Ladies, if you are spending way too much time curling your lashes — or avoiding it because you’re worried you’ll pinch your lids or yank out your eyelashes — let me introduce you to the “lash lift”.

My brow guru, April, started offering this service last year and says it has really taken off, so to speak.  Her clients love it and I can see why. (Man, it’s hard to avoid those puns today!)

Curled eyelashes open up your eyes and help you look younger and more alert, especially if you have short, skimpy, or thinning lashes like mine. But many of us don’t have the patience to do it on a regular basis. Which is where this semi-permanent solution comes in.

After tinting/shaping my brows and darkening my invisibly blond eyelashes, April puts protective pads under my eyes to begin the process. First, your lashes are wrapped around soft silicone rods and coated with a light adhesive to lift them just at the root and keep them in place. This is the most time-consuming part because your aesthetician needs to comb out each lash to minimize any overlap and make sure each is as long as possible. You’ll feel a little tightness and pressure from the weight of the rods but relax, it will be over soon!

Once the lashes are positioned, a gentle curling solution (think “perm” but totally eye-safe, of course) is applied to the roots and timed to suit your own amount of natural curl. After that, a neutralizer is applied and allowed to set.

That’s it! The whole process takes about 45 minutes, and your lashes will stay lifted for about 6-8 weeks. Because only the roots are processed, I haven’t experienced any lash dryness or breakage.

It’s a little too expensive for me to indulge every time I get my brows done but it’s great for vacations when I don’t want to be fussing with complicated makeup rituals, and doing it just a few times a year is enough for now.

Have you tried it? Let me know!

(Below: After 5 weeks, no makeup)