Lads on the Lash

Lisa Stone, Lash & Brow Expert and Salon System Educator on lashing male clients.

No, I’m not talking about a night out of craziness and having a glass of wine or two, although I think we’ve all missed the freedom of a night out since the virus hit. I’m talking about the growing popularity of male clients requesting lash extensions.

With salons having been shut down the world of lashes has been thrust upon our fellas as a way of keeping ourselves busy and keeping us lash artists busy and save us from becoming rusty. I have seen lots of photos on social media of the most beautiful eyes. And as much as the full-on glam look may only be a desired look by a few and not suit everyone’s taste opening up your lash services to male clients could make great business. 

The male grooming industry is worth over 16 billion and is set to just keep growing and growing. The beauty industry is not just for the girls anymore the modern man wants in on the action too, and why not? Beauty is for everyone and should be accessible to all genders without feeling intimidated or judged. As a therapist we should be open and understanding of everyone’s needs and our business should be accommodating, creating a warm and welcoming environment to all, offering treatments for both male and female clients will increase the number of clients and increase your revenue too.

The millennial man has been inspired by reality TV; the clean sharp well-groomed image of celebrities is the must have look. Along with more understanding and acceptance of sexuality and different genders more and more men are seeking salon treatments to help enhance their look and build confidence and self-esteem. Treatments such as waxing, facials, manicures and tanning have long been favourites, but why should it stop there?

Lash extensions can dramatically enhance the eyes in the most subtle way creating more open younger looking eyes. And not only perfect for women but men too. There is so much choice in lash length, curls and thicknesses along with different colours a natural less feminine look is easily achieved, using shades of browns from dark to light with clear glue would suit fair skin and hair tones, great for blonde clients whose lashes are fair or invisible, or dark brow to black for darker skin and hair. Keeping the length and curl not too far from natural lashes you can create definition and volume, enhance or disguise eye shape and make the face look brighter and younger. And let’s not get started on the best power nap “The lash nap” they are going to love having a wee snooze too whilst we work our magic on their eyes.  Opening up lash treatments to your male clients is a great way to boost your business. To help market this service take lots of before and after photos, promote heavily on social media to let your clients know that this service is available.

But lash extensions are not the only option here for our male clients, they may want to opt for the ever-popular lash lift and tint. More and more male clients are opting for this because of its low maintenance but amazing results. Again, just like lash extension this service is so easy to adapt to accommodate a male client. A less intense lift can be achieved by a bigger shield and choosing a natural to dark brown tint or even a graphite to give a natural less mascara look to the lashes, it makes a huge difference to eyes and can boost confidence and a great replacement for the need to wear mascara. So many male clients have the longest lashes but are incredibly straight and can grow downwards, a subtle lift can make the eyes look more open less droopy and younger and boost confidence.

With the lashes being enhanced we must not forget to groom the brows, now this is nothing new to our industry, most men now will get a quick brow trim and tidy when they visit their barber but how many men get a brow tint? Do they even know it’s a thing?  A great service to promote to disguise the odd grey hair or to create more definition and vibrancy and it takes no time at all to do, followed by a wax or thread and trim those big bushy unruly brows will look fabulous and could take years off the face, with more and more colour options available for custom blending the look can be subtle and natural and work with the client’s skin tone and natural hair colour.

All these services will need good marketing, lots of before and after photo’s, making good use of social media platforms and websites to get the message out there. Why not offer male lash and brow grooming packages on your price list and tell your male clients about these services.

 Let’s not put Limits on our industry, beauty and all its treatments can and should be available to everyone, we are living in fast changing times and we need to allow ourselves to change and adapt with them.