Why You Should Skip The At-Home Lash Lift
When it comes to beauty, nearly everything comes with a price. From skin care products to hair treatments to regular trips to the dermatologist, you need to shell out money for every enhancement you want to do to your body, and unfortunately, not everything comes in cheap.
It's not surprising why people end up choosing to do DIY treatments at home. In an effort to save their hard-earned dough, many forego expensive beauty appointments and instead turn their living rooms into makeshift salons and spas for hair color, waxing, manicure and pedicure, tanning, and even teeth whitening and facials. The beauty industry is also following suit, with the market increasingly being packed with DIY items that promise noticeable results but with much less financial investment.
But not all treatments can be done safely at home. For instance, dermaplaning, aka shaving off your peach fuzz and other unwanted facial hair, is more effective if professionals do it. "It requires skill and experience to avoid superficial cuts and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Go to a trained medical professional for this treatment for optimal results and lower risk of superficial abrasions," board-certified dermatologist Dr. Zain Husain shared with Byrdie. Another treatment that shouldn't be attempted at home? Lash lifts. As tempting as it is to follow those TikTok influencers and perform a semi-permanent lash lift, doing so may only cause you more harm than good.
DIY lash lifts can lead to infections
Imagine waking up in the morning with your eyelashes looking already flawless. They're curled to perfection, as if you've put on your favorite mascara and used one of those fancy eyelash curlers. That, my friends, is basically what a lash lift is — a beautiful perm that lasts a couple of weeks. Apparently, it's all thanks to a concoction of chemicals that help keep your lashes up.
"The first solution breaks down the disulfide bonds inside the hair, which allows us to form a new shape or curl to the lashes," lash expert Anastasia Nikulina explained to mindbodygreen. "The second solution is in charge of rejoining the disulfide bonds back together, and natural lashes will take the new shape based on how they are applied on the silicone shield."
Because chemicals are involved in the process, it's not advisable that people try it at home. The last thing you want is for the potent solution to get into your eyes and impair your vision. "Eyelids are so sensitive and the skin is so thin that the barrier can be easily compromised, leaving it vulnerable to irritation or infection," Mona Gohara, a board-certified dermatologist, told Allure. "In the worst-case scenario, you could potentially damage your eyesight. This kind of product [should] be used under the supervision of a professional." While folks on TikTok appear like they're experts in performing DIY lash lifts, it's always better to err on the side of caution and have professionals do it instead.
Try the Vaseline lash lift hack instead
With lash lifts costing $75 to $150 a pop, you might be turned off by the idea altogether, but apparently, you can mimic the effect of a lash lift using a product you likely already have in your medicine cabinet: the good 'ol Vaseline.
Using the popular ointment to mimic the lash lift effect is pretty simple and easy. All you have to do is apply a dollop of it to your lashes, and then curl your lashes using any lash curler for a few seconds longer than you normally do. Another alternative is applying Vaseline on the base of your curler, so the product will automatically stick to your lashes once you perform the curling. Either way, the result is instantaneous, and you're supposed to have lashes that appear extra long and voluminous.
The good news? It's reportedly safe, too. According to TikTok's famous dermatologist Dr. Azi, Vaseline is "safe to use around the eyes." She added, "Vaseline creates a barrier that prevents water loss and it keeps the hair bonds in place when the lash is curled." However, ophthalmologist Dr. Ashley Brissette advised against doing this trick often as it can lead to the development of milia around the eye area, especially if you don't wash it off well. "Milia can occur from the use of Vaseline," she shared with Shape. "It's an occlusive moisturizer meaning it creates a barrier, but this can lead to dead skin cells and keratin getting trapped, [which] is what causes milia."