Hayley Smith Lash & Brow Artistry

I wasn’t going to share this publicly but I’ve had some time to process and I know I have lots of other lash artists and beauty therapists that follow me, so I thought id share so you can use me as an example.
Almost 3 years ago I started getting pain and numbness in my hands, this escalated up my arms after a while. So I went to my dr and was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. I had 18 months of steroid injections without any improvement. My GP referred me last year to a hand surgeon. During this time I also started having seizures. I was told to avoid driving while this was also looked into. I didn’t relate any of this to my neck/back pain as I just put that down to being part of my job. However the seizures meant I had to give up my salon, that mixed the weakness and increasing pain in my arms told me it was time to listen to my body.
I went to see the hand surgeon who ordered some nerve conduction tests, I thought it would be a simple hand surgery and return back to doing what I love. The tests came back and the consultant said carpal tunnel wasn’t the answer. He ordered an mri of my spine saying he suspected that was the cause.
During the wait I spent a lot of time gaslighting myself, sure it wasn’t all in my head but also convinced the mri would come back fine. Because I’d stopped working and using my hands so much I would have more good days, causing me to gaslight myself even more, but the days I was more active the pain and weakness returned 10 fold.
My mri results came back and as you can see from the above report the consultant was right.
I now have to wait for a referral to a neurosurgeon at addenbrookes because it requires more specialist care.
My love for lashing, boxing, and weight lifting have come to an untimely end, with a broken heart added to the mix. Before, I used to say I will be back. Now I’m not so sure.
As a lash artist or beauty therapist I beg you to please look after your body, I’m only just 42 and right now I’m living like a pensioner. I joke about semi retirement to take the sting off, actually it hurts my heart as well as my body. Lashing has become part of my identity and right now I don’t know who the future me is.

I was looking at my memories on socials and thought I hadn’t done an update in a while.
I’m still no further forward tbh, it turns out my hand and arm issues aren’t as simple as carpal tunnel, I expected to have the surgery and get back to work, boxing, and lifting weights. But it turns out it’s typically not that simple, I’m currently waiting for more tests and an mri so it doesn’t look like I’ll be back to do any summer holiday lashes 😭 the seizures are also sadly still happening so driving is limited for me.
I’ve been able to do some friends lashes and my daughter (17 year olds are high maintenance)
But I don’t know how long it will be till I can pick up and be back to working properly again.
I think maybe this is the universes way of telling me I needed to properly slow down and change my lifestyle. My business will be 10 years old in August and during that time I’ve rarely taken a full week off. I don’t know how or when my return will be but rest assured I 100% WILL be back. Love to you all, and to everyone I haven’t seen in a while, I miss your faces! 🫶🏻🤍

Within the beauty industry we are always looking for new, improved, and better. Often we’re sold new techniques or new products that use big scientific words to make you think they’re better than what you’ve been using.
Let’s use the sudden requests for Korean lash lifts. Lots of people specifically looking to train in or customers looking to receive this treatment. As a therapist it’s understandable to want to offer the newest techniques and keep current for your clients. As a client, what are you actually looking for with this treatment? Are you expecting better results? What’s your full understanding of the methods or products?
A Korean lash lift uses cysteamine instead of thioglycolate to protect lash health and prevent dryness or brittleness. The method is slightly different to a normal lash lift where the products are applied without adhesive and off the shield. BUT they get put back onto a shield during the treatment so it’s not completely shield less. It’s sold as being quicker and milder than the usual lash lift.
As a client what’s your understanding of the chemicals used? Cysteamine originally became a popular product because in Canada thyoglycoloic acid became a banned substance, so there was a search on to produce lifts using a less harsh substance. But in reality, if your beauty therapist is a lash specialist, the use of either product shouldn’t affect you. Yes cysteine is milder, but if they’re using thyoglycolate properly with the correct timings then the mildness of the products shouldnt be a concern.
As a therapist you also need to look at how brands market this to you.. of course it’s going to be amazing, new and improved… because this is a new product they can mark up the price of and get your money investing into their brands. We had this before with airbrush brows and hybrid brows, the products weren’t any better.. they will still only stain your skin or last on the hair shaft for the same time length as older tints.. they won’t affect how quickly your hair or skin sheds and regenerates. If your lash artist is a true artist the results and condition of your lashes shouldn’t be any better or worse using either system.

My friend told me today about a lovely lash serum she was using, which sparked an interesting conversation. There is NOTHING about lashes/brows that I don’t know, so let me give you the facts 💁🏻‍♀️

There is only 1 ingredient in serums that has any clinical proof of encouraging lash and brow growth. Lash growth serums sold in the uk WONT do anything to your lashes/brows aside from adding nourishment. You can buy a £5 serum or a £100 serum, the results will be the same. They WILL NOT make your lashes grow, the only difference between the above 2 price points will be the oils they use in them.

That one ingredient that does work, is called Bimatoprost. This is the only ingredient that has proven clinical trials to support hair growth. Which is illegal as an ingredient in an OTC (over the counter) product. However, it will not encourage any growth from a dead follicle that isn’t producing hairs.
In the USA that ingredient does have FDA approval in small amounts.
In the UK it’s prescription only.

The way bimatoprost was discovered as a lash growth serum was because it is an ingredient in glaucoma medication, and one of the side effects is increased lash growth.

Don’t waste your money on expensive lash growth serums, if you want better lash health then go ahead. It takes 6-8 weeks to see the benefits of any serum and you must use them consistently.

Done a couple of sneaky full sets, took my time, but let me tell you…
🌟 IVE STILL GOT IT 🌟 couldn’t let some of these girls go without their Xmas lashes could I 🤷🏻‍♀️
I know some people had a really s**t hard year, so I needed to make sure they had that little extra Christmas sparkle they deserved. Even with s**t wrists I’m still THE lash queen 🫅
Still waiting for my surgery (5 appointments cancelled by the nhs, and that’s with me being on the urgent list) but 2026 will be ALL about recover and rebuild.