The London Lash Fast Drying Glue Guide
Once a Lash Technician has become confident and skilled in applying lash extensions, – we’re talking around 1000-1500 lash sets – they’ll most likely be ready to move on to further develop their skills. That’s right, even after completing over a thousand lash extension sets, there’s still more to learn! Yes, it takes time and of course clients, but believe us, once you begin to apply lashes on your training courses, all the way to working in a salon, you’ll reach over a thousand sets soon enough. So what more is there to learn?
Recap on Lash Glues
As a skilled Lash Tech with the hours to prove it, you may become confident enough to isolate natural lashes and place extensions quickly with ease. Your technique may be so swift that the glue you’re using cannot keep up with your speed. Speed, what speed? Well, we have developed lash glues for every skill level there is. In the beginning you may be using Satin or Lady Bond London Lash glues. These lash adhesives have a standard drying time of 1-2 seconds. Beginner Lash Techs need more time to isolate lashes, pick up extensions, dip them in the glue and then place them with precision, so their glue must dry accordingly.
Who Should Use Fast Drying Adhesive
Flexie Glue, Royal Bond and Power Bond lash glues are our fast drying range. These glues are only suitable for you if you have the skills to back you. If you've become super fast at your techniques, your slower drying glue may cause issues. For example; as a beginner who is naturally slower, you’d place the lash extension on the natural lash and by the time you let go of it the glue has dried and bonded with the natural lash. When you’re more experienced and much faster, this procedure will become quicker for you so if your glue is slow drying you’ll find yourself holding the lash extension in place long enough for the adhesive to dry which will slow you down, and during this time, if you’re not careful waiting for the glue to dry and let go of it prematurely, it could begin to lean, leading to messy lash sets, or touch other lashes and create stickies.
Our fast drying glue range fixes this problem. Your glue catches up to your speed. You can isolate your natural lash, pick up a lash extension, dip it in the glue of your choosing, place the lash extension and by the time you let go, it’s cured, forming a strong bond between the lashes and extensions. These glues have a drying time of 0.5-1 seconds, giving you long enough to lash your client, but the drying time is short enough to avoid any stickies.
You may be wondering: “I have lashed over 1000 clients but I’m not confident enough to switch to faster glue yet, do I have to?”and we say, absolutely not. You do not have to switch to faster drying glue if you don’t want to. While we say these glues are for Lash Artists with the experience and the speed in their techniques, you’re not any less skilled just because you choose to stay with a slower glue – if anything, you’re demonstrating a solid understanding of your needs in order to create amazing, long-lasting lash sets. Do not consider yourself a level below even if you have the experience, not everyone has the same speed, and that is okay. If you’re happy using a glue with a standard drying time of 1-2 seconds and that works great for you, leaving your clients with perfect eyelash sets and retention then keep doing what you’re doing. There’s nothing wrong with that.
On the other hand, if you are a beginner Lash Tech who is always searching for the ‘best lash glue’ and lash extension products, and you stumble onto Power Bond adhesive, this is not likely to be the product for you. Not only will you waste your money, but you could damage your client’s lashes in the process if you’re not careful, fast drying glues are very strong lash adhesives. You may also find that your retention is impacted negatively. When glue cures more quickly than you are used to working, it will begin to cure on the way to being placed – this will mean that it is not able to form a strong bond between the natural lashes and the extensions.
What Are The Characteristics Of Our Fast Drying Glues?
We carry three different types of fast drying lash glue. Flexie Lash Glue, Power Bond Lash Glue and Royal Bond Lash Glue. Let’s discuss the characteristics and differences between these adhesives.
Flexie Glue is the ‘slower’ of the three fast drying glues, but shouldn’t be underestimated. Flexie has a drying time of 1 second and is an extremely strong lash glue. Just like its name, Flexie glue has a velvety consistency and stays flexible once fully cured giving the client’s lash extensions perfect retention as it is able to wrap around the extension and natural lashes. The perfect conditions to use Flexie in would be room temperature of 18-22°C (64.4-71.6°F) and a humidity of 40-70%, giving you a good range of conditions to use it in – you’ll notice that Flexie’s preferred humidity range is broader than other glues, and that’s why we named it Flexie.
Power Bond adhesive (sometimes referred to as Powerbond or Powerbonder) is an extremely strong glue with a fast drying time of 0.5-1 second. One of our best selling lash glues, this adhesive is thin in consistency and has specific room conditions for perfect use. Power Bond should be used in room temperatures ranging from 18-22°C (64.4-71.6°F) and humidity levels of 50-65%.
Royal Bond glue is last, but certainly not least. This lash glue is one of the strongest, (it’s also one of the fastest, so while we would love for you to try it, if you’re not yet lashing as quickly as Royal Bond dries, try something else instead) simply put, this glue has an extremely strong bond, drying in 0.5-1 seconds. It’s most perfect in room temperatures of 18-22°C (64.4-71.6°F) and humidity levels of 30-80% giving you a much wider scope, and can even save you money if you have changes in your humidity levels throughout the day as you’ll only need to have one glue, rather than having 2 or more to keep up with the changes.
All of our fast drying lash glues will work perfectly in their optimum conditions, so be sure to check those when you’re shopping for a new glue, so that you can choose which one suits you best. To have the optimum conditions in your workspace to benefit your glue, make sure you monitor your temperature and humidity using a Digital Hygrometer. Alternate conditions to the ones recommended will affect the speed of your glue, from speeding it up to slowing it down, so keeping within the perfect range for any lash glue – slow or fast drying – is imperative.