There are a few things that strike a bit of fear into my heart. Namely, they are bungee jumping, surfing, finding zero balance in my bank account, and getting eyelash extensions.

Since I want to talk about beauty, I will skip the first three items and get down to the last one, which is probably the silliest one. I swore never to get eyelash extensions because I have heard the horror stories. There is the pain experienced via undertrained staffers. The next is the itch and soreness to the eye the glue can bring. And there is also how you lose your natural eyelashes as the extensions fall out. Perhaps I Google too eagerly before I try something out. Maybe I get carried away by the one-off bad experiences.

Some things can change your mind, though. When NÉW Lounge, an eyelash and nail salon born in Alabang, took another home near my place—in Sct. Esguerra, Quezon City—I got curious. They seemed to be such a hit with what they do as their newest branch was due to a clamor to bring their expertise up north. If people travel down south to get their lashes done, that speaks volumes.

NÉW Lounge assured me that I would not lose my natural lashes. The extensions will simply fall off after two weeks, sans your real hair,  but would stay nice up to three weeks if you care for them. Their company secret: the adhesive they use for the lashes doesn’t irritate or cause problems. So far, I was optimistic. But there’s always a big deciding factor to these things. For this one, it was how soft and natural the lashes feel.

Unlike other lash salons, NÉW Lounge uses sable hair for their extensions. They are much like your real eyelashes which is why I couldn’t stop touching the tips of my extensions when they were done. They are lightweight and you almost can’t tell which are your real lashes and which are the ones glued on.

The procedure is a relaxing two hours, which I strongly advise you to prepare for by pre-loading a podcast or your favorite Spotify playlist. You can also just opt to sleep…because that’s how much you can trust their technician. Each lash extension is placed carefully, three at a time, based on your preference.

Another plus point to NÉW Lounge’s service is the expertise of their staff. The first time I tried the eyelash extensions, I told the woman attending to me to tell me which style is best for the effect I wanted. I told her I didn’t want a dramatic effect (which you can get with their various options) but I wanted to look like I just did my mascara and curled my lashes really well. Natural but still with some oomph. My attendee recommended the J-Curl lashes for medium sized eyes.

Upon opening my eyes again after two hours, the results were exactly what I wanted. I looked like my mascara was so bomb. The same attendee texted my care instructions for the lashes: no oil-based makeup, don’t wet your lashes for 24 hours, etc. A touchup every two weeks is recommended. But if you care for them well enough, you can keep them nice and pretty for three weeks.

Friends took a while to realize why I looked different, but when they did, they immediately asked me where I got my lashes done. On my three-week vacation abroad, the lashes were also great as I only need to throw on some lipstick, fix my hair and my brows to look like I did a full face of makeup. Good lash extensions make that kind of a difference.

So there you have it. In a span of a month, I’ve gone from eyelash extension virgin to one who would advocate it if you want a low-maintenance yet high-impact look. NVG