Honestly, I never ever thought I would one day write a beauty post like this about lashes, considering I didn’t know mascara from eyeliner until college. My knowledge of makeup is pretty laughable. I’ve never had lash extensions before, and it takes me awhile to put on fake lashes in general. But since I started wearing Lashify (a DIY lash extension system) a few weeks ago, I’ve gotten several inquiries as to what it is, how it works, etc. I’m definitely not the makeup guru you need… But at the same time, if an amateur like me can research and figure out how to put these babies on and do a somewhat decent job (imho), then anyone can do it too! It’s just a testament to how easy and convenient Lashify is!

Since at least half a dozen friends asked me about Lashify from watching some of my IG stories, I figured I’d write down what I found out and researched while getting everything set up for myself to maximize the usage of these lashes. And this way if anyone is really considering trying out Lashify, you have some place to come back to with all these tips and tools that’s not a YouTube video that you need to fast forward through to try to find all the specific info you need.

Also, I have a $20 off referral code if you really want to get started and now you can find it easily on this post too to come back to later when you might be more ready. It could be a great gift for her–Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day (see other gift guide linked), birthdays, Christmas, etc. If you are more seasoned at this (or you’re curious) and want even more information on Lashify and lash maps to customize your looks, you can follow my girl Christian @beauty.off.duty on Instagram, who got me into all of this in the first place!

Okay, I will do my best to make this simple for other newbies like me, so let’s get started! And please help me Pin this on Pinterest if you find it useful! 🙂

• What do I need to get started?
• How do I apply my lashes?
• How do I re-use my lashes?
• How do I get more lashes for cheaper?
• How long do a set of lashes last?
• Ok, but why Lashify over other lash systems??
• Other resources

What Do I Need To Get Started?

The simple answer is that you will need these 3 items below if you’re a first time user. However, number 1 is the most important! Additionally, if you want to re-use your lashes, you may also want to get the supplies in one of my next sections ready beforehand as well, instead of scrambling last minute to get them!

1. The Control Kit
2. Pre-Cleanse
3. Melt-Away

The Control Kit

The Control Kit ($145), as seen above, is a little case with mirror that comes with the most important tools you’ll need to apply your DIY lashes. All control kits come with two lash sets — you choose either A, B, or C gossamers and they arrive in the Control Kit with a 12mm and 14 mm gossamer set. Gossamer is another fancy word for these lash parts, in case you’re wondering!

You also get a Fuse Control Wand–basically special tweezers for placing your gossamers, and two special bonds in mascara tubes. The first bond is Whisper Light, and it comes with dual ends–Black and White. The black end has a mascara-like wand while the white end has a brush-like wand. Less is more when it comes to this bond, and supposedly white is more tacky.

The second “bond” that comes in the Control Kit is Glass, which is more like a sealant than a bond to waterproof your lashes at the very end. Your kit also comes with Wandoms or these clear plastic rubber covers that go over the end of the Fuse Control Wand. I find they are neither helpful nor hindrance sooo…whatever! Use if you want.

It sounds like a new language, but it’s not hard, I promise!

[Alternative: I’ve also heard some people opt out of the Control Kit and just buy Whisper Light, gossamers, and a lash applicator such as the Velour Lashes Too Easy Lash Applicator from Sephora. It’s an option if you want to save some money and feel comfortable with lash placement already!]

Pre-Cleanse

Pre-Cleanse ($31) is basically an expensive make-up remover. It is a prepping solution for your eyelids to make sure they are oil-free (black bottle in the picture above). A huge indicator of success when you are putting on Lashify is eye prep and making sure your eyes are clean. I’ve heard micellar water is similar to Pre-Cleanse if you don’t want to spend the money on Lashify’s own cleanser or have your own. They can be cheaper or just as expensive at Sephora. But I just wanted no-hassle and switching between products to find the right one so I went with what Lashify formulated!

