Keratin is to lash lifts what butter is to popcorn. It makes an already good thing even better. :)
Keratin smoothes down the hair cuticle, which helps to strengthen and protect hair. But do you really need the keratin part of a lash lift? First you need to know exactly what a lash lift does to your lashes.
Then you’ll know why keratin is a lash lift’s best friend.
How Lashes Are 'Lifted'
To lift lashes means to restructure them. To do this, lashes are adhered onto a pad that is placed on your eyelids. A perming lotion is then applied to lashes which raises the scales of the hair and breaks down it’s bonds. A neutralising lotion is then applied which lowers the hair scales and resets the lash’s structure in the new lifted position. This lifted position lasts until the lash naturally falls out.
Lash lifting in progress!
Why Normal Lash Lifts Can Damage Lashes
As the lashes have been chemically broken down and then restructured, it's a good idea to strengthen them at the same time! Most lash lifts use thioglycolic acid as the perming lotion and sodium bromate/hydrogen peroxide as the neutralising lotion. This combination dramatically raises then lowers the Ph of the hair which makes it very fragile. Putting a keratin treatment on the lashes after this can help a little but it can’t actually get into the cuticle where it is needed. Because the neutralising lotion has lowered the hair scales. So the keratin treatment mostly sits on top of the lashes not doing a whole lot! This why if you’ve ever had a bad lash lift you won’t notice the damage straight away. Over the following days and weeks you’ll see the lashes become more and more frizzy as the treatment washes off. The lash is now very fragile and prone to further damage.
So what do we do if we want awesomely lifted lashes I hear you ask?!
Use Gentle Cysteine To Lift Lashes Instead
DON’T use thioglycolic acid lash lifts. Use a gentle perming agent that safely restructures lashes without causing damage. Meet the new kid on the lash lift block… cysteine. This little amino acid gently restructures lash bonds without dramatically raising the Ph of the hair. Lashes are then safely lifted with no chance of damage or frizziness later on. Yay!
The Keratin Lash Lift with Cysteine Is The Best For Lashes
Remember when I said normal lash lifts perm then neutralise your lashes? This is where the cysteine lash lift is another step ahead of the game. As cysteine is heat activated, it’s restructuring ability only works when heat is applied. Once you take the heat away the perming action stops. The hair scales begin to lower but not completely. So the keratin treatment you apply to them actually gets into the lash. The lash absorbs the strengthening goodness of keratin! Then a Ph solution is applied to lashes to lower hair scales and seal the lash cuticle. So lashes are safely lifted AND strengthened from within. Double yay!
Want to find out more about safely lifting your lashes the cysteine way? Find out here.
Book your Keratin Lash Lift at Elise Louise here.
Elise Louise is the client certified 'brow wizard'. Seriously, she has the certificate her client made her to prove it.
Find her in her Melbourne salon, specialising in the Soft Powder Brow Tattoo, the Keratin Lash Lift and expert brow services.
Check out more of her blog here.