Robotics engineer Nathan Harding never thought he’d end up in the beauty industry. He describes himself as dumbfounded when he first learned about eyelash extensions and how they were applied by hand, one by one. Now, he often dons eyelash extensions during meetings with new investors to convince them of the two lessons he’s learned: lash extensions can transform your face, and the industry is due for a technology overhaul.
Traditional eyelash extensions can take two or even three hours to complete. The job is physically demanding for lash artists who often end up with issues like carpal tunnel syndrome or neck and shoulder problems. And yet, the quest for long, luscious lashes that last several weeks has meant that the industry continues to grow. And now, thanks to Harding’s LUUM Lash, an AI-powered robot is here to help. People are obsessed with watching the robot in action—videos of the process have gone viral on TikTok.
As of last year, LUUM has expanded, launching a pop-up shop at Nordstrom within the Valley Fair store in San Jose, California. Back in the fall, I headed to LUUM’s headquarters to try out the treatment for myself. I was terrified yet intrigued by the idea of a robot applying extensions so close to my eyes, yet Harding, who was himself an early guinea pig for the robots as they were being developed, assured me of its safety.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/010225-robot-lash-extensions-embed2-624e5459706745a4ba892ae8f9f16fda.jpg "Can Robots Replace Lash Techs? My Experience with AI-Powered Eyelash Extensions (1)")
The Test Drive
I visited LUUM's lash studio in Oakland, California, to try it firsthand. While I’ve seen artificial intelligence in other areas of beauty, like virtually trying on makeup, this was my first up-close encounter with a robot. Happily, I was first met by a (human) lash artist who checked me in and explained the process. Only after she cleaned and prepped my eyes did I meet Farrah (named after Farrah Fawcett), the robot applying my lashes.
As I lay on the table, the machine was lowered over me, and I took a few slow breaths to calm my nerves. Then, I felt the extremely light touch gently fanning my eyelashes, and soon relaxed. The process was actually more comfortable than a traditional lash application, and the steady hum of the machine was soothing—I nearly fell asleep! But, it was only around 10 to 15 minutes until the robot was done with my right eye, and the technician moved it to my left eye. Eventually, LUUM plans for their robots to do both eyes at the same time, making the appointment even faster.
Farrah applied the majority of my lashes, and then the lash artist came in for final placements. The robot isn’t perfect yet—machine learning means it gets better with each application—and Farrah had placed an errant lash that the artist ended up removing. In addition, she added a half dozen additional lashes, some to the inner corners of my eyes where Farrah had a tough time getting to, and some based on her trained aesthetic. The end result: fabulous.
Robots are well-suited to the treatment because of what’s called a neural network, which learns how to find the upper eyelid with precise accuracy and can isolate a natural eyelash. While a lash is tiny to the human eye, to computer vision, it's quite large. The robot has two wands that function like hands; one finds a natural lash and the other dips an extension in adhesive. The wands come together to apply the lash extension and then cure the glue with blue light, which helps it dry more quickly and create a longer-lasting application. The communication between the two wands ensures the extension is placed exactly on the natural lash, which is only about a hundred microns in diameter.
As for safety, the wands are extremely light and delicate. The machine can sense even a slight change, like someone about to sneeze, and pause. In addition, they are held on with magnets, so in the case of a bigger event, like an earthquake, the wands would disconnect from the robot and fall to the floor. Luckily, there were no natural disasters during my appointment, and we sailed through the treatment with no issues at all.
The Results
My typically blonde lashes were now dark and long, with a perfect flirty curve. I was initially taken aback by the dramatic change, but quickly fell in love with the look. The main reasons I don’t get eyelash extensions regularly are the cost and the length of time of the appointment. As for price, the LUUM lashes are typical of high-quality salons, $170 for a full set. But the appointment time was under an hour—less than half the time of a traditional treatment. The typically two-plus hour appointment time is too long for me to routinely sit for extensions that usually only last about three weeks. As that time gets even shorter with the next-generation robots, eyelash extensions may become a more frequent part of my beauty routine.
