In the Babe Cave: Chantal Juman helps enhance eyes with natural-lash look

I have an aversion to “fake” beauty products. Not because I have anything against them, but because I prefer a natural look.

Weave, press-on or acrylic nails, and lash extensions were things I never thought I would do simply because they looked obviously fake and that was not my aesthetic.

Recently however, I’ve been trying new things.

I tried acrylic nails, harping on the poor technician for the most natural-looking product. They turned out great as they were done as thinly as possible, had no weird hump where the acrylic met the nail bed, and it gave my nails some more length and uniformity.

Functioning with the things was another story but that’s not what this article is about.

This time, I decided to try eyelashes.

I can admit that sometimes, the obviously fake can look good. However, my problem with lash extensions is that, more often than not, in my opinion, they are unattractive.

I thought, why do I want something that can double as a hand-broom on my eyes?

With that in mind, of course, I contacted Chantal Juman, founder of Babe Cave, the first salon in TT dedicated to lashes. It was also the first lash academy in TT, the first company in TT to have flat lashes, and the first in the Caribbean to have an adhesive with a scent, Pink Fig.

We had a consultation. Both she and her employees were friendly and I immediately felt comfortable as she spoke and I realised how extremely knowledgeable she was about the process.

She pointed out that my eyes were almond-shaped, which I never really noticed, and asked if I wanted lashes that would accentuate the shape or “open up my eyes.”

Since I had no idea, I let her know she could do what she thought was best, as long as they looked as natural as possible. She decided to go with the shape of my eyes and the way my lashes grew naturally – long and short throughout – add some length at the point in line with the arch of my eyebrow, and to give them a slight curl.

Alrighty.

She started with a bio gel under eye patch, not collagen-based which could cause a reaction in some, to keep my lower lashes out of the way. She then gave me a lash bath and applied individual lashes, one at a time, to my top eyelid.

The application process was a mild surprise since I had always though of lash extensions as a strip people glued to their eyes. However, by applying individual lashes, the lash technician can customise any look for their client.

Forty-five minutes later, I was ecstatic about the results. My lashes looked more even, fuller, longer, darker, as if there was the lightest coating of mascara, and they looked and felt natural.

They did not make my eyelids feel heavy, when I touched them they felt like lashes rather than bristles, the curl meant they did not touch my glasses, and most importantly, they made me feel good.

Building a lash brand

While chatting with Juman, 31, I learned Babe Cave (BC) was not just a lash studio. It also has its own line of lash products and accessories and an academy which teaches the art of lash extensions.

“Babe Cave started in 2014 as a lashes and brows service studio, a place in Trinidad people could actually find because at the time people were doing lashes in their own homes.”

As the business grew she convinced more people to work for her.

“I had an idea. I wanted to build a business and I needed people. You can’t do everything by yourself. You get volume when you have a team so I needed to create one. So, I met some people and was like, ‘Do you want to work for me?’ and I still have most of that team and I love them very much.”

Babe Cave now has in-house wax stylists and lash stylists, and does body contouring.

Having been a lash educator for companies in Canada, she trained the staff that she hired and moved to her present location at Woodford Street, Newtown.

Since there were only three companies around the world producing lashes at the time, she was constantly running out of products, forcing her to fly abroad to bring products in.

She needed more products at a cheaper cost, available to her at all times which led her to the decision to make her own distribution line.

“In a climate like TT’s you sweat a lot more, your skin is oily, there’s Sahara dust, so many different things affect your lashes. So, I developed more products as a realised there was a need.”

At first it was just lashes, then she expanded to adhesives, tools and accessories.

After two years of development, by 2016 she had products for lash stylists including lashes, hand-made tweezers, lash mirrors, brushes, cleansers and adhesives, lash palette holders, and other lash-related products, as well as products clients.

Teaching how to apply lash extensions

After training her employees, other people began approaching Juman to teach them to apply lashes.

With requests pouring in, she and a co-worker began working on developing a very thorough booklet, a combination of textbook and workbook, for courses ranging from classic beginners to advanced volume to even the most intricate of specialised techniques including styling and infection control.

This led to the BC Distribution Academy being established in 2017.

“I very much enjoy teaching others to do lashes and to teach. The academy is one of my favourite things. And now we’re taking the academy online so we’ve just been growing step-by-step.

“I just want people to be able to elevate their standards because a lot of people look at lashes as a hustle. It’s like they do hair and nails and just want to add lashes to make more money. That annoys me a lot because it makes me realise not everyone takes lashes seriously and they should because of the procedure.

“And there are a lot of people teaching that really have no business teaching as well. You might as well just learn on YouTube and Instagram and sadly they do. We did a survey once and 40 per cent of people learned lashes via social media. I’m waiting for people to go blind.”

Recalling that one of her first students opened her own establishment and academy, Juman said she was humbled that many of her students were flourishing in TT.

“Being the first lash bar, lash distribution and academy in Trinidad has really been rewarding in the sense that the BC brand is recognised as a staples across the Caribbean. I hope to continue to inspire other brands and entrepreneurs to keep raising the bar as there is a very bright future in the world of lashing."

Then, in 2020 she launched BC’s beginners online course using an approval system. She records videos and has the students follow guidelines and submit work to be approved via email before they move on to the next level.

“At the beginning of covid I realised people would not be coming in as much so I had to take this online. We had to either get with the times or fail. A lot of companies went under during that time and I was not planning to be one of them.”

Although she mostly teaches now, and is seven times certified in lash extensions, she still attends workshops and teaches herself more techniques to keep up-to-date with evolving technology.

Juman moved to Canada at age seven, but returned to TT eight years ago. She first trained in 2009 in Toronto, and went on to do multiple training workshops and courses in both classic and volume lashes as techniques improved and with various companies.

However, her passion for lashes was sparked by chance.

“You ever put on so much mascara on your lashes it looks like hairy spider legs? That was me, until my mom discovered eyelash extensions and told me about it in 2008. When I got them done I was shook to my very core because it literally changed my face by opening and enhancing my eyes, just like a strip lash would but better because it was custom fit to my eyes and extremely comfortable and I never had to take them off! My mom said to me, ‘You have to get in on this.’ And I did.”

Since that day, her passion has not dimmed. In fact, she intends to expand her repertoire and her business even more in the future.

She told WMN she intends BC to be the first in TT to have a lash robot – a machine that fits over the head, sifts through the lashes and applies them according to the style set by the technician.

She would also like to establish the full range of academy courses online, as well as have the BC line of products carried in-store throughout the Caribbean.