Sassy Review: Lash in Bloom Treatment at Browhaus

I’ve always been pretty low-maintenance when it comes to grooming… Sure, I have my hair highlighted, and since moving to Hong Kong can’t do without my manicures and pedicures, but other than that, I lack the patience for sitting still or the tolerance for pain that is needed to achieve the polished look. Something about being English too makes me always a little bit inherently scruffy – even when I’ve made a real effort I’ll have a loose thread on my hem, or a wavy piece of hair right at the back of my head that I missed with the straighteners. Despite what my husband might tell you, my whole makeup routine takes less than five minutes! I wasn’t too sure then when Maura and I were invited to try out the  Lash in Bloom treatment at Browhaus in Central. After all, aren’t lash extensions a bit of an unnecessary faff when you can just pop on a bit of mascara? The fact that we’ve loved previous treatments at Strip and Browhaus though made me eager to try – after all, these are the personal grooming professionals who have taken body hair maintenance of all kinds to the next level.

We arrived and settled ourselves into the comfy treatment chairs, and I struggled to fight the waves of sleep that came over me (my 4 week old baby is a total party animal and keeps me up all night long). My therapist asked me about the kind of look I was after, and I told her that I needed something  natural as my uniform these days is sweatpants and spit-up-stained t-shirts. I made sure that I told them to give Maura a more dramatic look though – I need to live vicariously through her! First they showed us the length of lashes that they suggested for us by placing a single lash and showing us in the mirror for our approval. Then they placed long stickers over our lower lashes so as to avoid everything getting tangled up, and began to place the lashes all individually on our eyelids. The process is a little bit uncomfortable if you’re sensitive about someone touching your eyes, but it helps that you can keep your eyes closed throughout. I would recommend if you wear contact lenses that you bring your saline solution with you so that you can take them out during the treatment.

After roughly an hour (I got a little bit squirmy!), our new looks were revealed to us and we eagerly checked out our new more glam selves. It takes a little bit of getting used to how you look if you’ve never tried out anything similar (apart from some amateur DIY false eyelashes on Halloween), and I found myself feeling a little bit self-conscious as I stepped out onto the street. Maura and I promised to call each other later to give our more considered verdicts, and to tell each other our husbands’ reactions. When we spoke later that day we had both decided we totally loved them! My husband (without remembering what I had got done) told me that I looked nice as soon as he walked in the door from work even though I didn’t have any other makeup on and had just endured a major crying marathon from Elodie.

So am I converted to a more high-maintenance look now? And would I have the Lash in Bloom treatment again? Absolutely! The beauty of this treatment is that actually it lets you be MORE low-maintenance, as you can get away without using mascara or eyeliner, and in general without makeup you look more polished and pretty. Our recommendation is to choose fullness over length for a more subtle look, and you will find that you will love feeling a bit like a Disney princess when you bat your lashes. You’ll need to avoid oil-based makeup removers and steamy saunas (no hot yoga for Maura), but with care the extensions should last a month. Browhaus include a free “tune-up” on your lashes within a week of the treatment to help with maintenance.

The Lash in Bloom treatment is available at Browhaus for HK700 and for the upcoming party season Browhaus are offering a special “Happy Hour” deal where you can get a discount of HK150 off the regular price if you make an appointment for between 5-7pm on weekdays.

BROWHAUS is at 1/F, 17 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central   Tel: 2845 0886