I once met a woman born without eyelashes. She was used to it, but it did look odd. The same goes for women who pluck their eyebrows away. Eyebrows and eyelashes are distinctive parts of the upper face, and without them you can look flat and almost featureless as anyone with fair or sun-bleached brows and lashes will confirm.
Eyelash tinting is fast - about 15 minutes - and simple. I lie down in a cubicle at the Visage salon in Admiralty and beautician Didi Chu applies a thick moisturiser under my eyes and on my upper eyelids as a barrier to the dye. She also slips disposable crescent-shaped pieces of cardboard under my lower lids to prevent the skin being stained before asking me to close my eyes. The dye is then painted on.
Although there is a choice of brown, black or blue-black, I opt for blue-black because it gives the most dramatic effect. This part of the process can sting if the barrier cream hasn't been applied properly, or if the dye is too runny and seeps between the closed eyelids. I know because it happened to me in the past. Fortunately, there isn't a repeat and not even a hint of stinging. Fifteen minutes later the dye, cardboard and moisturiser are wiped away, and Chu gives me a wonderful 10-minute eye and forehead massage. I am left with what appears to me to be brighter, more defined eyes.
I book in for an eyelash perm with Chu at Visage's Central salon three days later. She recommends having the two treatments separately or you risk over-treating the area and damaging the lashes. I've never had this done before and have visions of my eyelashes taking on an Afro or shaggy look. But although the principle of hair perming is the same for eyelashes, thankfully I get it wrong.
My eye area is cleansed and an eye toner is applied for about five to 10 minutes. This is followed by an eyelash adhesive, the same used for false eyelashes. A tiny cotton roller is placed on my upper eyelid and the lashes gently brushed up and on to it. My eyelashes are then covered with a solution to relax the eyelashes into the desired shape, and thin wads of cotton fabric saturated with an anti-allergy lotion are placed between my eyelids to prevent any possible discomfort. About 15 minutes later a setting lotion is applied and left for about 20 minutes. The solutions smell the same as those used to perm head hair, but they are lighter and formulated to accommodate the sensitive skin around the eyes. The whole treatment takes about 45 minutes, but I am so deeply asleep by the end of it that Chu lets me be.
The length of time the setting lotion is left on depends on how easily a client's hair responds to curling. Because my hair is dead straight, the extra amount of time Chu allows me to sleep with it on is no problem. I wake to my eyes being gently wiped, and the rollers being removed. It is a slightly strange but painless sensation. The area around my eyes is cleansed again and moisturised. I look in the mirror. My lashes curl subtly backwards and give my eyes a more 'open' look, a surprisingly pleasing overall effect.