Semi-permanent eyelash extensions/treatments:Experiences? Recommendations?

[DilysPrice]

Despite being normally very very low maintenance S&B-wise I'm getting the urge to try an eyelash enhancement of some sort (after reading a very persuasive thing in the Guardian saying it was "better than Botox").

What do people reckon? Are they as good as they're cracked up to be? Is there anything to look out for? Can anyone recommend anywhere reasonably priced in London? And is LVL (which a local salon has on special offer, but doesn't appear to involve actual extensions) any good?

Watching with interest

They look lovely, but the amount of eye irritation and reactions I have seen to them puts me right off.

I had them done 2 months ago. (individual lashes attached to each one of my own).

They looked fab, and initially I was really pleased with them as I have short lashes and hate wearing mascara (I still do though)

After a couple of days I started to get really fed up of them though. They irritated me, it was difficult to remove eye make up, had to sleep on my back to stop them falling off on my pillow, they looked untidy and uneven as they started to fall out, and tbh I hated the feel of them. It was like wearing 7 coats of the thickest mascara constantly.

I was due to get them infilled but tbh the more I thought about it the more I could see it turning into a right PITA, getting ones that had fallen out infilled, then the ones that were 'old' would fall out and it would go on forever.

Not my bag at all.

Lash extensions look fantastic if they are put on properly, but if they are not they can look like a spider died on your eyes. It's worth doing a bit of research or asking to see examples of work if you can't get personal recommendations. Once they are stuck on they are quite hard to remove so it's imperative that they are stuck on pointing in the right direction! Also, as they are stuck onto the natural lash, they also shed with the natural lash so gradually they become more and more sparse which means you either get them short term for a special occasion or end up getting infills every few weeks.

LVL gives the effect of using eyelash curlers (properly, not missing out random lashes or getting kinks in them which often happens when you do them yourself!) but on a semi permanent basis. It lasts a few weeks and you can have it done to varying degrees, from a slight curve to a total wide eyed bambi effect depending on what you prefer. Yes, they can have a really eye opening effect and really wake the eyes up. Not sure if you saw the video Lisa Eldridge did on her experience with LVL treatments but if not this should explain it quite well.

www.lisaeldridge.com/video/16137/lash-lift-treatment/

I haven't had extensions, but I do get my eyelashes permed and it's made a huge difference.

The appt is for almost an hour mind, and you get it redone every 6 - 8 weeks. I get mine done on the 2nd-tightest curl and that works for me - the beautician is always trying to get me onto tightest curl but I tried that once and I thought it made me look a bit ... well, surprised!