Natural lash cycle.

Clients often ask about how long do eyelash extensions last and when they will fall out. It’s important to understand the natural growth cycle of lashes to understand this process.

Naturally we lose approximately 1-5 natural eyelashes per day.

There are three stages of hair growth: growth (anagen), cessation (catagen), and rest (telogen).

The Catagen Stage – The transition phase when the eye lash stops growing and the follicle shrinks, this lasts 14-21 days. 3% of hair is in this phase at any one time, during this time the growth stops and the outer root shrinks and attaches to the root of the hair. This is the formation of what is known as a club hair.

The Telogen Stage – This is the resting phase before the fully grown eye lash falls out. For hairs on the eyebrow, eyelashes, arms and legs this phase takes longer than the 100 days that the hair on the scalp takes. It accounts for 10-15% of all hairs, during this phase the hair follicle is completely at rest and the club hair is completely formed. Pulling out a hair in this phase will reveal a solid hard dry white material at the root. About 25-100 telogen hairs are shed each day.

The Anagen Stage – This is the active phase, only 40% of the upper eyelashes are in the active phase at one time (only 15% of lower lashes are in active growth phase at same time) This phase lasts 30-45 days. The cells in the root of the hair are dividing rapidly, a new hair is formed and pushes the club hair up the follicle and eventually out. Eyelashes have a short active growth phase of about 35-45 days, this explains why they are so much shorter compared to scalp hair (active phase 2-6 years and about 1cm growth per month).

When applying eyelash extensions, it is important to place them on lashes in the catagen phase. Lashes in the anagen phase are fragile and not strong enough to support the weight of the extensions, and because of that application of extensions on the lashes in that stage isn’t recommended.

Some advertisements suggest that lashes can last up to 12 weeks, but they often overlook the fact that the anagen phase only lasts 30-45 days. Therefore, when properly applied and with the correct aftercare, eyelash extensions can last only around 4-6 weeks, and not the promised 12 weeks.