Melt-Away

Melt-Away ($21) is the solution Lashify formulated to help your gossamers come off your lashes! It’s the bluish looking bottle in the picture above. Again, it’s a bit pricey, but I just wanted something I knew would get the bond off. Some reviews say it is like Japanese cleansing water, so do with that information what you will!

How Do I Apply My Lashes?

There are several methods you may hear about on how to apply your lashes and there are a lot of videos out there on how to do it. I was a little overwhelmed and nervous at first, but I found that the videos from Vanessa Q Artistry to be super helpful, not too long, and to the point. I started with her Basic tutorial and copied it exactly for my first try. You can also watch at 1.5x speed if you want a quicker rundown.

But if you want the basic overview without watching it, this was my takeaway from her video:

1. Apply WhisperLight Black to your lashes–one coat is enough. LESS IS MORE when it comes to this bond. The bond gets more tacky the older it gets and that’s when you might need a little more bond, but do not overdo the bond or your natural lashes get clumpy! Let it dry for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
2. Holding the lash you want to apply with your Control Wand, dip the spine of a gossamer on the WhisperLight White side. I don’t always wait for it to dry before the next step because I’m impatient…heh.
3. Attach the gossamer to the base of the lash line, holding it with your control wand. Make sure not to get it on the waterline! You want a little gap from the waterline to the gossamer. It will adhere pretty easily to the natural lash after WhisperLight.
4. Vanessa starts with the inner eye corner, slightly overlaps her lashes, and then she does the outer eye and fills in the final gap in the middle last. If you have a gap in the middle at the end, add a little bit of WhisperLight Black since the bordering gossamers need some bond to grip the next gossamer. I started with C12s and C14s from my Control Kit.
5. After placing the lashes, fuse with the Control Wand. You can watch how she does a full fuse vs a reverse fuse and this is where practice with using your wand in front of a mirror comes in handy. Fusing just means pressing the gossamers down with your natural lashes once you’re happy with your placement. The lashes should be hard to adjust after this step.
6. Finish off by sealing the lash line with Glass. It comes with a ball tip that you can rub across the lash line OR a mascara brush that you can run through the gossamers. The latter action creates a more shiny mascara look while the former keeps the lashes more wispy and natural.

And there you have it! It took me about 15-20 minutes on my first application, surprisingly! The most difficult part I had was figuring out my control wand and how to manipulate it while looking in the mirror. Everything becomes backwards when you’re looking at reflection and let’s just say I have bad spatial orientation…ha! The placement of your lash lengths is also totally up to you, but I just did about two C12s in the inner corner til about mid-way and then two C14’s on then outer corner, bridged with another C12.

Here’s an idea of some other lash maps put together by my friend Christian (@beauty.off.duty). The E and F gossamers are more voluminous.

If I could offer one tip for the amateurs, it’s this — learn how to place your lashes first, THEN worry about different lash looks or longevity!

How Do I Reuse My Lashes?

Okay, so if you’re going to spend all this money on this system, you’ll want to maximize the usage and longevity of your lashes right?? So I made sure to have all the equipment and tools to re-use my lashes before I tried them on for the first time. I found another two of Vanessa Q’s YouTube videos really helpful, and I purchased a few items before getting started to ensure I could rescue and reuse my lashes if I failed the first time.

The first video to watch is how to properly remove your lashes:

And then the second video that follows is how to clean the lashes you removed for re-using!

The gossamers are not meant to be used multiple times and fresh gossamers do adhere more easily to WhisperLight. BUT…having said that, I followed Vanessa’s steps for removal with Meltaway and then cleaning the lashes, and I have successfully reused most of my C12s for the third time now! It was pretty easy. Basically, you let them soak in 99% alcohol for awhile (I’ve done this over night before), and then you clean them afterwards with a makeup brush or black Q-tip in 99% alcohol as well!

[Update: I’ve let my gossamers sit in the alcohol sealed in the storage container for weeks and they clean just fine afterwards too! From the Facebook group, it seems many people do this as well with the intent of going back to clean them later.]

