Clients often inquire about the duration of eyelash extensions and why they may fall out. It’s important to understand the natural lash growth cycle to answer these questions.

Firstly, on average, we naturally lose approximately 3-4 natural eyelashes per day. The growth cycle of lashes consists of three stages: anagen (growth), catagen (cessation), and telogen (rest).

During the catagen stage, which lasts about 14-21 days, the eyelash stops growing, and the follicle shrinks. This phase accounts for around 3% of the hair at any given time. The growth halts, and the root attaches to the hair, forming what is known as a club hair.

Next is the telogen stage—an extended resting phase before the fully-grown eyelash naturally falls out. While the scalp hair has a 100-day telogen phase, the hairs on the eyebrows, eyelashes, arms, and legs have an even longer resting period. Roughly 10-15% of all hairs are in the telogen phase, during which the hair follicle is completely at rest, and the club hair is fully formed. You can identify a telogen hair by its solid, hard, dry white material at the root. Typically, 25-100 telogen hairs are shed daily.

Lastly, the anagen stage signifies the active phase of hair growth. Only 40% of upper eyelashes and 15% of lower lashes are in this active phase at any given time. The anagen stage lasts 30-45 days, during which the cells in the root of the hair rapidly divide. As a new hair is formed, it pushes the club hair up the follicle and eventually out. Compared to scalp hair, eyelashes have a shorter active growth phase, explaining their relatively shorter length (the active phase for scalp hair lasts 2-6 years, with a monthly growth of about 1cm).