Review: Sue Marsh Lash Extensions (updated!)

There is a reason why I am jealous of men and small children. No, its not their willingness to display immature behavior or their inability to feed themselves – its their lashes. Babies have fabulous lashes. Many men have amazing lashes. My other half has lashes that get tangled because they are so long. Sometimes I look at my arm pit hair and think, why couldn’t you have been transferred to my lashes instead – but no. Life doesn’t work like that.

I have long wanted lush, stunning lashes. But I am Asian – most of us are given short, straight, downward facing lashes. I need to curl everyday, I occasionally get lash perms (50% disastrous). I have problem lashes. They are depressed.

So when I went to see lash guru, Sue Marsh at Cosmetics A La Carte I was dying to see what she would do on me.

Sue offers various services, her new range being the Swift Lash 2go range, using fashion lashes for dramatic looks. They can can be done in under 30 minutes (or you can choose a natural look), and it lasts for 2-3 days. Here’s an example of a fashion look created by Sue:

You can see the gallery here.

Anyway. So, no one told me that the distance between the tube stops on the map does NOT IN ANY WAY CORRELATE WITH HOW FAR STOPS ACTUALLY ARE FROM EACH OTHER. I set off with good time I tell you, but after running in circles around Harrods for half an hour I finally used my spidey sense and ended up at Cosmetics A La Carte, which is one of Sue’s venues.

Sue has worked with lots of designers and celebrities so I wasn’t sure what she would be like – that and I was half an hour late (blame London maps!) and sweating, but she was very very lovely. Sue is a bit of a glamourpuss with curled blonde hair and red lips, and immediately did some lash dialysis.

Diagnosis: A lash lift treatment (similar to perming but done at the root so the curl is natural) and some lashes applied to the ends in a colour to make the brown of my eyes stick out – in blue and green.

Procedure:

I lay on a comfy dentists chair while Sue taped my bottom lashes down (with surgical tape! not sellotape). She than began the root lift, which didn’t feel as uncomfortable has having a perm (when the lash has to be pulled really tightly over the rod). It didn’t feel uncomfortable to me because I get cat paws whacked into my face quite a lot – cat battery – so I’m used to the poking and prodding.

After the lift (which took a fair while) Sue showed me the results – the curl was much much much less harsh than the usual perm (which I have had done three times in total).

The next stage was the application of the single lashes. Sue decided in the end to put more lashes on across the top so the whole thing would have more impact.

Being a perfectionist, Sue also tidied up my brows, making the shape smoother and plucking out all the pesky hairs that were lurking under the skin in a very quick and painless way. I’m making this sound like a it was a quick thing, but the whole procedure took three hours and was incredibly precise and painstaking. Quite frankly, I would choose it over threading any day.

My Eye Before:

After:

Yeah baby!I had a mixture of green and blue lashes put on.

Whilst I was in the chair, we talked about things that make lashes fall out. Waterproof mascara was one of the things mentioned (tis true – I scrub at my lashes to get it off) and Sue’s tip was to let as much mascara as possible run off in the shower and then take the remainder off gently. Not only does this look after the lashes, it also looks after the eye area.

Maintenance

Extensions need some tender loving care – this means not using waterproof mascara, oil based eye make up removers, not scrubbing at the lashes, avoiding (if possible) mascara, not using saunas or steam based facial products. The lashes look pretty stellar on their own anyway so mascara on top would be a little bit too much in my opinion.

Also with a lash lift, you can’t wear mascara for 48 hours or you will ruin the effect. You should also avoid getting water on the lashes for 24 hours.

I didn’t find it uncomfortable at all because Sue does a check to make sure everything is as it should be once you are done. Finally lashes that nearly touch my brows!

Wicked….

That night I went to see Wicked the Musical – I only sat right under the air conditioning which made my right eye run consistently for three hours. As a result my right eye flopped a little bit more than my left. Grrr! But it is in the rules – don’t get your lashes wet. I am surprised my eye could actually run for three hours straight, but they did.

Verdict: This is the first lash extension treatment I have had and although it took ages I loved it. The result is there for all to see – very glam, very sexy, really stunning.

Having said all that, this is not a low maintenance procedure. It isn’t cheap, it does require care afterwards and fill in once they start for fall out. Would I do it again – oh yes, in a heartbeat but I do love lashes.

The ones I had should last 3-4 weeks.

Sue said she will be releasing some home based products soon – looking forward to it!

Prices are from £45 for the Swift2Go fashion lashes but it will vary depending on your service, and whether you have Sue or a technician who has been trained by her. As an example, 1/4 of your upper lashes would cost £60 with a tech or £80 with Sue, a root lift is £98 with a tech, £115 with Sue.

The process is time consuming and I would advise anyone considering it to find a professional because there are lots of lash disasters and mishaps that can happen if you don’t find someone who has been properly trained, and more importantly, practiced. It’s not meant to be a cheap procedure frankly because it takes a long time to do and you are messing with peoples eyes – if you are going to do it, get it done properly!

You can get Sue at Daniel Galvin, 58-60 George Street, London W1U 7ET. Tel: 020 7486 9661. Or email – . Her website is here.

Highly Recommended