About 2 months ago, I started thinking about all of the necessary appointments that needed to be made prior to my bachelorette party. Nails, wax, threading, in addition to copious faux tan applications at home, face masks, a balyage touch up, etc. One of the things that was “really stressing me out” was that I am TERRIBLE at applying fake eyelashes, and this would definitely be an event where I needed my makeup to be at it’s absolute best. No matter how hard I try, no matter how many YouTube tutorials I watch, I cannot get those things to look normal. After expressing my anxiety about the situation, a friend suggested I try eyelash extensions. Shockingly, this service was foreign to me. Another friend mentioned she had seen something on Groupon offering the normally $150 service for $40, so I immediately purchased it. A few weeks later I went to my appointment.

The whole process took about an hour and 15 minutes. At the beginning of the appointment the technician reviewed the various lengths and curl types with me to select the best option. For the most part, it was pretty relaxing and even included a foot massage, but my eyes did become pretty irritated from the glue. About an hour after the appointment the irritation went away, and I was left with some pretty stunning looking lashes. The lashes they use are extremely light too, I could barely tell they were attached. At first they seemed extremely long to me, but after about a day I got used to them and every time I looked at them liked them more and more. The BEST part about this, was that any eye makeup application became completely unnecessary. The lashes were extremely easy to brush out and maintain, and were a perfect solution to the falsies problem.

I am now into my 5th week with these (they tell you they are supposed to last anywhere from 3-5 weeks), and have been monitoring the fall out closely. I made the mistake of pulling some out on my own (some were darting in different directions and just looked weird and needed to be removed), and some have just gradually detached over time. While I loved the way they looked and the time they saved me getting ready in the morning, I am definitely prepared to have some seriously stunted natural lashes as a result. However, I’m not too concerned about it because there are plenty of serums out there that can help bring them back to life.

Would I do this again? Yes. I think this is a great idea especially if you have back to back events like weddings, or if you’re going on a trip. I will likely be doing this throughout the fall for my own wedding, and for the other 5 I will be attending between September and November. The other great thing about this service is that you can go in for touch ups every few weeks and they’re around $40 instead of the full service price each time.

I know this may be extremely old news for some of you, but I wanted to start this blog off with a basic necessity. EYELASHES. If you have them, and you want people to see them, purchase this mascara immediately! I have been using mascara for past 12 years of my life and have yet to find a better option than Benefit’s “They’re Real!” mascara. You don’t even have to use a curler with this one (although I do because I secretly aspire to look like Minnie Mouse every time I go out). It is $24, and lasts me almost 6 months. This product lives up to its expectations, has 4/5 stars from over 10,000 reviews on sephora.com and beats many other high end mascaras on the market (including Lancome which was the very first “pricier” mascara I used–often praised for its excellent eye makeup line).