I need help troubleshooting my adhesive. Can you tell me why it isn’t working?Updated a year ago

Troubleshooting adhesives and diagnosing problems with them are constantly on a lash artist’s mind.  There are so many things that may affect retention, and these are just some of them.  Make sure that you and your client are doing your best to avoid any of the things listed below.

Glue and drying time - Glue has properties as specified as on the website only  in its ideal conditions. If humidity is not ideal then properties will be different than what is specify. Temperature is also very important. Even 1% of difference may change your glue properties. We recommend using a Hygrometer in your lash room to keep your room consistent. 

Advanced artist would observe its conditions with certain glues in certain times and will learn which glue works best in which conditions for which technique. 

If temperature is higher than 73 and humidity above 55% then it is not recommended to use any alcohol products or activators as well as primer with alcohol. Because glue will dry very fast (over cure) in these conditions it may polymerize and lashes will brush out or pop out during application.

When it’s extremely cold and and climate is dry, your glue may dry slower or very slow all alcohol solutions and activators are recommended because it will help speed up the dry time of your glue. Unfortunately we can’t give you a recipe to success since only you know your environment. Test observe and draw conclusions. We always recommend to have 2 glues (each that works on opposite side of spectrum; *we offer Duo Glues on our website) on your stations environments can shift even in few hours.

Is your lash room humidity level at the ideal recommended level? -(and always between 20 and 60%);  Is your temperature controlled?  Do you have proper air flow and ventilation in your room?  Are you working in an area with direct sun exposure? Are you working in an area with ammonia fumes in the air?  Is there any dirt, makeup, makeup primer, sebum, dead skin cell build up, mascara residue on lashes?  Are your clients being honest with you about what they are using as aftercare?  Were your client’s eyes watering or moving excessively during lashing?  Are they wearing oily makeup or skincare products that have migrated onto their lashes even though they look clean?  Have you replaced your adhesive every 4 to 6 weeks as recommended?  Has your adhesive stayed at a consistent temperature or fluctuated since you received it?  Are you replacing your glue drop every 15 to 30 minutes depending on the environment?

These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself when troubleshooting your adhesives.  PLEASE know that as lash artists we have all been there, and we need to control our environment to a T to make sure we are giving our adhesive, and our clients, the best chance at success!