THE EYES HAVE IT: ‘LASHERS’ PUSH FOR INDUSTRY REGULATION
AN award-winning beautician is demanding better regulations in the beauty industry, saying there are no rules against cowboys working on people’s eyelashes.
Corrin Pascoe, who owns Eyelash Extension Institute at Gaven, is part of Lash Vision Leaders, a team of 15 professionals in Australia and New Zealand lobbying for regulation in the industry.
The group met for the first time two weeks ago.
Ms Pascoe said regulations were essential for “lashers” because clients could be injured, even blinded by improper practices.
She said the number of lash technicians in the region had more than doubled in the past four years.
Ms Pascoe said that when she had started in the industry there were five lash technicians in the northern Gold Coast. Now there are at least five per suburb.
Many had simply set up shop after watching a YouTube tutorial rather than engaging in proper training, she said. “We don’t have regulations here. We want to establish a standard. If it goes wrong, people can get eye infections, they can have adverse reactions, their eyes glued shut … they can develop traction alopecia. And then of course, they can be blinded.”
Ms Pascoe said she had seen people with “horrifically” applied lashes ending up with droopy eyelids.
Last month, a laser tattoo removalist hit out at underqualified laser removal “experts” in the beauty industry following the botched eyebrow tattooing of an Ashmore woman.
Ms Pascoe said it made sense to regulate “lashing” because practitioners were often working with surgical tweezers and chemicals close to clients’ eyes.
Ms Pascoe last month won the Volume Expert title at the Brisbane Hair and Beauty Expo in front of a live audience. It was the first competition of its kind in Australia and follows a surge in popularity in Canada, the US and UK.
Ms Pascoe said she was required to place four to six eyelash extensions per natural eyelash in the shape of a fan on one client for a full “Russian volume” application. The job often takes up to 2.5 hours to complete and is the most complex type of lashing.
Ms Pascoe said she took up lashing four years ago during maternity leave. She was disappointed with her training and been striving to perfect the practice by meeting industry leaders, researching and imparting her knowledge.
Ms Pascoe said Lash Vision Leaders had contacted lawyers and the Registered Training Organisation to demand rules be put in place.