How are you all really finding semi-permanent mascara!

[elliebee]

If it was thick and clumpy then it simply wasn't applied properly at all. I can't feel mine on and to the touch it feels just like regular mascara.

I think the consultation is the most important thing here. It is essential to explain to the client that this is mascara, it will look like mascara and feel like mascara, the only difference is that it will have to be professionally applied and removed. I think there are too many therapists not making it clear to clients that it will not make their eyelashes look like extensions and that if they are not used to wearing mascara then it may not be for them. I think also that sometimes therapists don't want to put the client off so don't give the full information for fear of them declining the treatment. I would rather turn someone away than have an unhappy client whose expectations of the treatment were not met.:wink2:

This is spot on Sheila,

At the end of the day SP Mascara is...... Errmm .... Mascara!!!!

It won't do anything to the lashes that mascara doesn't. It wont create long beautiful lashes if the client naturally has short, stubby lashes.

Like every treatment, I think it's so important to BE REALISTIC with your client. That way, they won't be disappointed.

I think we maybe all got a bit carried away with the original hype.

The bottom line is, it should look like mascara but will last for 2-3 weeks. That's the selling point.

 

[scottishjoy]

I did MYscara. I paid A LOT of money for the training in hindsight probably jumped in too soon. It hasn't Been the 'wonder product' I thought it was going to be for me. I think the packaging etc of the products looks amateurish too. I wish I had waited... Done a bit of research and thought about it a bit longer and harder before I jumped in.

I think personally for me I expected a lot more from the product than I got. Clients too. Also if I don't 100% believe in the product I physically 'can't' sell it to people.

Sorry just my opinion I know some people are probably setting the world on fire with it but didn't happen for me... I did enough treatments to get my money back to cover my initial outlay and have not re stocked it! Bad move on my account :-0)

I could've written this post. Minus the recouping the intiial outlay. I've only recently done my training with Myscara but i wish i had waiting a little longer and performed better research into other companies.

By the time you factor in the training cost, kit cost, travel cost plus product & time to do your case studies it's not cheap considering its the shortest course i've ever been on (and that includes my shellac attack!)

I do think there is some market form SPM but its certainly not a miracle product that everyone simply has to have.

Perhaps i have been spoilt with my CND training but to really believe in a product i need to know what's in it and to be honest saying there's some fibres and an ingredient that's in lash glue isn't enough science based info for me.

 

[Lynne Baker]

I could've written this post. Minus the recouping the intiial outlay. I've only recently done my training with Myscara but i wish i had waiting a little longer and performed better research into other companies.

By the time you factor in the training cost, kit cost, travel cost plus product & time to do your case studies it's not cheap considering its the shortest course i've ever been on (and that includes my shellac attack!)

I do think there is some market form SPM but its certainly not a miracle product that everyone simply has to have.

Perhaps i have been spoilt with my CND training but to really believe in a product i need to know what's in it and to be honest saying there's some fibres and an ingredient that's in lash glue isn't enough science based info for me.

I trained in dermal rolling a few months ago, at one FIFTH the cost of the spm, and the treatments net me three times as much as doing spm would. I think you have to look at the ROI carefully when choosing new treatments. I had recouped my initial outlay within three treatments.
After much deliberation I won't be offering spm; it's not a high enough margin!

 

[Lash & Brow Company]

Thanks for the reply Kylie. I must admit, I'm not overly impressed either. I don't think it's the next big thing that everyone thought it would be.
I've only done 4 full sets and one set of bottom lashes so will probably have to do a few more sets to see how it goes.
The first full set I did looked good. I did them on my hairdresser but she asked me to remove them after a week. I asked her to keep them on for another week as I wanted to see how well they wore. They did last but looked quite bitty.
I did another client who asked for them to be removed the same day. I do think this was because she was expecting more of an extension look. She did think they were a bit clumpy too. I did one of my lash extension ladies bottom lashes and they didn't last a week.
I then did my daughter yesterday and she has asked me to remove them today.I did another client yesterday and she was pleased but she is in the salon next week for a few treatments so will see what they are like then.
It's just a bit hit and miss at the moment. I have pics in my album of the lashes after 2 weeks and you can see that they are still on but looking worse for wear!
Will keep at it and see if things improve!

