Lash extensions should be refilled every 3 weeks to maintain a full lash line with a minimum of 60% coverage. It’s completely normal to lose your extensions as your natural eyelashes move through the growth cycle.
Let’s use a real life example to illustrate this.
A new lash set will typically get you an 85% coverage. This means, 85% of your natural lashes now have an extension attached to it.
When a natural eyelash completes its growth cycle and falls out, the extension attached to it will fall as well. Therefore, assuming you have proper aftercare, you should expect a retention schedule similar to this:
- 75% extensions left after 2 weeks
- 55% extensions left after 3 weeks
- 35% extensions left after 4 weeks
For an optimal look, you want to maintain at least a 60% coverage. In other words, 60% of your natural lashes should still have an extension attached.
Below this threshold, your initial design won’t be optimal, and it will be possible to see gaps.
That’s why I tell my clients the best refill schedule is every 3 weeks both in terms of appearance but also in terms of spendings.
Pro Tip: Check out my article about the eyelash growth cycle here if you want to learn how this natural process affects your extension retention.
Refill Frequency Survey
Would you like to know how often people get their lashes refilled on average?
I tried to find market data on this but couldn’t find any research.
So I decided to do something fun (and long!)…
I pulled out all of our client files and analyzed them!
To be honest, I stopped compiling results after 1100 clients. Our sample size was big enough for our study to be statistically significant.
And also, I was running out of coffee…
Alright, so here are the results.
- 60.1% of clients refill their lash extensions every 3 weeks.
- 20.6% of clients refill their lash extensions every 2 weeks.
- 16.7% of clients refill their lash extensions every 4 weeks.
- 2.7% of clients refill their lash extensions after 4 weeks.
Without surprise, the majority of our clients prefer to come every 3 weeks for the touch-up. I think that’s reasonable if you have decent care habits.
Past the 3 weeks mark, yes you still have extensions attached, but it’s not as full and doesn’t give that amazing wow factor you had with the initial full set.
Why We Care
Getting your refills every 3 weeks is the best way to keep a minimal 60% coverage of extensions. It’s much cheaper to maintain your lashes with refills vs getting a new set each time.
Let me know in the comments below what is your retention and if the expected schedule I’ve shared after 2-3 and 4 weeks matches your experience!
~ Asako 🙂
Additional readings:
