The Lash
Consultation Guide

Flip through the guide above, or read the full text below 💜

The Purpose of a Client Consultation

A great consultation is where a great lash set starts. Here's what it does for you and your client:

• Ensures client safety — identify allergies, sensitivities, or health concerns before providing service.
• Allows for customization — tailor the style, length, and curl based on the client's natural lashes and desired outcome.
• Sets clear expectations — prevent miscommunication between what the client wants and what you can do.
• Educates your client — cover realistic retention, aftercare, and long-term maintenance.
• Enables a natural lash health analysis — once you take the client's bottom lashes down, you'll be able to determine whether you can give them what they're wanting based on how their natural lashes look.
• Builds client trust and professionalism — show clients you care about their experience, safety, and satisfaction from the start.

The Purpose of a Consultation Form

Send the consultation form to be completed before the appointment. At Lash Lab, clients receive the consultation form immediately upon booking and paying their deposit. A good form does six jobs:

• Gathers essential client information — details about the client's health, lifestyle, and lash history for safe service delivery.
• Identifies contraindications and allergies — screens for conditions such as eye infections, sensitivities, or medical treatments that may impact lash retention or client safety.
• Customizes lash services — captures the client's lash goals, styling preferences, and natural lash condition so you can design a personalized set.
• Sets clear expectations — educates the client on realistic results, aftercare requirements, and retention timelines.
• Protects the service provider — documents client acknowledgment of risks, aftercare instructions, and consent to the service, protecting the artist from liability.
• Supports professional standards — demonstrates commitment to safety, hygiene, and industry best practices.

Questions for Your Consultation Form

These are questions straight from the Lash Lab intake form — designed to make every client feel seen, safe, and comfortable:

1. Have you ever had lash extensions before?
2. How do you normally wear your lashes?
3. Is there anything you want to stay away from when it comes to your lash look?
4. Is this service for a special occasion? Or are you looking to add to your self-care regime?
5. How do you want your everyday lash extensions to look?
6. Was your last lash service a good experience — with me or another tech (no need to name them)? What would've made the experience a better outcome?
7. What do you like to listen to during your appointment? (It's okay to bring headphones as well.)
8. Do you have any triggers I should know about — anything that might irritate or stress you before, during, or after your lash service? (Loud noises, music, certain conversations…)
9. Would you prefer a silent appointment so you can take your lash nap?

What You Need to Identify

The set they want

• How full they want their lashes — Classic, Hybrid, Volume, or Mega Volume. Have prototypes on hand to showcase the different volume options.
• How long they want their lashes — again, prototypes make the conversation easy. Rule to remember: only go up to 3 lengths longer than the client's natural lashes. Any longer strains the natural lash and shortens the life of the set.
• What curl they want — do they want something curlier or straighter?
• What style they want — Doll eye, Cat eye, Fox eye, or Round eye.
• Transitions — do they want subtle or obvious transitions in length?
• Whisps — do they want them? Prominent or subtle?

Before you lash your client

• Whether they've ever experienced a lash allergy or reaction.
• Whether this set is for a special occasion.

Contraindications: When to Pause Before You Lash

Your consultation form should screen for these — and if any come up, the answer is a conversation (and sometimes a doctor's note or a reschedule), not an automatic yes:

• Recent eye surgery or LASIK — follow the surgeon's clearance timeline before any lash work.
• Active eye conditions — styes, conjunctivitis (pink eye), blepharitis, or any current infection or inflammation. Reschedule until fully cleared.
• Skin conditions around the eye area — eczema, psoriasis, or dermatitis on the lids can react to adhesive and tape.
• Chemotherapy or recent medical treatment — lash cycles and sensitivities change; require medical clearance and extra gentleness.
• Lash growth serums — serums strengthen length but often over-curl and weaken the bond surface, affecting retention and sometimes making extensions inadvisable until the client pauses use. Always ask.
• Known adhesive or cyanoacrylate allergies — a previous reaction is your biggest red flag. Don't re-test a true allergy on the eye.
• Known carbon black allergy — most black lash adhesives are pigmented with carbon black. For these clients, a clear-adhesive plan (and a patch test) is the conversation to have.

Lifestyle Questions That Predict Retention

These answers tell you how the set will actually live on the client — and set up your aftercare conversation before there's ever a retention complaint:

• Do you have oily skin or an oily eyelid area?
• Do you swim regularly, or do hot yoga, saunas, or steam rooms?
• How do you sleep — side, back, or face-down in the pillow?
• What's your job like? (Kitchen steam, dusty job sites, and constant sweat all affect retention.)
• Do you wear eye makeup daily? Waterproof anything?
• Do you wear contacts or glasses?

None of these are disqualifiers — they're customization data. An oily-skinned hot-yoga lover might need a different adhesive, a more secure style, and a closer fill schedule than a back-sleeping minimalist.

Reading the Natural Lashes

Once the bottom lashes are down and you can really see, you're assessing four things:

• Length — extensions should stay proportional to the natural lash. Dramatically exceeding what the natural lash can carry causes strain and premature shedding.
• Density — how many healthy natural lashes are actually there determines how full a set can honestly get.
• Health and condition — brittle, twisted, or sparse lashes need a conservative plan (or a lash-health break) before a dramatic set.
• Gaps and growth stages — baby lashes and gaps affect mapping and what styles will photograph well.

This is the moment you either confirm the plan from the consultation — or adjust it, out loud, with the client, before you pick up a single fan.

The Inspo Photo Conversation

Every artist gets the reference photo the client's natural lashes can't support. Don't just say no — redirect:

• Name what they love about it — "So you love the wispy texture and the lifted outer corner."
• Explain the limit honestly — "Your natural lashes are finer than the ones in this photo, so that exact weight would damage them within a few weeks."
• Offer the safe version — "Here's how we get that same shape and drama at a weight your lashes can carry — and keep your natural lashes healthy so we can go fuller over time."

Clients don't remember being told no. They remember being taken care of — and the artist who protected their natural lashes is the artist they stay loyal to.