Hello Ladies,

I have carried out MYscara and quiet a few clients... and the clients who have had eyelash extensions prefer the eyelash extensions and have gone back to having those done...however three ladies had the treatment done for their holidays and absolutely loved it for the beach, swimming and not having to worry about panda eyes. I am also finding eyelash ladies request it on their bottom lashes...and I have also find this does not last too long.

Again, I will also keep @ it but next time I will be cautious about want to jump on the bandwagon with the latest fab treatment

 

[Suzanne1118]

It's funny how you asked for our opinions as therpaists and not the distributor's yet some of them just couldn't help themselves! Tipical

 

[blush09]

another point to consider, its aimed at busy mums with no time apply regular mascara etc yet it took 45 mins to apply, now got to mess about getting appt to have it removed ..thats not including the 4 trips i will have made to the salon (there and back x2)
sorry but im a busy mum with a 12 and 1 yr old, pt time job and beauty business .. i think i'll stick to my 3 mins daily mascara application than this charade . just dont get the point of it, im afraid i was one of those who got sucked in by all the hype and for £30 was expecting much more than just a regular mascara look and a bad one at that!
these are my personal opinions based on my experience, im glad it works for others and hope they continue to make a success of the spm part of their business

 

[cabby]

I did Myscara I love it. At first think I was putting it on a little to thin, had someone in who I knew would want in on very thick did them thought they looked a bit clumpy close up. When I stood back thought they were best I had done. I havent done ee yet doing that in a couple of weeks maybe if you trained in ee first maybe it would be a bit disappointing lol if that makes sense xxx

 

[blush09]

I did Myscara I love it. At first think I was putting it on a little to thin, had someone in who I knew would want in on very thick did them thought they looked a bit clumpy close up. When I stood back thought they were best I had done. I havent done ee yet doing that in a couple of weeks maybe if you trained in ee first maybe it would be a bit disappointing lol if that makes sense xxx

cabby, i think you hit the nail on the head - i was expecting more of a wow factor, for another £20 could have got an amazing set of lashes

 

[Holisticeleganc]

As a therapist doing SPM I find the clients that go for it are either people who dont wear any mascara, get tinting or are mascara wearers and like the idea of their lashes looking as though they have applied mascara, without having to worry about smudging etc. SPM is targeted at these clients to give you another treatment to offer, not to take over from EE or replace them.

Its kind of like being able to offer acrylic or gel nails opening up to a wide variety of clients who dont all like the same thing.

My clients are loving SPM and are recommending new clients every week to have SPM done. I am extremely happy that I chose to do the training and able to offer my clients this treatment as not everyone likes the look of EE.

 

[StephR]

I've got my training on Monday so will let you all know how I get on. I don't do EE but it's something I might look into in the future. For now SPM has got me rather excited!

 

[Puffle]

I've done training but have now decided I'm not going to offer it....I won't go into too much detail (don't want to upset people :biggrin but I wasn't confident in the product after wearing it myself, and I also haven't received any back up from the people I trained with.

I loved the idea of it, and being the first in my area to offer it, but just felt it was a bit of a let down.

 

[vgml]

I've done training but have now decided I'm not going to offer it....I won't go into too much detail (don't want to upset people :biggrin but I wasn't confident in the product after wearing it myself, and I also haven't received any back up from the people I trained with.

I loved the idea of it, and being the first in my area to offer it, but just felt it was a bit of a let down.

Hi Puffle, can you please let us know why? People get upset all the time, don't worry about that

 

[geeg]

Here's my two pennies worth ... but every time I POST, MY POSTS GET REPORTED to the Mod squad by the lovely distributors of the product as I am apparently not allowed to have an opinion.

I actually posted months ago for folks to be careful jumping into this treatment and I too was not impressed with the results.

I do think of course that those who have gorgeous eyelashes already will look great with any product on them lol ... and may find the treatment great for holidays and perhaps for business trips etc when time is of the essence in the mornings. But I do not think that the vast majority of people who have the treatment will come back on a permanent basis or even a regular intermittent basis. Especially, as I predicted also months ago, there are now several new spm's (semi perm mascaras) on the market that last very well for 4-5 days and you can do it yourself. I know that I will now be using one of these spm consumer products. The new mascara by Benefit called 'Real' gets my vote for the moment.

