Batting My Lashes

There's something about my recent surgeries that has caused me to really need to get girly. I had to buy some new clothes due to inadvertent weight loss (I'm not complaining) so that was "girly thing" number one. I've been compelled to have pedicures and massages (not complaining about this either) and I'm going to an overnight spa in a couple of weeks. But, perhaps the most outrageous thing I've splurged on recently was eyelash extensions.

I usually don't consider pampering myself outrageous. I'm fortunate enough to have an income that allows me to, occasionally, spend some of it on splurgy self-indulgences. But there are some things that just seem silly - like eyelash extensions. 

Cassandra and I have a couple of friends who started getting this done about 18 months ago. One friend did well with them but the other couldn't help herself and would pick them off, causing them to be very expensive to maintain. The way it works is this:

1. You lie down on your back and close your eyes.

2. The aesthetician takes individual itty-bitty fake eyelashes, dips the end in a tiny bit of black adhesive, and attaches each one - one by one - to a real lash, right at the lash-line.

3. Then you hang out for a bit while the adhesive dries.

E voila! You open your eyes and you look like you have on the best-ever application of mascara. And it's like that ALL THE TIME. When you wake up in the morning, your eyes look bright and "done".

As your lashes fall out naturally, the extensions go with them so, at some point (usually 3-4 weeks), you go back in and get your lashes "filled in" with new extensions. It's pretty straight-forward. 

I had this done three days after my last surgery. When I went back to work, nearly every person I interacted with expressed how great I looked. I believe it was because I actually looked like I had make-up on, even though I, literally, had none.

I still think that this is the silliest self-indulgence I've ever self-indulged in. And the feeling of them takes a bit of getting used to. They are false eyelashes after all. But, at this point, I think the good outweighs the bad and I'll probably maintain them for a while. Or not. Maybe I'll find some other girly thing to spend my money on instead. :)

- Alex

Here are MY eyes: