How to Clean Lash Extensions: The Daily Routine

Clean your lash extensions every day, starting 24 hours after your appointment. Use a lash shampoo, a gentle cleanser or a baby shampoo. It is the habit that does the most for your set.

It can feel safer to leave a new set alone. But clean lashes last longer than lashes left alone. Here is the routine I teach.

Wait 24 Hours After Your Appointment

For the first 24 hours, keep your lashes dry. That means no face washing over the eyes, no steamy showers and no workout that makes you sweat.

After that, water will not hurt your extensions.

What to Clean Them With

Any of these work:

• Lash shampoo. My first choice. I send my clients home with the Stacy Lash shampoo and brush set ↗, and one bottle lasts a couple of months used every day.
• Baby shampoo. A good alternative. Pick one that is unscented.
• An oil-free cleanser. Fine if it has no oil in it. Check the label first.

You also need a soft cleansing brush, a clean spoolie and a towel to pat them dry.

How to Clean Lash Extensions, Step by Step

1. Wet your lashes with lukewarm water.
2. Put a small amount of lash shampoo on the brush.
3. Close your eyes. Brush gently along the lash line and down through the lashes, following the direction they grow. Use the brush to spread the lashes apart as you go, so the shampoo gets between them.
4. Pay extra attention to the base of the lashes. That is where oil, makeup and dead skin build up.
5. Rinse well with water until no foam is left.
6. Pat the area around your eyes dry with a towel. Do not rub the lashes.
7. Once they are dry, brush them through with a clean spoolie, from the middle to the tips.

The brush is the part clients skip. Rubbing with your fingers only cleans the outside of the set. Spreading the lashes with the brush is what reaches the base, where the build-up is.

Morning is the best time to do it. Overnight, sleep and oil from your skin collect along the lash line, and you want that off before it spends the day on the bond.

Why Daily Cleaning Matters

At a fill I can tell right away which clients skip cleaning. Their lashes have build-up on them. Build-up can irritate your eyes or make them sensitive to products, and skipping cleaning can lead to lash mites or an infection. I have not seen either on one of my clients.

Cleaning also helps your set stay on. Oil loosens the adhesive. When clients use an oil-based product near their eyes without realizing it, their extensions fall off sooner. Washing every day helps your set stay on. If you want more on that, here is how long lash extensions last and why they fall out. For what can happen to your natural lashes when cleaning gets skipped, read whether lash extensions are bad for your lashes.

What to Avoid

• Oil-based makeup removers, cleansers and eye creams near the lash line.
• Cotton pads and makeup wipes. The fibres catch on the extensions and pull them.
• Rubbing your eyes, or scrubbing the lashes with a washcloth.
• Waterproof mascara, because it takes an oil-based remover to get off.

Showering, Swimming and Vacations

One of the most common questions I get is about swimming with lash extensions. You can, as long as the first 24 hours have passed.

Lash extensions are great for vacations and summer. You get out of the pool or the ocean and there is no mascara running down your face. After the pool or the ocean, wash your lashes with lash shampoo and the brush, and make sure you rinse all of it off. That is all they need.

Clean lashes also make your next fill easier, because there is no build-up to clear first.