Can i wear mascara with eyelash extensions

Beauty enthusiasts get their eyelash extensions done to give intensity to their lashes and offer maximum lash volume, achieving that effortlessly voluminous look 24/7. 

But regardless of the volume that lash extensions give to natural lashes, some people may still want to wear mascara with their eyelash extensions on for certain reasons. 

But can you put mascara on eyelash extensions? Is it advisable? 

To answer that, yes, you can still wear mascara with eyelash extensions. However, you must keep a few things in mind before doing that. 

As much as possible, it’s best to avoid putting mascara on eyelash extensions.

If you are wearing classic lash extensions, you can wear some mascara. But mascaras must be off-limits with other lash extension types.

Once you add mascara to volume eyelash extensions, it will be too heavy for your natural lashes and can be damaging. 

For more tips about wearing mascara with eyelash extensions, this article is for you!

Common Reasons to Wear Mascara With Eyelash Extensions

As mentioned earlier, some eyelash extension wearers still prefer mascara with lash extensions.

Here are some of the common reasons:

• Adding mascara can help your lash extensions blend with your natural lashes since most eyelash extensions are applied from above the lash line. 
• Mascara gives lash extensions a temporarily longer, bolder, and darker look, which can elevate your look during special events. 
• Mascaras can help revive and fill in the missing spots of sparse eyelash extensions. 
• You can achieve a different look by playing around with colorful mascara and putting them on your eyelash extensions.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Mascara for Eyelash Extensions

The last thing you want is to ruin your eyelash extensions by applying a mascara that destroys them. 

To avoid that, here are the basic factors you need to look out for when choosing a mascara to use with eyelash extensions:

• Ask your lash technician which products they recommend for your eyelash extensions. 
• Avoid mascaras with ingredients like sesame oil, eucalyptus oil, linseed oil, turpentine oil, mineral oil, paraffin, carnauba wax, beeswax, castor oil, lanolin, and glycol. These can weaken the lash glue.
• Choose a washable mascara that can easily come off with a dedicated lash extension shampoo or an extension-safe makeup remover. 
• Pick mascaras with widely-spaced bristles to avoid pulling on your lash extensions. 
• Search for a pigmented lash sealant or mascara formulated specifically for eyelash extensions.

Which Types of Mascara Can You Use on Eyelash Extensions?

So what mascara can you use on eyelash extensions?

Remember that oils can dissolve the adhesive used on your eyelash extensions. So, keep away from oil-based mascaras as much as possible. 

Instead, look for mascaras that advertise themselves as oil-free and silicone-free to be safe. 

When it comes to eyelash extensions, water-based mascaras are the ideal type of mascara to use. 

Water-based mascaras don’t have waxy and oily substances added to the formula. So they won’t dissolve the bonding agents in your lash adhesive and won’t ruin your eyelash extensions.

TIP: When using mascara with extensions, always be gentle during application to avoid pulling and tugging them. 

Types of Mascaras to Avoid With Lash Extensions

Aside from oil-based mascaras, there are other types of mascaras that you should never apply on your eyelash extensions. These are the following:

Fiber Mascara

Though fiber mascaras are an excellent option for natural lashes, they are not recommended to be used over eyelash extensions. 

This mascara type contains dry fibers like rayon, silk, or nylon that provides lashes with a dense and thick look.

If you have eyelash extensions, removing such fibers can be challenging and can harm your natural lashes and extensions.

Hence, fiber mascaras are a massive no-no for your lash extensions. 

Waterproof Mascara

Waterproof mascaras are resilient to sweat, tears, and water. 

If you choose to wear waterproof mascara over your lash extensions, expect damage since its water-repellent properties can make your lashes brittle and dry.

Because it’s waterproof, this mascara is difficult to remove without tugging, pulling, or rubbing, causing premature lash fallout. 

Teflon and silicone are the active ingredients found in waterproof mascaras, and both affect lash retention and dissolve your lash adhesive. 

It’s the worst product to use on your lash extensions. Steer clear of waterproof mascaras if you have eyelash extensions on.

Tube Mascara

Tube mascaras contain polymers that coat individual lashes into tubes. 

This type of mascara works well if you are not wearing lash extensions. However, using tube mascaras on lash extensions is highly discouraged because removing them needs friction. 

Since it individually wraps around the lashes, it sticks like cement on eyelash extensions, which can be highly damaging. 

