Warning: This is what false lashes can do to your eyes
THE false eyelashes were meant to add glamour to Susan ThompsonMcMahon’s weekend away. But the former lawyer suffered such a severe allergic reaction to the glue that she needed medical emergency treatment.
‘My face was so swollen that my cheeks totally engulfed my eyes,’ remembers Susan, 37. ‘The doctor said it would almost certainly have been the formaldehyde, a common ingredient in lash glue — as well as industrial wood glues — that caused it.
‘I was told that had I left it any longer before seeking treatment, the swelling could have progressed to my airways, put me into anaphylactic shock and even been fatal.’
Susan, who lives near Glasgow with husband Neil, 38, a professional musician and their children Finlay, eight, and Charlotte, three, paid £45 for the individual lashes to be glued to her own at a salon in 2013.
Like many, she saw it as a quick and easy way to look good on a girls’ weekend away. Instead she ended up needing a strong antihistamine, a cortisone injection and a week of steroids.
Doctors also had to cut off all her lashes at the root.
It was seven months before her lashes grew back, during which time her confidence took a major knock.
Traditional falsies are a set attached to a strip which you stick to your eyelids, just above your own lashes. They rarely stay put for more than 24 hours, and Superdrug alone sells more han 4 million pairs a year.
But soaring in popularity too are semi-permanent lashes, also called lash extensions. They are made of synthetic fibres, silk or mink and are applied one at a time using a special glue designed to keep them in place for up to six weeks.
Allergic reaction aside, opthalmologists warn that extensions can trap dirt and bacteria, heightening the risk of infected roots.
Beauticians are supposed to do a patch test a few days in advance — applying a tiny dab of glue behind the ear or inside the wrist — but many don’t bother.
ANDrEA Schubach, a spokeswoman for the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (BABTAC), says the dangers could be resolved if the beauty industry was regulated.
‘It’s well known that semi-permanent lashes can cause allergic reactions or natural lashes to fall out,’ she reveals. ‘We are continuing to campaign for the industry to be regulated so we can reduce the number of horror stories.’
Mr Ali Mearza is a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Western Eye Hospital in London and says allergic reactions to false lash glue are fairly common.
He explains: ‘If even a tiny amount of glue gets into the eye you will get a severe reaction, and your lids will swell. In this scenario steroids are needed to dampen the allergic response. If you suffer from the likes of eczema, you may be more prone to a reaction.
‘Even if you didn’t react to a patch test, you can still get a reaction once lashes are attached, although it’s more unusual.’
Susan, who owns a beauty clinic herself, still berates herself for not insisting on a patch test.
‘I should have pushed harder, but the therapist was adamant I didn’t need one,’ she says. ‘I felt unattractive and self conscious for months, convinced that all people saw when they talked to me was my bald lids.
‘It was more embarrassing given that I work in aesthetics, but at least I have been able to empathise with the surprisingly large number of patients who have confided they, too, have had an awful experience with lash glue.’
And allergic reactions are not unique to lashes applied by beauticians: many of the semi-permanent lash kits you can buy over the counter contain similar glues. Housewife Pip Judge, 37, also has a cautionary tale to tell. She is still suffering the ill-effects of having individual false lashes applied by a mobile beautician last May.
Just hours after the lashes were applied, the rims and inside lower lids of Pip’s eyes were ‘red, burning and sore’, leaving her requiring medication from her GP.
‘I should have known better because I experienced similar stinging and burning five years ago — the first and only other time I’d had false lashes fitted by a professional,’ says Pip, who lives near Cardiff with her husband Jonathan, 41, an NHS waiting-list officer, and their children Nial, 17, and Jack, 12.
‘I guessed back then that I was suffering a reaction to the glue, so after two days I removed them and vowed never to meddle with fake lashes again.
‘Yet, I was invited to Mallorca for my cousin’s hen party, and because she and her friends are much younger than me, I wanted to look glamorous. The irony of the outcome isn’t lost on me.
‘The beautician I used is fantastic and has done other treatments for me without any problem. But the lashes fell off straight away so she came back the following day and fitted them again using a different adhesive. I mentioned that they felt tight but she reassured me that was a good sign and they would stay put this time.’
BuT when Pip flew to Mallorca later that night her eyes were burning. Come the following evening she had to abandon her night out, return to the hotel and use olive oil to painstakingly remove the fake lashes.
Back in the uK, Pip’s GP deemed the lash glue as the likely culprit and prescribed antihistamines and eye drops.
Seven months on and her eyes remain so sensitive that she is now unable to wear mascara, let alone false lashes.
‘My eyes instantly become red and sore, something which never happened before,’ she adds.
‘Women need to be aware that our eyes are delicate and we should never allow glue near them. I’m really sorry I relented and had false lashes for a second time and I will never do it again.’
Like Susan and Pip, cake-maker and mum Katie Atkinson rues the day she paid £30 for lash extensions in September. Three months on, she still has bald patches where the false lashes caused her own to fall out in clumps.
‘We were going to a charity dinner which coincided with my birthday and I seized the opportunity to make a big effort, but the lashes were a disaster,’ says Katie, 24, who lives near Hartlepool with partner Michael, 32, a landscaper, and their son Bobby, two.
A patch test didn’t cause a reaction, but: ‘After four days I woke up to see lashes all over my pillow. I was missing half the natural lashes on my left eye.’
But women are always going to want to look better and not everyone is blessed with long eyelashes, so if they still seem worth it, Mr Mearza has this advice to help you avoid the same fate:
‘use only a reputable beauty practitioner, ensure you get a patch skin test done beforehand, and if you get any irritation, soreness or swelling once the lashes are glued on seek medical help straight away.’