So here’s what I purchased for myself to clean and store my lashes (see picture below too):

• 99% Alcohol – you’ll need this to soak your lashes in and clean them with
• Mascara Spoolies– I bought ones that came with a container and a transfer funnel, so I could pour Meltaway into it and dip the spoolie in the makeup remover for easier use to remove my lashes. You can also buy disposable spoolies if you prefer, and I actually will likely do this too for the future so I don’t cross contaminate the Meltaway as much before changing it out. But I like the mini mascara container and plan to also fill one with castor oil for applying when my natural lashes are resting since I hear it’s good for the natural lashes to grow! (Linked this one from Sephora that has great reviews on lashes and brows!)
• Black Q-Tips – I never knew Black Q-tips existed, but apparently they are more lint-free than the white ones, making them good for eye prep and cleaning your lashes if you don’t have makeup brushes, like Vanessa uses.
• Makeup Brushes – I had makeup brushes from e.l.f. from awhile back and so I used a flatter one to clean out the WhisperLight and Glass from my used gossamers. I linked a set that Target sells and e.l.f. is so cheap and decent quality for what it is that I didn’t mind using a new brush just for cleaning purposes. This set also has a mascara spoolie.
• Clear Storage Containers – There’s obviously many options on how to store your re-used lashes, but I liked these jewelry containers that were kind of similar to how Vanessa was storing hers. I haven’t labeled mine with sizes yet, but I plan to. Unfortunately, once you take the lashes out of the original container, they can’t really be re-stored. Or at least I find it hard to put them back in! Someone in the Lashify Facebook group also suggested these clear storage trays specifically for lashes, but I think it would take up too much space on my counter, so I opted for something flatter.

How Do I Get More Lashes for Cheaper?

Get a membership! It’s free!

You’ll get 50% off the gossamers and free shipping on $45 or more. Usually it’s free shipping on $150+ without the membership, so why not? It’s kind of like a subscription more than a membership, but you can control how often you want shipments to come of your Luxe Box, and you can order other things like cleansers and tools, etc.

I change my subscription to every 2 months for now and then cancel the ones I don’t want and adjust the items that come in each box so I can play around with different gossamer lengths, etc. You can cancel the entire membership after 2 shipments, but you can also just keep delaying your shipments if you choose to, so it’s very easy!

On top of that you earn “Lash Cash” which are credits based on how much money you’ve spent that can be used towards paying for future items. Really, it only makes sense if you’ll be using more gossamers down the line. And compared to filling lash extensions every 3-4 weeks for $100+, I think this is pretty reasonable.

How Long Do a Set of Lashes Last?

It really depends on your technique and your comfort. The longest I have left my lashes on is 5 days, but that’s also because I decided I wanted a break and not because I needed to take them off. They were still holding on strong, and I’m pretty sure they could have lasted another day or two minimum.

Again, get your placement down before worrying about longevity. There’s a few methods with Lockdown, DefCon5, etc. but don’t worry about them until you’ve tried it out a few times first. I find the video I linked above for first time users was sufficient for me!

For me the C12’s and C14’s are really pretty and wispy but quite long in length too. Since I wear glasses (and sunglasses!) at some point in the day, they can be a little more tricky to wear with the glasses and brushing against the lenses. So I find after about 3 days, I want a break from perching my glasses the furthest away from my eyes as possible. With the C10s and C12s that I did most recently (and mind you, this is only my third time putting on lashes), they were just short enough to not need to worry about my glasses or sunglasses, so I felt okay leaving them in longer.

Yes, I do sleep with them on and yes, I am a side sleeper. I don’t notice them in my sleep or when I wake up until I accidentally rub my eyes. I really hardly wear any other make up now other than the lashes and occasionally some brow liner. If I’m feeling particularly un-lazy, I may put on some concealer. But there’s no real need for eyeliner for me, and I am way too lazy to put on eyeshadow carefully over my gossamers, though it can be done–just use primer!

