I've done both for long stretches and I go back and forth. The decision is genuinely not about which looks better — it's about how often you need them and how much of your life you want to arrange around your eyelashes.
Extensions are a subscription
They look wonderful and the first three weeks are a joy. Then they're a standing appointment every two to three weeks, forever, and the moment you stop the gap is very obvious. Budget for the infills, not the initial set — the initial set is the cheap part.
You also inherit some rules. No oil-based cleanser near your eyes, no rubbing your face properly, careful with steam. And badly applied extensions, where multiple natural lashes get glued into one clump, genuinely damage what's underneath. That's common enough that it's worth choosing a technician on reputation rather than price.
Strips are reversible, which is underrated
You can change the shape depending on what you're doing, skip them entirely on a bad week, and stop at any point with no consequences. For anyone not wearing lashes daily, that flexibility beats the convenience of extensions comfortably.
They're also a fraction of the cost, and a decent pair can be reused a good number of times if you peel the glue off the band rather than picking at the lashes.
Three details that fix strips
Trim to your actual eye width. Straight out of the box they're built for the widest possible eye, and a strip that overhangs the outer corner will lift and poke you all night. Measure against your lash line and cut from the outer end only.
Wait for the glue. Apply it to the band, then count to thirty until it turns tacky and slightly cloudy. Wet glue slides and won't hold; tacky glue grabs immediately.
Set from the middle. Place the centre first, then press the outer corner down, then the inner. Starting at the inner corner is what makes strips sit too far in and irritate.
Daily wear, extensions. Anything less, strips — trimmed, tacky glue, middle first.