As the last rays of summer have definitely gone, the changes that winter will bring are creeping up and for lash artists, that could mean trouble. Now that we have hopefully made our peace with shedding season, it’s time to focus on creating the perfect environment in colder and drier (or sometimes even more humid) weather. 

Lash artists all over the world are trying their best to keep up with the change of weather, so here are our best tips on setting your lash space up for success for this coming winter.

• Get a hygrometer. If you don’t already have one, go now, run! Check out the hygrometer that we carry in our store!
• Invest in appliances. Space heater, dehumidifier, humidifier, they will all help you and you can pick them up for about $30 each. Set them up and ready to run through your appointment. 
• Preheat your room. If you experience colder or humid weather, run the heat for a few hours before your first appointment and check your hygrometer to make adjustments. 
• Use the right glue. Your adhesive is going to help you or hurt you so it’s really important to find one that works for your lash space and your skill level/speed. 

Some of you may feel a bit lost on this post, maybe you didn’t get a hygrometer in your kit or your educator didn’t go through the importance of your lash room environment and how it changes your application. It happens. For those of you who are unsure about how to manipulate your temperature and humidity, here’s a quick lesson, but there are tons of resources out there so make sure you spend a bit of time researching.

The adhesive we use does two things, it dries and it cures. When we apply a lash extension, it needs moisture to cure from the inside, but the room also has to be warm enough to dry the adhesive from the outside. 

Every bottle of adhesive comes with the optimal ranges in which it performs at its best, this is the number of seconds it takes to dry. Some are a .5-1 second or maybe 1-2 second. 

Your temperature is how warm your lash space needs to be to begin the drying process. 

The RH or relative humidity, is the amount of moisture in the air that is needed to start the curing process. When we set up our rooms, we need to make sure the ranges (temperature and humidity) are at the recommended levels for the adhesive we are using. 

This is why we want to preheat the room, give the room or the space enough time to warm up, it's easy to warm up the space with a little space heater or hit the AC a bit to bring it down. When changing the humidity levels, we want to use a humidifier or diffuser to introduce moisture into the environment. In some places, the weather is very humid, and a dehumidifier would be a great appliance to have. It sucks the moisture out, bringing down the humidity. Usually a small dehumidifier needs to run for a while, in a small space, with the door closed, to be effective. You can also purchase larger units. 

So what happens when there is too much moisture or not enough? If you ever wonder why you keep getting stickies, or the extension won’t stick at all, it’s likely that your levels are out of range. Too much humidity and the lash cures quickly but isn’t drying on the outside, causing stickies. Too much heat and low humidity and the adhesive is drying before you get it to the natural lash. 

There are many articles, videos and resources available to further educate yourself on the chemistry of lash adhesive or drop us an email if you have any questions and we would be happy to chat info@mintlashes.com

So what do you think? Did you learn something new about lash adhesives? Did you get an AHA!! moment and finally figure out how to solve an issue in your own lash environment?

We’d love to hear about it in the comments and don’t forget to check out the feature product, perfect for the upcoming season.  

Product of the month: 

M.INT Clear is one of the most loved adhesives we carry, and with the minimum humidity being 10% this adhesive is amazing for cold/dry winters and can even work in more rainy/humid conditions. This adhesive is best for volume but works for classic as well. Find it here!

Ready to give it a try? Use code MEGAN and save 15% when you checkout at www.mintbeautypro.com