IS THE LASH INDUSTRY DYING?
Did nail studios & nail artists die off when press on nails started growing viral? No. And this is why the lash industry won’t either.
May 6th, 2024
Paying for Chanel but Getting Shein
The History & How This Lash Industry Has Evolved
To explain why the lash industry is the way that it is, we need to do a quick recap on its history. Lash extensions took the world over on a chokehold when this innovation launched. It filled a large gap on those girlies who couldn’t put falsies on even if their life depended on it. Or if they could, having lashes streamlined their day-to-day. More importantly, lash extensions made us feel so beautiful.
I remember thinking - wow, I look this gorgeous with no makeup on. Turns out I’m not ugly, I just needed longer lashes.
Thus, the demand for lash extensions grew and a huge opportunity arose; becoming a lash technician. The initial start-up costs of doing lashes are lower than most service businesses. You take a lash course, get the supplies, have a bed, open a channel to connect with clients, and voila - you can start making money.
What turned matters worse, was when the lash technicians realized that the demand for educators was increasing. They knew how to do lashes, so why couldn’t they teach people how to do lashes? Lash educators emerged. They created their courses and certificates. The lash industry wasn’t regulated, so just about anyone could capitalize off of educating. But not all good lash artists are good educators and not all lash artists should educate because they can. The top of their game lash artists taught with a grain of sand in fear their students would become direct competitors with them. I’m not saying that’s everyone - but there is where greed comes into play.
To feed this immediate demand, lash technicians from everywhere were mass-produced. This resulted in poor technique, retention, cluster-like lashes, damaging natural lashes, and caused the lash industry to tighten up its standards and policies. The lash technicians who were at the top of their game imposed policies like no foreign refills, cancellation policies, and late policies as a start. Then other lash technicians who looked up to those A-game lash artists started adopting these policies that worked in their favor and started an industry standard.
This resulted in strict policies in the lash industry, but subpar work. Clients were left with trying to find quality lash artists who cared about their education & quality amongst the bad apples.