Long, lovely lash extensions

Canadian Living's lash-deficient beauty editor test-drives eyelash extensions and shares her experience as she lives the life of the lash-endowed for a few shining weeks.

I have seven eyelashes: three on one lid, four on the other. Well, not exactly, but my eyelashes are so sparse, thin and short that it might as well be true. I've long been envious of the thick, inky sweep that Mother Nature seems to think looks best on baby boys. "It's not fair," I cry in outrage, hoping that each child's parent thinks I'm merely being funny. Do I really need to tell you how I feel upon hearing about eyelash extensions?

I book my appointment with Carmen Camara at Jeanet Spa & Salon in Toronto, Ont. Together we look at a range of loose lashes, from itty-bitty singletons to clusters to beyond-Vegas-showgirl outlandish. Carmen feels that since it's my first time, I should go for drama. Thankfully, that means a combination of single lashes and small clusters. I'm stoked.

The procedure
The procedure itself takes about half an hour to 40 minutes. I recline on a massage table with Carmen seated on a chair behind me, at the top of my head. She swipes my lashes gently with makeup remover to cleanse them of the day's residue, rinses them with water and dries them before proceeding. Holding each lash or cluster with fine-tipped tweezers, she dips the ends in a tiny bit of glue then attaches them to my lashes. I'm supposed to help by looking down rather than closing my eyes, but I hit the snooze level within minutes. Carmen cleverly manages anyway.

I wake up periodically to ask important questions, such as "how long will these last?" and "how will I remove my eye makeup?" and "I'll have to abstain from working out at the gym, right? Right?"

I'm told that the lashes stay on for up to four weeks. But I'm a first-timer, so they'll last maybe two on account I'll probably rub or tug at them a lot without realizing it, and the oil from my fingers will reduce their staying power. Carmen says I won't need mascara so I'll have less eye makeup to remove, but I should use a non-oily cleanser.

When she's finished attaching the lashes, Carmen carefully trims them to a more natural length. She hands me a mirror. When I can finally speak, I thank her profusely, all the while admiring my fabulous eyes in the mirror.