A student from Liverpool woke up traumatised after her eyelids were glued together due to an allergic reaction to her new lash extensions.
Ms Dewhurst, who lives in Liverpool, had only had her eyelashes done for the second time on December 12th and claims that the beautician who applied the lashes did not apply a patch test before doing so.
Jasmine, who is 18, suffered from an awful allergic reaction to the glue used to adhere the extensions, which caused her lash line to seal shut with crust.
This was not the first problem Ms Dewhurst had encountered with this beautician. Jasmine told the Liverpool Echo that even before her allergic reaction, she had needed to prey her eyelashes apart after the beautician had glued some of her bottom lashes into the top lash extensions.
Because the extensions were not correctly applied, most of her natural lashes were pulled out, leaving her with a gappy and nearly bald lash line. Jasmine fears it could take her years for her lash line to fully recover.
After this experience, Jasmine has been raising awareness of the importance of patch testing products before applying them to sensitive areas of the body like the eyes. Especially beauty products as Jasmine’s eyes are still affected by the botched extensions even a month on.
Ms Dewhurst stated that even though she had shown the beautician how she wanted her lashes to look, the beautician did not follow her instruction and went on to inform Jasmine that the finished lashes were “fuller than she wanted”. It was at this point Jasmine had noticed some of her top, and bottom lashes were glued together.
Sitting in her car after the appointment, Jasmine had to detach her lashes herself, pulling out some of the extensions with her own lashes. A week later, her eyes began to sting and water as the allergic reaction took place.
She said –
“I woke up in the morning one day and I couldn’t open my eyes so I started to panic because I couldn’t see anything and I didn’t know what was wrong.
“I felt my eyes and they were glued together with that gooey stuff eyes get.
“I got hot salty water to try and wash it off but it was so solid I had to start picking it off and it was pulling more eyelashes out.”
The student sought the help of her doctor who prescribed her creams and eyedrops used to tackle allergic reactions.
After Jasmine had managed to remove the rest of the ruined lashes, she was left with patchy natural eyelashes and moderate inflammation of her eyes and eyes lids.
Ms Dewhurst had received lash extensions a year prior to these events. That time the beautician had applied a patch test behind Jasmine’s ear, to which no reaction occurred.
When the beautician applied the extensions to which Jasmine had a reaction, no patch test was mentioned or conducted, leaving Jasmine to think that it was not a necessity. After going through this ordeal, Jasmine is now advising all eyelash extension clients to request patch tests.
Rules on eyelash products and patch testing are vague. However, some beauticians may be required to do so by their insurance provider. In which case, a consultation should be carried out where the patch test can be administered and documented.
