RESEARCHING PRICE? BUT DO YOU EVEN KNOW...

I get it, just ask my husband, I'm probably the most frugal person you would meet when it comes to myself... I do exactly what a lot of our customers do . This post is dedicated to all our dear price shopping clients (rest their lashes), who didn't quite know the difference between what they were reading on the different sites. This blog will touch on the following:

What callers ask when shopping price
What they should have asked to get a real apples to apples comparison
What we hear and what you mean when you use words like "Natural" & how to qualify
Terminology to get straight when it comes to "Volume"

So, here we go...
Did your search kinda go like this?

"Hmmmm, my friend gets lash extensions, maybe I'll give them a try."
>> Google Search
>> lash extensions <insert city> maybe a keyword "best" "asian" or whatever your deal is...

Then good old Yelp pops up.  Pick anyone, trust that they put the best at the top, look for as many stars and quantity of reviewers and maybe select 1 of 3 with best reviews then start your due diligence. (If you are also a lashpreneur or you rely on Yelp for where you go... get in the know on how that machine actually works. See "Yelp wears Prada" 

(Feeling pretty smart at this point),  Receptionist answers and you grill them on a few major questions - do they damage your lashes, how long do they last, and the big deciding factor.... HOW MUCH?

Lets flip the script real quick. Now, I'm the owner not the customer (I also answer the phones sometimes so I'm the chatty Cathy on the other end if you ever get me).  

You: "How much is a set?"
Me: " Well it depends on how full you want to start? The more lashes you want attached the more time and the more money. We start at $X and it could go up from there.
You: "I want the cheapest or the lowest most natural set"
Me: " The cheapest set we have may not meet your vision for what this is going to look like. Lets start with how you wear your makeup to see if the cheapest set is actually what will make you happy." (Because in my experience, if I customize a set to suit your budget, but you didn't take into account what would make you happy... then its a waste of money right? So let me take on that role and ask you the questions necessary to make sure you leave happy.) If you look at a price list and really have no idea what any of those terms actually mean... then you are already setting yourself up to waste money and time on a rather pricey service when done right by professionals.

And the conversation goes like this:
You: "I'm pretty natural" (ladies , notice I didn't ask if you use neutral colors. Kim K does a natural look often and there is nothing natural about how she got to that look. So, keep in mind... natural means A LOT of things. In the lash world it could mean any of the following: length, curl, darkness/color, fullness or even sheen!)  A design consultation should identify where you stand on all these things in order to come up with what will make you happy.  A "natural set"  doesn't give a lot of info. A set well done takes into account all of these elements as well as your eye-shape, your natural lash strength, space between your lash-line & brows, whether you wear classes or not... and even your career/lifestyle. This is NOT a one size fits all. If you come across a vague price list you need to ask more questions or they should be asking you more questions!

carrying on...
Me:  What do you wear on your lashes daily? (If you say mascara or liner and both or on occasion strips... the cheapest natural set we have (albeit beautiful) will leave you wanting for more.  )
You: I wear mascara and sometimes liner but other than that, nothing much. I want my eyes to pop. (keywords: mascara, liner, pop)
Me: You have 2 options, start at level 1 and know you can upgrade at your own pace OR go to level 2 where you can skip the mascara and feel ready to go. The $50 upgrade to go up in fullness and LOVE what you get vs. not love it, is worth the spend. Going somewhere else to save $50 is an option too, but we can talk about that later. (see ...To Save $50... OR Nah?)

The real problem arises when you are out there  doing your research and you look at lash salons all with seemingly similar terminology but prices all over the place! Now what? Do you really know what they are offering? What are they actually capable of? Everyone is going to tell you they are the best, or they use the best lashes...  but there is this thing called  expensive training which limits your ability to extract the best from your lash artist. I n many cases, the are trained in house, and use what the salon offers OR is only familiar with what they trained with. Knowing their various certifications & if they have experience with several global trainers as well as various brands will give you an idea as to how much they are invested in their career which usually has direct correlation on how well they are doing your lashes (because you can't see what we see from our close up view). You won't know until its too late.

Lets talk the new craze for a minute and how prices are ALL OVER THE PLACE!
Did you know that Volume is a technique, aka Russian Volume (because it was originally invented in Russia) and  anything more than 1 lash applied to your natural lash is considered Russian Volume?  Did you know that just because someone is a great Classic Artist, that  they may have zero ability to do Volume?  And did you know a Volume Artist may or may not be capable of doing any more than 2D or 3D even with a course under their belt? (PS our Volume Lash Artist are offering services customized up to 6D and beyond (aka mega volume).  What does that all even mean? What is this 2D 3D...6D, Mega Volume, American Volume, Russian Volume? ITS THE SAME THING! But in varying fullness. Don't be fooled by "Volume" Priced full set. Ask for specifics.

It means you aren't comparing apples to apples... AND moreover, if  Volume price is low but the actual service they are capable of providing is only 1-2 lashes more than you would be getting with classic... you have to ask the next question  "How long have your Volume artists been doing volume? When did they get trained?"

Global lash educators and current Volume artists will tell you... volume lashing is a WHOLE OTHER BALLGAME. It takes about a year of practice (for those that don't give up) to get good. And I truly wonder how many 2D or 3D volume sets they needed to struggle through (while sticking clients lashes together, or fans closing up and returning spiky looking), before they could get beyond that point and actually offer the type of fullness the clients expect.

For those doing more than 2D your next question should be: Are they -fans or are your artists trained as volume artists (meaning they make the fans themselves on the spot, rather than  purchase them from Asia)?

This is a major question!  Volume lashes is picking up more than 1 lash and manipulating them to come together to a perfect point for clean attachment on your natural lashes. The amount of how many lashes are in a fan is based on what  the clients lashes can actually support. Just because they purchased fans that are  3D doesn't mean your lash can support it. If that's all they have, guess what... that's what you will get! Then you call us because our fills  are cheaper for less money... and we decline your business because your lashes have chunks of glue. Why? The fans were pre-made and already dipped in glue. Then to apply to your natural lashes, that glue blob is re-dipped into more glue before it is applied.  And there you have it, the glue alone is too much weight for your natural lashes BUT it 's going to stay on really really well because of all the glue  (which is preventing your new natural lashes from growing in strong for future fills).

I hope this is informative for all our price shoppers out there! 

Until lash time,
XOXO
Judy