It’s easy to get lazy and forget to clean eyelash extensions. But it is important to clean them often to ensure they look great and last a long time. Many women aren’t sure how to properly clean their extensions.
How to clean eyelash extensions at home? To keep your eyelash extensions clean, follow these 6 easy tips:
- Keep tools in a protective bag.
- Use an eyelash extension brush to separate your eyelashes and for quick cleanings.
- To use the brush, first clean the top lashes, then the bottom lashes, and then use it to separate your lashes.
- After using the brush, clean it with paper towel and a gel-based antibacterial soap.
- Use a water-based makeup remover to remove makeup from the extensions.
- Use the makeup remover with a Q-tip and possibly paper towel.
This is the last post in our 4 series of eyelash extension posts. Check out the other posts, including Do Lash Extensions Ruin Your Eyelashes? also How to Wash Your Face with Eyelash Extensions? and 7 Tips for Making Eyelash Extensions Last Longer. For now, read on to learn how to clean eyelash extensions at home, so they stay looking great for longer!
How to Clean Eyelash Extensions at Home – 6 Easy Tips
1. Keep tools in a protective bag.
First, let’s start with how to prevent or at least minimize all the lint and the environmental pollutants from clumping onto your eyelash extensions. Usually, when you go to get eyelash extensions added, the eyelash extension technician will give you a free complimentary spoolie or mascara spoolie (also known as mascara wand) to clean and separate your lashes.
Most women will keep this in their purse, and over time, it will start to collect lint and dust. Eventually, when they use that spoolie and brush it through their eyelash extension, they add more lint and dust to their lashes. To minimize this, keep your spoolie and extension brush in a protective bag and clean them often.
2. Use an eyelash extension brush to separate your eyelashes and for quick cleanings.
Over time, the spoolie will lose its effectiveness in separating their lashes. What you want to use then to separate your lashes is an eyelash extension brush. It is made out of Taklon. Pro tip: I do not recommend using a lash comb as it will dislodge the eyelash extensions along with the natural lashes. Taklon is a synthetic material – the bristles at the top – and you want this synthetic material as it is oil-resistant.
You do not want to use one with real hair as hair holds oil and you don’t want oil getting onto your extensions. You can use this to brush your lashes after the shower to remove moisture on both the top and underside of your eyelash extensions.
You can also use it after using any eyeshadow, foundation powder, or hairspray as they can land on your eyelash extensions, and you need to remove them immediately before it clings onto it.
3. To use the brush, first clean the top lashes, then the bottom lashes, and then use it to separate your lashes.
This is how you would brush to separate and clean off your eyelash extensions. Get the brush, and brush off the dirt, dust, and lint from the top of the lashes. You need to look down, brush off from the lash line, especially after you’ve worn an eyeshadow or powder. You want to get all that off to keep them clean.
Then you go to the underside of the eyelash extensions; you have to look up and do the same thing, dust the underneath. Now what you are going to do is to turn it sideways and go in between and separate the lashes like this to get off all of the lint.
4. After using the brush, clean it with paper towel and a gel-based antibacterial soap.
You should then clean the brush after each use. When women see that their brush has lint and dust on it, they would normally use their fingers to brush it up, transferring oils from their fingers to the spoolie. And when they use that brush on their eyelash extensions, they unknowingly transferred dust, lint, and oils to their eyelash extensions.
This is not a good habit as you will be transferring oil to your extensions as it will wear them down and make them stick together. Here is something that works a lot more effectively. Use a paper towel, not a tissue, because it has a lot of lint, and dab your brush.
You can also use a gel-based antibacterial soap to wash it. You don’t need to use shampoo because it is not made of hair. After you dab it with a paper towel, lay them flat to dry.
Sometimes you will see videos showing how to clean the eyelash extensions using Q-tips or like these felt-tip tools where they vigorously brush through the eyelash extensions.
The thing with cyanoacrylate, which is in the glue on extensions, is it can cause an exothermic reaction that, when vigorously rubbed together with cotton or fabrics, causes a heat reaction. And when the heat builds up, the glue breaks down. You have to be very careful with eyelash extensions.
5. Use a water-based makeup remover to remove makeup from the extensions.
We will discuss how the makeup or cosmetics that you can use to remove your eye makeup without affecting your eyelash extensions too much. Avoid using wipe-ones as it is very hard to control, and the ones that I have tried leave oily film onto the eyelash extensions.
Most people don’t feel completely clean after using wipes, and they will end up using eye makeup remover or makeup remover wipes and then wash their face again. I don’t recommend using those because you really can’t get them clean without leaving any type of residue.
You also want to avoid using a makeup remover that is oil-based. Most products contain oil or feel oily. Some popular drugstore brands claim that they are oil-free, but when you use them, they still have that oil residue or they kind of feel greasy, and if you try to leave them on the shelf, you can see that the product actually separates like Italian dressing.
If the product says it is oil-free, instead of having oil directly from a plant seed or animal, it is more likely to contain earth-mined oil.
I am recommending the one that I use personally for myself and my clients. The Bioderma Sensibio H2O Makeup Remover is a gentle eye makeup remover. It doesn’t have any separation, and this was actually designed for pro makeup artists that when they make a mistake that they need to fix really quickly, they only have to apply immediately.
The other product that actually works really well is the Dermalogica Soothing Eye Makeup Remover Gel. It is gel-type and is water-based. You can control it fairly well. The only downside is that when you use a Q-tip specifically, you need to go in again using a paper towel (not a tissue because it leaves too much lint behind) to wipe it off.
6. Use the makeup remover with a Q-tip and possibly paper towel.
To use makeup remover, we’re going to take a Q-tip and dab it a little bit and wipe it down so that you can get all the oil and eye shadow off. If you are using a brow shadow, remove that all the way up to the lash line but not on the lashes. It may take a couple of Q-tips to completely remove the brow shadow. And if you are wearing eyeliner underneath, open your eyes, look up, and just get right up to the lash line and wipe down.
For some products, like the Dermalogica Soothing Eye Makeup Remover Gel, they are a bit thicker and leave a bit more of the gel behind that the Q-tip doesn’t clear away. To remove this, use a paper towel to gently wipe it away. Don’t rub too vigorously; just be patient and let the remover do its job, and your extensions and surrounding area will be clean and well-cared for.
Conclusion – How to Clean Eyelash Extensions at Home
So, how to clean eyelash extensions at home? To keep your eyelash extensions clean, follow these 6 easy tips:
- Keep tools in a protective bag.
- Use an eyelash extension brush to separate your eyelashes and for quick cleanings.
- To use the brush, first clean the top lashes, then the bottom lashes, and then use it to separate your lashes.
- After using the brush, clean it with paper towel and a gel-based antibacterial soap.
- Use a water-based makeup remover to remove makeup from the extensions.
- Use the makeup remover with a Q-tip and possibly paper towel.
Related Questions
When should you wash eyelash extensions? It is a good idea to clean your eyelash extensions every second or third day. If you wear eye makeup every day or if you have oily skin, you should clean your extensions each day. It is best to clean them at night so that you don’t go to sleep with dirt and debris on them.
Can I use baby shampoo to clean eyelash extensions? You should not use baby shampoo to clean your extensions. Baby shampoo contains mineral oil, which can cause the extensions to fall off. Even the oil-free baby shampoo has chemicals and fragrances that you may find irritating, so I suggest not using it either.
Is micellar water safe for eyelash extensions? Micellar water, a specially formulated cleansing water, is safe to use with your eyelash extensions. Use a Q-tip with the micellar water to remove the makeup from the lash line. Carefully clean the top and then bottom lash line. Avoid oil-based makeup removers.
