How to sleep with lash extensions, and which sleep mask to choose

In short: at night, the pillow crushes lash extensions when you sleep on your side or your stomach, and a flat sleep mask crushes them too. Sleep on your back when you can. If you wear a mask, choose one that is domed over the eyes, and check as you put it on that your lashes don't touch the fabric. Fake eyelashes, on the other hand, come off before bed.

After a lash extension appointment, you watch everything during the day: no water for the first days, no rubbing, no oil around the eyes. Then night comes, and your lashes spend hours between your face and the pillow.

Sleeping on your side or your stomach crushes them, and crushed extensions don't last as long. Here is how to sleep with lash extensions without damaging them, which sleep mask to choose, and what to know about fake eyelashes.

Why nights wear out lash extensions

On your side or your stomach, the pillow presses on your lashes all night. Healthline puts it plainly, in an article reviewed by a nurse practitioner: "If you sleep on your stomach or your side, you might crush your lashes, making them last a shorter period of time." On your back, they last longer.

Friction adds to the pressure: you move, you turn over, sometimes you rub your eyes without noticing. The American Academy of Ophthalmology warns that "rubbing, tugging or pulling can fracture your natural lashes, and even cause permanent damage to the eyelash follicle." Extensions are glued to your own lashes: whatever pulls on them pulls on yours too.

How to sleep with lash extensions

• On your back, as much as you can. It's the only position where nothing presses on your lashes.
• Your first night with lash extensions: keep them dry. For the first 48 hours after the appointment, no shower on your face and no washing your eyes: water weakens the glue while it finishes setting. On the night of your appointment, you go to bed without washing your eyes.
• No oil at bedtime. Oil-based products should stay away from extensions: check your makeup remover and your eye cream.
• Don't rub your eyes, at night or when you wake up.

If you sleep on your side and can't change, it's the trickiest case: your cheek and the pillow squeeze the mask and your lashes. We cover it here: sleeping on your side with a sleep mask.

Which sleep mask for eyelash extensions?

A sleep mask, or eye mask, can protect your lashes from the pillow, or crush them itself: it all depends on its shape.

• A flat mask sits directly on your eyelids. To keep it on, you tighten it, and it flattens your lashes all night. One Amazon review, translated from French, blames a flat mask for exactly that: "crushing the lashes (no hollow in front of the eyes)".
• A domed mask, often called a 3D or contoured sleep mask, leaves space in front of the eyes. Your lashes don't touch the fabric: this is the shape to choose with lash extensions.
• The strap matters too: flat and wide, with no buckle or Velcro, it holds the mask without pressing it against your eyes.

The test, as you put it on

Put the mask on as you would to sleep, then open your eyes underneath. If your lashes brush the fabric, they will touch it all night: you need a more domed mask. If they stay free, the mask won't crush them.

To compare domed silk masks, here is our comparison of seven silk sleep masks.

The Noctya mask: domed so it never touches your lashes

Our sleep mask is built around a soft dome: it keeps a space above your eyelids, and your lashes never touch the fabric.

• 22 momme mulberry silk on both sides, soft against the thin skin around the eyes.
• A skirt that follows the bridge of the nose and closes the last gap for light (why light gets in at the nose).
• A silk-covered strap, with no buckle or Velcro, one size.
• Delivered in its case, with a silk pouch to keep it protected.

With long extensions, do the open-eyes test as you put it on: it's the one that counts, for our mask as for any other.

Discover the Noctya silk sleep mask

Can you sleep with fake eyelashes on?

It's better to take them off. The American Academy of Ophthalmology advises you to "remove all eye makeup at night before sleeping", and to wear false lashes for special occasions only, noting that "both magnetic and glued lashes can irritate the sensitive skin around the eyes".

Lash extensions applied at a salon are different: attached lash by lash with a semi-permanent glue, they're made to stay on for several weeks, nights included. They are what the advice in this article protects.

In the morning: putting your lashes back in place

When you wake up, your lashes may be flattened on the side you slept on. A clean, dry spoolie is all you need: brush the tips while supporting the lashes with a clean finger, as Healthline recommends. No rubbing.

And your mask washes like any silk: by hand, in lukewarm water, with a gentle soap. How to wash silk, step by step.

Frequently asked questions

How do you protect lash extensions while sleeping?

Sleep on your back when you can, keep your lashes dry for the first 48 hours, avoid oil around your eyes, and if you wear a sleep mask, choose a domed one: your lashes shouldn't touch the fabric.

Can you sleep on your side with eyelash extensions?

Yes, but it's the position where the pillow crushes them most, and your extensions won't last as long. A domed mask that is thin at the sides limits the contact.

What is the best sleep mask for lash extensions?

A mask that is domed over the eyes and never touches your lashes, held by a flat strap with no buckle or Velcro. The test: open your eyes underneath; your lashes shouldn't brush the fabric.

Do sleep masks ruin eyelash extensions?

A flat one can: it sits on your lashes and flattens them all night. A domed mask that doesn't touch them keeps them away from the pillow instead.

Can you sleep with magnetic lashes?

It's better to take them off. The American Academy of Ophthalmology advises removing all eye makeup before sleeping, and notes that magnetic and glued lashes can irritate the skin around the eyes.

What should you do the first night with lash extensions?

Keep them dry: for the first 48 hours, no shower on your face and no washing your eyes, while the glue finishes setting. And sleep on your back if you can.