill, chances are you are probably not going to use the entire strip of 8mm for that set. However, for full sets, I lay out the entire strip of any length I am using.
Glue Trays are a MUST
I used glue rings and jade stones earlier in my lash career but looking back it was very time-consuming (and not to mention unsafe) whenever I needed to dispense a new drop of glue. I would have to add a drop of water to the old glue, toss out the glue ring or peel off the tape, grab a new ring or tape, then finally dispense a fresh drop of glue. It doesn’t seem like time is wasted when it’s been in your routine for so long but it does add unnecessary time. Instead, I recommend having your clean glue trays handy; one for each client! At the end of the day, toss them in acetone to clean overnight and wash/scrub them with warm water and antibacterial soap the next day!
Complete the inner and outer corners first and USE TAPE!
It’s best when you work on the “toughest” areas of the lashes at the beginning of the set when your eyes are the freshest. Work on completing the corners first then breeze through the rest! Tape is your best friend! If you are unsure about your layers or have a hard time gaining access to those tough corners, tape is all you need! Do not detach the tape if you are applying it to the eyelid but do detach if you are using it to tape up the lashes for layers. Straight isolation tweezers have also changed the game for me when isolating those hard-to-reach corners.
Keep the talking to a minimum!
Trust, I love catching up with my clients. They have become my lifelong friends and supporters and quite frankly, I do see them more frequently than some of my friends outside of lashes. It’s important to remind them and yourself that it is a relaxing service and you will undoubtedly perform your best work when they are in relaxation mode. We all deserve a little beauty sleep and funny enough, my clients have thanked me for forcing them to sleep. Try to talk and catch up when you are prepping them but once you are about to begin lashing, let’s focus and get to work!
Master your technique
Whatever technique you are working towards, you have to put in practice outside of lashing. It will pay off if you fully put your time and energy into it. I would recommend committing to doing sponge work for the first 2-3 weeks to instill that mind to muscle connection. Work on making consistent fans, proper placement, glue usage, and direction. The goal here is to practice the movements repetitively until your hands are on autopilot. It could be sooner or longer than 3 weeks; everyone’s progress is different so don’t fret. Nothing is a race but ultimately it is YOU against YOU. The next step is to implement your fanning technique on fills. Not full sets.. fills. That way you only have about 50% of the natural lashes to work with and you’re not stressed about starting fresh and beating the clock. Complete a couple of fills until you feel ready to do a full set of lashes. Again, this can take you 3 or 10 fills. I know we can get very eager to do a full set of lashes once we learn a new technique, but following this method will eliminate a lot of bumps in the road on your wonderful journey.
I hope this helps you out! These little changes will make the biggest difference in how you can perform your lash services much more efficiently.