Deep black colour

Beautiful curls that hold

Superior PBT material

Lovely tapered tips

Mixed length trays with 16 lash strips and best length ranges for the curl from years of testing

Strips labelled with their length, thickness and curl

Length listed along the bottom edge of the strip for those who trim sections for each client for extra cleanliness

Handmade with love for Elite Eyelash Extensions

Subject to quality control checks as standard. Julie uses a tray selected at random from the shipment before they are offered for sale

Reusable case as the lash card is not glued inside (new stock will be eco-friendly cardboard packaging)

They are made of Polybutylene Terephthalate (a form of plastic) that’s commonly known as PBT, similar to the bristles of your tooth brush

PBT lashes are generally called mink or silk by the manufacturer or brand/supplier but this is just a term or name for them as they are synthetic

Some brands offer lashes that are real animal fur such as Mink. The animals are caged and the hair or fur from their coats are combed, collected, cleaned and curled. Given that it’s real hair, the setting of the curl often relaxes after continued wear and they are extremely expensive. Elite Eyelash Extensions considers that this is far from being Cruelty Free practice and will not work with manufacturers or partners who manufacture them or offer them for sale. This is non-negotiable

PBT lashes are generally called mink or silk by the manufacturer or brand/supplier. Many clients and Lash Stylists often mistake the term for being real mink or silk

Depending on the manufacturer or brand/supplier, you may find that their:

• Mink lashes taper sooner from the base to the tip, whereas
• Silk lashes taper closer the tips so they appear to be thicker along their length

Or, it could be the other way round! Who makes these rules? They do!

All lash extensions are made in factories in Asia

Contrary to popular belief, they’re handmade. This is why you read about some brands experiencing the occasional tray of lashes that are not be as great as they should be as it involves the human factor. Being human rather than a machine means that there are days when we’re not in top form!

Each PBT strand is laid on sticky mounts (most commonly grey or yellow in colour)

These lash mounts are laid flat and trimmed to the desired length using a long sharp blade that’s tapped with a hammer for a clean cut

They are perpendicularly forward rolled onto steel tubes. The narrower the tube, the tighter the curl

They are heat treated for a period of time to seal their curl

They are attached to sticky lash strips on their branded label cards and placed in their trays or boxes

They should be subject to quality assurance checks before being packaged in their cases

There’s plenty of videos on YouTube. Take a look as it’s fascinating!

It’s expensive and it would make a significant difference to their profit margins, as it does with mine

Suppliers are usually made to purchase a job lot of labels. It is far cheaper to have one label with your generic information on like your logo and then rely on stickers being placed on the case to distinguish what’s inside

I requested 14 different label types for my first order as a new supplier – much to my suppliers surprise as it wasn’t the norm back in 2016. It cost a fortune. As a busy Lash Stylist as well as a trainer and supplier, I know how important and convenient it is to have properly labelled products. I started out offering lash services in client’s homes (mobile) and I spent so long labelling my lash strips so that I could replenish my tiles on the go, with confidence that I was using the right lashes!

This was my first thought when I saw videos of the lash trays being made!

Being handmade, by that nature, they are handled by hand by many workers who specialise in lash production. They are not a sanitised product, just as your tweezers aren’t sterilised when you receive them. So we clean them!

You can use a UV (ultraviolet) wand in line with the manufactures instructions. This was my first thought when I saw videos of the lash trays being made!

You can use a little primer on a microbrush and swipe the bases of the lashes as they rest on their strips to clean them. Primer is alcohol based, just as anti-bacterial hand gel is alcohol based

Some companies supply lash sanitiser sprays. Please ‘patch test’ these on your lash strips first as some cause your lashes to fall away from their once sticky mount – especially when used to excess. It may also cause the finer lashes to love their neighbours (stickies). This isn’t good when you are skilfully crafting your own volume fans. This is why I advise not to try and ‘wash’ your lash strips. The rest of your lashes will be washed when you do a post treatment wash before your client opens their eyes and leaves wearing their beautiful Elite lashes

You already know that using cleaning products on them can cause them to love their neighbours. The same is true for speed up solutions too so use them sparsely and carefully

It may be the way you remove your strips from the lash tray. I don’t find that this happens with Elite lashes but I never say never! It’s happened to me with other brands where the sticky residue of the underside of the lash strip gets caught on the neighbouring lashes left in the tray as it’s lifted. To avoid this:

• In single length trays: remove the strips from the bottom first.
• In mixed length trays: it’s less of an issue in the section with shorter lengths. Where the longer ones are grouped together, lift the top corner of the strip upwards so it’s sticky side is facing the bases of the lashes above it so it’s bottom edge doesn’t lift up immediately and touch the underside of the protruding lashes in the strip resting below it. Once released, lift away – away from you – at a 45 degree angle to avoid touching anything.

If you find that residue does contaminate other strips, comb the strip of lashes with a fresh sharp bristled mascara wand (silicon wands are great for this)

PBT is plastic and has a melting point as any wearer would know if they have got too close to the backdraft of an over or their lighter flame! I had one manufacture admit that if they have become too warm in the heat treating process to set the curl, some lashes can fuse together a little but usually break away when lifted!

In addition to brushing the lash strips, you could feather your volume lashes with your tweezers before lifting them. How? Easy!

• Grip the desired number of lashes in the teeth of your tweezers whilst they are still resting on their mount.
• Tease to the side – away from the rest. Take care not to rip them from their mount.
• As you feel them moving, ease the tension in your tweezers until one pops away.
• Then squeeze to hold the remainder in your tweezers.
• Tease out a fraction more, then ease the tension to release the next – and so on.

Takes a second to do when practiced and works a treat on any lash brand!

They are doing their bit to help our planet as I’m reminded daily by my lawful eco-warrior daughter whom I’m so proud of. Following her First Class Honours Degree in Wildlife Ecological on Conservation Science, her Masters is in Sustainability and Behaviour Change so I’m blessed with having my very own Green Queen consultant. You can benefit from her extensive knowledge and passion too as she has written a Green course for those in the Beauty Industry who would like to tread a little more green and reduce their impact on our amazing planet! Check it out in our shop

When I started my brand, I asked about cardboard boxes and none of the manufactures I approached had even considered them. Was that food for thought? Perhaps. Most cardboard lash boxes have magnets inside them to lock the case and this shouldn’t be recycled in the same way as the cardboard so I am testing other alternatives that won’t compromise the job it needs to do – protect the lashes inside from damage and keep them clean

Given the lack of a green solution at the time, I asked that my lashes were not stuck inside the plastic trays so that they could be upcycled after use. Given the quality of the trays, they make great aftercare cases for clients. Use a little hot soapy waters to remove the stickers and put a mascara wand and lash cleansing sachet inside with a business card. Some of my students and clients have found other uses for them. Several store cotton tips in them when they go on holiday to keep them clean, put business cards in them so they stay as new in their bag or their kids store their craft stickers and small parts!