WARNING…this blog may offend you.

It may ruffle some feathers and you may not like it. Regardless, you NEED to read this if you have ANYTHING to do with lash glue. Understanding the following will save you a lot of money and stress. 

Every single day we see numerous posts on social media with a glue problem or asking for recommendations on that magical glue that will work for them.

94% of the the people that post these, put their glue problems down to having received a bad batch or a particular glue is just mysteriously crap for them.

 

EVERY SINGLE LASH GLUE (every brand) IS BASED ON SCIENCE.

And science has very specific rules to follow or it just won’t work.

 

 

The main and most fundamental / basic concept you have to grasp regarding glue is; the glue has millions of little particles moving around in it and those particles need to link together in a perfect and very exact way to cure correctly.

 

Any tiny thing that influences or interferes with this linking process will mess with the link & thus not cure and you’ll have “glue problems”.

 

As we all know moisture cures the glue.

Too slow = more moisture in area is needed.

Too fast = too much moisture.

However moisture is only 30% of the curing / linking process, you need a few other parts for everything to work perfectly. We can’t stress enough that this is all just chemistry & science. The glues drying process is very simply put; the particles linking together in a very specific way.

 

A note on those hygrometer things (or whatever they are called); they are not often accurate & also will typically only measure where they physically are, which could be different from where your glue/client is. So I would never rely on them. Saying one's humidity was at 64.5% so “was fine” because that is what the hygrometer read at, is simply an inaccurate statement.

  

TEMPERATURE

Temperature is the next key ingredient for this linking process.

If an area is too hot the particles in the glue move faster & thus can incorrectly link. Too cold & particles move slower & again will incorrectly link.

But again is only part of the whole picture.

 

  pH LEVEL 

The third thing is pH level (namely around clients eye area.)

If too acidic links don’t happen correctly & too alkaline don’t link correctly either.

 

 

You NEED these three factors to ALL be correct or the linking simply won’t happen correctly. It’s just science.

CHEMICALS 

Another thing that’s worth mentioning (there are other factors like medication etc) is any other chemicals around can also interfere with the linking process. Chemicals in hairdressing salons is a big one.

 

 

Bloody glue is a pain in the arse & like a hormonal female needs lots of TLC and attention I know…but there are some simple ways to be friends with your glue.

 SOLUTION?

So my solution is ... I never use a hygrometer thingy (or whatever they are called) and instead make sure of the following things which could be effecting the linking process...

 

1️⃣ No air (hot or cold) blowing directly or around glue / client area. And no direct sunlight.

 
 
2️⃣ Client's pH level - too hard to measure and almost impossible, so instead I control it by always using pH balancer (Unicorn Tears). Alcohol based primers can totally screw with pH level so I don’t use one unless clients skin is really oily.
 

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3️⃣ I make sure the glue is a nice rich dark colour & not too runny & not too thick. More often than not consistency is handled with a jolly good shake. Also if not shaken enough the glue particles are separated & good luck getting a nice chain to cure when half the particles are missing. Bit like trying to run a marathon with no legs, arms or head. Good luck!

  
4️⃣ If the glue is drying too slow, I know I need to add moisture into area so do so. Too fast need to get rid of some, so do so. I go by how the glue is working & fix as I go rather than a humidity level reading. Also because things can change mid a set (you plus client breathing etc can affect the room for example) so I have to know how to “read” my glue & handle immediately.

Here are some ways to add/subtract moisture:

CLICK HERE TO READ BLOG
 
5️⃣ I make sure not too hot or too cold in the room. Again if glue isn’t working I raise or lower the temp mid set till I get it working.
 
6️⃣ I have been known to mix glues. This is a little trick I learnt years ago that not a lot of lash techs know or do. Here is a blog about it: 

CLICK HERE TO READ BLOG 

7️⃣ Overall I just play & manipulate the environment till I can work easily with the glue. This isn’t a long process, I’m just aware of how my glues doing throughout a set. We are friends.

 
8️⃣ Because I KNOW all of the above with complete understanding I can control everything & you know what ... I can successfully use ANY glue on the market & have awesome retention. And why I say bollocks to “bad batches”. (There are some very very rare circumstances when one may receive a bad glue ... but you’ll know that it is as soon as you open the bottle.)

 AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON 'BAD BATCHES"

 

1. If a batch was bad - the whole quantity that was ordered at one time from the manufacturer would have to be ‘bad’. Hence a supplier (like we are at Locks Lash) would have on average every month 1,500-2,500 complaints coming in about the same batch (Locks order about that amount each time from manufacturer per type like Holy Grail.) This has never ever happened at Locks Lash.
2. Locks Lash have a quality control system in place BEFORE any glue is sent out. The manufacturers also have a quality control system in place. These systems have been trialed and tested for over 10 years and are pretty tight.
3. When there is a fault in the glue, it is 99% of the time from when the glue was in transit. Because of the air pressure in planes this can sometimes encourage the lid to become slightly unscrewed. If you ever receive a glue which this has happened one of two things can be seen immediately when you open the package;

• There will be white powder stuff on the glue especially around the lid.
• When you open the glue for the first time it ‘explodes’ (not heaps, just a little) out the top. See picture below ⬇️

 THE MYTH 

And really, it is a myth and an uneducated conclusion that a glue is just part of a ‘bad batch’. No the problem has got nothing to do with the glue, it has everything to do with the environment the glue is in. The links are not happening correctly.

I realise that this whole blog is a little ‘blunt’. And I only kind of apologise for it.

Science just has rules and you just need to know and apply them and shits good.