I prefer the Cry Baby product above all of the now many "others" and was actually going to become a trainer for it here in Spain, but I have changed my mind on that one. I am just am not enthused or passionate about training people to do this treatment and I don't think spm is a winner. I love training others to do EE and love the difference it makes to the look of peoples' eyes, and will stick to those.

Everyone here that I have spoken to who has tried SPM has been fairly unimpressed or at best not so impressed that they are planning to have it reapplied on a regular basis. This thread seems to confirm that so maybe I will not be reported for having an opinion for a change!! lol

Basically people can get the same looking result themselves and in very little time and at much less expense and inconvenience ... applying mascara is something we are all used to doing in our regular routine so if we are going to be paying out to have someone else do it, the results have got to be allot better than we can do ourselves or, like nails, something most people cannot do themselves, which is why they come to us.

 

[Martigirl]

I have not trained in spm.

I did initially look into it fairly extensively and asked privately for varying opinions from fellow geeks of which you were one Geeg and I found your advice very balanced and extremely helpful, so can't understand why your posts should offend.

I too came to the decision not to invest at this time after digesting ALL the advice I was given.

hth's

 

[vgml]

Well said geek ! Can you please pm me when I can buy benefit real mascara?

 

[Lynne Baker]

they're real! : Benefit Cosmetics

 

[shedunlop]

Here's my two pennies worth ... but every time I POST, MY POSTS GET REPORTED to the Mod squad by the lovely distributors of the product as I am apparently not allowed to have an opinion.

I actually posted months ago for folks to be careful jumping into this treatment and I too was not impressed with the results.

I do think of course that those who have gorgeous eyelashes already will look great with any product on them lol ... and may find the treatment great for holidays and perhaps for business trips etc when time is of the essence in the mornings. But I do not think that the vast majority of people who have the treatment will come back on a permanent basis or even a regular intermittent basis. Especially, as I predicted also months ago, there are now several new spm's (semi perm mascaras) on the market that last very well for 4-5 days and you can do it yourself. I know that I will now be using one of these spm consumer products. The new mascara by Benefit called 'Real' gets my vote for the moment.

I prefer the Cry Baby product above all of the now many "others" and was actually going to become a trainer for it here in Spain, but I have changed my mind on that one. I am just am not enthused or passionate about training people to do this treatment and I don't think spm is a winner. I love training others to do EE and love the difference it makes to the look of peoples' eyes, and will stick to those.

Everyone here that I have spoken to who has tried SPM has been fairly unimpressed or at best not so impressed that they are planning to have it reapplied on a regular basis. This thread seems to confirm that so maybe I will not be reported for having an opinion for a change!! lol

Basically people can get the same looking result themselves and in very little time and at much less expense and inconvenience ... applying mascara is something we are all used to doing in our regular routine so if we are going to be paying out to have someone else do it, the results have got to be allot better than we can do ourselves or, like nails, something most people cannot do themselves, which is why they come to us.

I think it's a bit of a nerve reporting your posts on this subject as a lot of us cannot understand how distributors, a couple in particular, are blatently promoting their products on every thread they think might relate, even in the slightest! It has been almost impossible to discuss this without constant barracking from them.

After a lot of thinking I have asked my clients and have decided to go ahead with the treatment. I have it on myself and love it but I do think this is because I didn't have high expectations from it. It is simply a mascara that stays on, it is nothing more than that. Applied badly, which a lot of it seems to be, it is awful, but applied well it is lovely and very convenient for me. Not all clients will love it though and that is fine. It will be an addition to my treatments but will not light up the skies for me!

It's a bit like the foot fishies, they are having their problems now as predicted by you Gigi and myself and others. There was even someone on here trying to sell their tanks and at the same time saying they were a disaster.

I think the moral of this story is that we all need to be careful and do proper research before jumping into new treatments. The distributors will tell us anything as a lot of them charge extortionate amounts for training and that is where they make their money. Not all distributors are the same but it is an increasing number and it is heading for the point where there seem to be more educators than sucessful working techs! :wink2:

 

[geeg]

Well I thought so too, Sheila but I believe my posts have been reported because the product I have said that I PERSONALLY PREFER is not the product that several have said is being rammed down everyones throats here on the site. Then it was, "how dare you comment as you have never tried the products" Hadn't I?? And the last time it was .. "I must have a deep dark motive to say I prefer another product" ... as if I was incapable of making up my own mind about something and telling the reasons WHY I have come to the conclusion I have.