I wash my face with cleanser and a towel, doing the bottom half first below my eyes and rinsing before moving on to my forehead. You do want to try to keep the lashes as dry as possible, but Glass also helps to waterproof them a bit! And you can also use Pre-Cleanse in a black Q-tip for your lids and around them if you need!

Okay, But Why Lashify??

TL;DR–Lashify lets me customize what look I’m putting on in a high-quality product that allows my eyes and natural lashes the least likely damage long term, if at all. And long term costs are cheaper than lash extensions!

For someone who doesn’t wear make up daily because I’m super lazy and I just think it’s better for my skin overall to stay unclogged, why would I invest so much into DIY lash extensions?! It’s not a super cheap option for sure when you add up all the other things to re-use lashes and order more sizes of gossamers. False lashes are wayyy more inexpensive in the long run.

This is all true.

But I think of the initial investment of the Control Kit like your first visit to get a set of lash extensions–that’s easily over $200. Lashify is still cheaper. And subsequent gossamer purchases like the lash fillers you’d have to go back for every 3-4 weeks, which would also be ~$100 or so. Lashify gossamers are cheaper. Disclaimer: I’ve never gotten lash extensions, but this is the price range I remember when I looked it up a few years ago.

Even though you have to spend a bit of time putting on the lashes in the beginning (but really, 15 minutes is not that long compared to two hours in a chair), it lasts for a few days–maybe up to two weeks when you’re good–and you don’t have to think about it afterwards. That–to me–is the ultimate lazy hack. And I pretty much don’t need to wear any other make up either to feel like I look fairly decent! For me, lashes are really the star of any makeup I do because good lashes will make my eyes stand out better.

But the other thing that’s really great about Lashify is how customizable and flexible the whole system is. I like that you can wear it every day if you want, or a few days, or one day at a time. One week you can be va-va-voom, and the next week you can be au naturale. I can take them off at any time by myself and I don’t need hours of someone else doing my lashes for me, especially during this pandemic year.

I’ve tried false lashes, but the glue is so hard to remove sometimes and I feel the more I try to clean my eyes, the more I damage my natural lashes when trying to rub out the glue. I’ve heard the same about magnetic eyeliner for magnetic lashes. I’ve also tried lash serums like GrandLash MD and R+F LashBoost. These both work at growing my lashes, but they also cause me a LOT of eye redness/stingy and some skin pigmentation/discoloration around my eye. (They make my coworker’s lashes look AWESOME though, so if you still want to go this route, try and see if you tolerate it! I just couldn’t, sadly.)

Ha. I realize I’m starting to sound like a makeup peddler. But I swear I’m not trying to sell Lashify to anyone because I really don’t get anything out of it. I just got a lot of questions about why use this over your typical lash serums or falsies; hence, this section!

Other Resources

If you still need to read more, I highly suggest joining and stalking the Lashify Facebook Group. If you have a question, someone has likely asked it in the group and there will be lots of people to answer your questions.

Besides Vanessa Q Artistry, I also watched some of The Contoured Chemist‘s videos on YouTube. Hers are longer so I generally watch them on double speed with captions to learn a new technique. If you search for Lashify vidoes, their videos will likely be some of the top hits.

Sometimes you might be able to catch a Lashify sale (like this weekend!!) It was a total coincidence that I’m writing this now and I found out about the Control Kit sale yesterday afternoon, but I wanted to hurry and finish so people could take advantage of the sale! However, if the sale is passed and you’re still eager to get started, then here’s $20 off again by using this link. Full transparency, if you get a Control Kit, my referral link gives you $20 off and I get $5 to spend on more gossamers. But if there’s a better deal/sale, please by all means take that instead!

Okay, have fun and let me know if you do try it and like it! I know I enjoy the small confidence boost that Lashify offers me. Look good, feel good, do good… am I right?! And P.S. If you enjoyed this post, check out my new Mother’s Day Gift Guide composed of my favorite gifts I’ve received from others and a few of my favorite self-care beauty items now! (It’s also a Gifts for Her kinda list!)

xoxo,
Jasmine