Because eyelash extensions need TLC, avoid using tube mascaras at all costs if you don’t want to ruin your full set of eyelash extensions.

How to Apply Mascara on Eyelash Extensions

Aside from knowing the types of mascaras to avoid if you have eyelash extensions, you should also consider how to properly apply mascara if you have eyelash extensions on. 

How you regularly apply mascara on your natural lashes is different from applying it over lash extensions. 

For natural lashes, mascaras are applied to start from the root to the tip. But if you’re wearing extensions, you need to avoid entirely touching the roots. Instead, you must start applying it from the middle toward the tips. 

As much as possible, avoid touching the base or root to prevent damaging the lash glue’s bonding properties. 

You must be gentle while applying mascara to avoid pulling or snagging the lashes out with the brush. 

Ultimately, remember that less is more when it comes to using mascara on lash extensions. Otherwise, they can look messy, clumpy, and unnatural. 

Just apply one to two coats, and you’re good to go!

How to Remove Mascara on Eyelash Extensions

If you’re planning to wear mascara on your eyelash extensions, another thing to keep in mind is to know how to clean and remove them without causing damage to your lashes.

Similar to your mascara, opt for a water-based eye makeup remover, like micellar water, which can help eliminate your makeup easily without scrubbing your eyes. 

Most eye makeup removers available, however, are oil-based. So you need to be careful and make sure to check the ingredients before using them. 

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Apply a water-based cleanser to your fingers, a spoolie, or a clean mascara brush.
2. Gently brush through your eyelashes until there are no remains of mascara. 
3. Rinse with lukewarm water.
4. Pat your lashes with a lint-free towel.
5. Then gently brush through your eyelashes several times to ensure that everything is removed. 

Additional Tips When Applying Mascara on Eyelash Extensions

Listed below are a few more tips to remember if you wear mascara with your extensions:

• Do not use cloth or cotton pads with lint since these can tug your extensions.
• Invest in lash shampoo to use it as your eye makeup remover. 
• Avoid using oil or oil-based cleansers on your face to remove the rest of your makeup because these oil products can get on your lashes.  
• If you have oil-based facial cleansers, make sure to avoid the eye area and be very careful while you wash your face.

Pros and Cons of Wearing Mascara on Eyelash Extensions

Pros

Here are some of the temporary benefits of wearing mascara on eyelash extensions:

• Mascaras can add additional color and volume to your lash extensions.
• Mascaras can increase the length of fake lashes.
• Mascaras help fill in the gaps once your lash extensions begin to shed.
• Mascaras make eyelashes look bolder and more dramatic.
• Some mascaras contain nourishing ingredients that help your natural lashes grow, such as keratin, biotin, vitamin E, and peptides.

Cons

Meanwhile, the possible risks you’ll experience if you apply mascara on your eyelash extensions include:

• Mascara can make your eyelash extensions look more unnatural. 
• Mascaras can add weight to your eyelash extensions, which can make them lose their shape, droop down, or break off.
• Most mascaras are infused with eucalyptus and sesame oil, which can slowly break the bond between natural lashes and extensions and cause your extensions to prematurely fall out.
• You can damage and break your eyelash extensions if you don’t carefully remove your mascara. 

Why Wearing Mascara With Lash Extensions Is Not Recommended

Lash technicians would advise their clients to avoid wearing mascara after getting eyelash extensions. 

While mascaras can help lengthen and bolden your lash extensions, using one is not usually necessary — which is actually for the best!

Regardless of what type of mascara you’ll use, it will add weight to your lash extensions. Once your lash glue and natural lashes are strained, it can cause natural lash loss and sparse natural lashes. 

Also, removing the mascara itself is a delicate and challenging process. Even the gentlest mascara product may still result in a bit of lash loss. 

Aside from that, looking for a mascara that’s safe to wear with your eyelash extensions can be very hard. 

Even if you find one, remember that most extension-safe mascaras are also the ones that are most likely to smudge or bleed once you get oily or sweaty. 

The Bottom Line

So can you put on mascara with eyelash extensions?

The answer is… once your eyelash extensions are done, you don’t have to wear mascara anymore. You can literally skip this step, and your eyelash extensions will still look gorgeous!

To achieve a bolder and denser look, ditch your mascaras and opt for more dramatic eyelash extensions like volume or mega-volume lash extensions.

If you still need mascaras on top of your eyelash extensions, you can put on safer mascara types, but remember to wear them cautiously. 

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