Choosing the right extension adhesive for your beauty treatment room is key. Repeat business is so important, and the right glue ensures your clients are getting good results for weeks, so they’ll want to come back. To help you make this important decision, we’ll break down a few considerations to ensure you and your clients get the best.
First, consider the sensitivity of your clients. Eyes can be a particularly sensitive part of the body, especially if you already have skin sensitivities or allergies, so for some, the fumes from glues can cause irritation. Choosing a low fume lash glue, like the ones formulated by LAVILASH, can significantly reduce the risk of watery eyes, redness, or post treatment stinging, creating a more comfortable experience from start to finish.
Low fume glues often have slightly worse outcomes when it comes to how long the extensions last, so it may not be viable to use a sensitive glue all the time, but having one on hand ensures you can take all clients.
Why Humidity Matters
It’s essential to measure the humidity of your studio before deciding on a glue. This is because cyanoacrylate is the main ingredient in extension adhesives, and it’s activated by moisture. This activation is what keeps the extensions stuck for several weeks. If you haven’t picked a glue that matches your studio humidity, you’ll therefore potentially have issues with the strength of your extension application, and the drying time may not be right for you. The ideal level of humidity is 45-65% and you can adjust your humidity a little with a dehumidifier to decrease humidity or by using houseplants or humidifiers to increase the humidity.
In higher humidity, lash glue will dry quicker than the bottle advises. This can lead to the adhesive dot curing before coming into contact with the natural lash. For humid studios, look for slow-drying glue to ensure you have enough application time. The opposite is true for low-humidity rooms, as the glue won’t have enough moisture to cure. This can lead to ‘lash stickies’ and puts your client at risk of allergic reactions as they’ll be exposed to too much of that active ingredient, cyanoacrylate. Therefore, you need a fast-drying glue to ensure it’s activated enough.
Consider Temperature & Speed
If your studio is at the perfect humidity, the next key question to ask yourself when deciding on adhesive is ‘what’s my application speed?’. If you’re new to lashes or specialise in complex looks, you’ll have a slower speed. In this case, it’s best to stick with a high or medium viscosity glue that dries slowly to ensure you have enough time to place each extension. You can always change to a lower viscosity glue later on if your application time speeds up. It’s important to remember, though, that each lash beautician is different; as long as your clients are happy, then your application speed doesn’t matter.
It's also worth considering what appointment time your clients are looking for. Slower drying adhesives need a longer appointment time, whereas faster drying can cut down appointment times. So if your clients enjoy the time to relax and a good chat, slower adhesives are a good match. If your clients tend to be rushing between meetings, stick to a fast-drying glue.
Finally, it’s important to consider the temperature of your studio too. Humidity has a more powerful impact, but lower temperatures will harden the adhesive, so it will take longer to dry, and higher temperatures have the opposite effect. The ideal drying temperature range is 22-26 Degrees Celsius if you’re setting your studio thermostat, but small changes from that won’t have major effects on drying time.
At Lavilash, we offer a range of adhesives to suit your studio environment, now you’ve considered the humidity, temperature, and application speed. Browse our glue range here to find your perfect match.
