DECATUR - The process is relaxing, said Tammy Foutz of Decatur.

"The hour is over before I even realize that hardly any time is passed."

The hour Foutz is describing is the hour - or less in some cases - that can bring eyelashes from sparse to stunning.

Foutz is among of the clients of Kris Shelly at Signature Salon who have tried the new LASHbeLONG eyelash extensions, which the certified lash artist/nail technician is now applying for customers.

"She will say she has put a good number of eyelashes on each side," Foutz said. "The number is always astounding because I haven't realized I've been in the chair that long."

"It's not painful," agreed Cara Leuchtefeld, another Decatur client.

"When you are working with your eyes, I didn't know what to expect.

"It's pretty relaxing; it's different."

"I love (the eyelash extensions)," Foutz said. "I just love them."

Shelly said she completed special training before starting the service for clients in early May. Prices can range between $70 and $300, and the process can take from 45 minutes to three hours, depending on the number of eyelashes applied, Shelly said.

"You have to figure out what you are comfortable having on," she explained. "You have to figure out what you do and don't like."

The length of time eyelash additions stay on depends on a couple of things, Shelly said, including how long a person's own lashes last, since they fall out naturally. It also makes a difference whether a client rubs her eyes and how carefully the area around the eye is cleansed.

"It's really the period of the natural eyelash that it's attached to," she added, which is normally three to four weeks. Each eyelash is applied individually.

You lose them, Foutz said, and then in the process of losing them, go back to your own lashes.

"You feel like, 'Wow, you don't have any lashes.' "

Either the lash extension that adds volume or the eyelash extension is applied to a person's natural lashes, Shelly said.

"The more you have done, the longer they last," she explained.

Before beginning application, a client's lower eyelid and lashes are masked with surgical-style tape, preventing the additions from attaching to the wrong place. That's the only part that is even a little bit unpleasant in the process, Foutz said.

Because the lash additions are usually longer than a client's natural lashes and because they are glued, each client receives special instructions for care, Shelly said. And mascara is a matter of choice but not necessary, she added, though it must be a water-based version if it's used with the extensions.

LASHbeLONG was launched in the United States in 2007, according to Morgan Kaptain, brand manager for the product.

"We've trained all over the world," she said, including probably 40 or so licensed personnel in Illinois.

Arlene Mannlein can be reached at amannlein@herald-review.com or 421-6976.

If you go

WHAT: professional eyelash extensions

WHO: Kris Shelly

CALL: 864-5641.