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False Eyelashes Could Damage Your Eyes

Bree McCarver is a licensed cosmetologist with The Lash Studio in Logan. She said women come to her with false eyelash nightmares. For example, one client told McCarver someone who was not licensed through the state had actually plucked out the customer’s natural lashes.

“Instead of removing the extension from the lash once it’s grown out naturally and the correct way, she would just pluck out the natural lash," she said. “Overtime, she was in so much pain that she just had to go to someone else.”

The client discovered and received a false-eyelash procedure from McCarver who is a certified eyelash clinician. She realized the procedure was actually gentle.

“Then she came to us and she was just so shocked that the process shouldn’t hurt,” McCarver said. “I about cried when she was telling me this story.”

Wedding season is upon us, which means brides are flocking to salons to get thick, false eyelashes to complete their look. The Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing is warning those brides-to-be, and everyone else, about the dangers of getting cheap, false eyelashes and eyebrows.

Francine Giani, director of the Utah Department of Commerce, said if those who get a clinician who is not certified with the state to apply the false eyelashes, run the risk of getting infections and allergies.

full_interview_with_giani.mp3
Click to hear the full interview with Francine Giani.

An example of an eye infection caused by improperly applied false eyelashes.

“We are warning the public of possible health risks that are associated with using unlicensed providers for this procedure that require a lash-by-lash application,” Giani said. “[What] we’re suggesting is [to] make certain that whoever they use is someone who is licensed with the state of Utah to do this.”

There is a difference between being certified to apply eyelashes and being licensed with the state as a cosmetologist or an esthetician to administer false eyelashes. Giani said the state is cracking down on those who are not licensed and who are illegally applying lash-by-lash false eyelashes and eyebrows.

“Between January 2015 and May 2016, our investigators in the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, have issued 67 citations for unlicensed eyelash and eyebrow applications.”  

McCarver said clients should not be afraid of receiving false eyelashes by a certified cosmetologist or esthetician.

“If applied properly, they should not damage anything at all,” she said.