You all know I am a technician and I like to be in control. One of the things I particularly like about Cry Baby SPM is that it is the original product many years in the making, both had and has the passion of the owners and innovators behind it and was completely and thorougly tested etc. before it went to market.

I like that you mix the Cry Baby formula yourself to create the look you want .. I am a creative person and the word creative defines who I am (no pun intended) so I love mixing and doing a custom service for people.

I also liked the result on my lashes but wasn't wowed by it ... as you say it looks like mascara ... it just stays on longer. I personally love the nebuliser that is used to dry the product and find the cold 'steam' very soothing and comfortable for the client; I think it is very cool and it places the product firmly in the professional category as my clients would not have this equipment at their disposal and would have to come to me for it. This is actually an important point to me and should be to others, I think. Perception is important. Of course the machine adds expense to the system but also makes it unique.

When any product bounces into the market very very quickly and 20 others soon follow close behind I think one should suspect that it is being brought in and labeled up and sold under different names (someone even commented in this thread about the look of the labels). Lets face it, not everyone is innovating their own individual brand spanking new formulas .. of course they are not. The innovators were Cry Baby and their application process is patented or patent pending (the custom mixing ) so it is obvious the next move if a competitor wanted to get into the market had to be a formula that was already mixed ... voila!! If you want to buy a ready mixed SPM to offer YOUR CLIENTS, then I think it would be safe to say that any one of the many will do the job for you ... but of course the choice is yours to make.

 

[louiseprunty]

As far as I am aware Crybaby do not have a patent in the UK.
So if a company wanted to copy their mixing formula they could.

We chose to create a pre-blended formula as its my personal opinion that it is better for the therapist and client.

Our product is different from cry baby both in blend and application. So I don't think should be compared like for like. My Personal opinion and I would like it to stay on the forum. thanks xx

Well I thought so too, Sheila but I believe my posts have been reported because the product I have said that I PERSONALLY PREFER is not the product that several have said is being rammed down everyones throats here on the site. Then it was, "how dare you comment as you have never tried the products" Hadn't I?? And the last time it was .. "I must have a deep dark motive to say I prefer another product" ... as if I was incapable of making up my own mind about something and telling the reasons WHY I have come to the conclusion I have.

You all know I am a technician and I like to be in control. One of the things I particularly like about Cry Baby SPM is that it is the original product many years in the making, both had and has the passion of the owners and innovators behind it and was completely and thorougly tested etc. before it went to market.

I like that you mix the Cry Baby formula yourself to create the look you want .. I am a creative person and the word creative defines who I am (no pun intended) so I love mixing and doing a custom service for people.

I also liked the result on my lashes but wasn't wowed by it ... as you say it looks like mascara ... it just stays on longer. I personally love the nebuliser that is used to dry the product and find the cold 'steam' very soothing and comfortable for the client; I think it is very cool and it places the product firmly in the professional category as my clients would not have this equipment at their disposal and would have to come to me for it. This is actually an important point to me and should be to others, I think. Perception is important. Of course the machine adds expense to the system but also makes it unique.

When any product bounces into the market very very quickly and 20 others soon follow close behind I think one should suspect that it is being brought in and labeled up and sold under different names (someone even commented in this thread about the look of the labels). Lets face it, not everyone is innovating their own individual brand spanking new formulas .. of course they are not. The innovators were Cry Baby and their application process is patented or patent pending (the custom mixing ) so it is obvious the next move if a competitor wanted to get into the market had to be a formula that was already mixed ... voila!! If you want to buy a ready mixed SPM to offer YOUR CLIENTS, then I think it would be safe to say that any one of the many will do the job for you ... but of course the choice is yours to make.

 

[B-Beauty]

Well I use myscara and the clients I have done are returning mainly people who dont like the extension look I make sure I tell my clients it is a sp mascara , it will not grow you more or longer lashes it looks like mascara but lasts 2-3 weeks end of . I think its a great product , application etc is straightforward and not too time consuming my clients that wear it really love it . But as with any other product/treatment in the world its not for everyone. It is also really good for lower lashes with extensions