If you are here, most likely you are either currently using an eyelash serum or you are toying with the idea of using an eyelash serum. I want to start by saying, I understand the want to have long, full, and beautiful eyelashes! I truly do. I am not here to rain on your eyelash serum parade. But it is also important to take care of our skin and body in the process of achieving our beauty goals! In this blog post, we are going to discuss the ingredients in most eyelash serums that make them so damaging and destructive. If you’ve already stopped using yours, read our blog post on 3 Easy Ways to Recover from Destructive Eyelash Serums.
There are big name brands that we all know and there are smaller, less-known brands that many of us have never heard of. Although it is true that they are not all created equal, we are going discuss eyelash serums as a whole. If, by the end of this blog post, you still want to look into eyelash serums, I plead with you to do your research on the ingredients! Again, they are not all created equal and there are companies who have started using natural ingredients to get the results that clients are hoping for.
Let’s talk about the potentially harmful ingredients in most eyelash serums I see.
BIMATOPROST – is the active ingredient in many eyelash serums on the market. Here’s a list of side effects by likelihood and severity:
- An increased amount of blood in the lining of the eye, called conjunctival hyperemia.
- I see this so frequently in my office. This is what causes my clients (who use eyelash serums) to bruise easily when doing an eyeliner.
- An increased amount of blood in the lining of the eye, called conjunctival hyperemia.
- I see this so frequently in my office. This is what causes my clients (who use eyelash serums) to bruise easily when doing an eyeliner.
PROSTAGLANDIN – this ingredient has been taken out of a lot of serums due to the side effects it causes.
- Eyelid pigmentation (darkening of the eyelid)
- Chronic eye irritation, red puffy eyes, weepy eyes (makes you feel like there’s something on your eyeball/in your eye all the time)
- Darkening of the iris (say goodbye to your hazel, blue, green, whatever eyes! You will get brown spots on your iris.)
- Lowering eye pressure if the serum gets into your eye
- Hair growth on places other than eyelash line (no woman wants to grow hair on their face…)
I may sound like a Negative Nancy, but I’m honestly just trying to save you from the issues that are so common but not widely talked about! It’s difficult to get people to listen when they’re getting the results they want with their eyelashes. More often than not, we consumers trust that what we’re buying is regulated in some way. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here in the US. Beauty products are fairly unregulated and it takes a lot of users suffering from adverse side effects for action to be taken.
If you’re still going to use your eyelash serum even after reading this blog post, please read the recommendations by your serum of choice. i.e. Latisse recommends reducing treatment from daily to only 2-3 times per week once you have gotten your desired results. And please be very careful when applying to your lash line.
If you want to try a more natural approach to eyelash growth, try out:
- Black castor oil
- Coconut oil
- Vitamin E oil
- CPTG essential oils (try lavender and/or rosemary)
- Collagen
- Biotin
Be sure to keep your mascaras clean and throw them out once you’ve had them for few months. Mascara has a short shelf-life and should not have other ingredients added to it when it dries out (as they can add bacteria to the mix, causing eye irritation, or worse, an eye infection).
Note: When using more natural products, just know that they will take a bit longer to work because they don’t have the chemicals, hormones, etc. that the regular eyelash serums do.
And lastly, nobody can deny a Grade A mascara that works magic on your lashes! Here are a few of my favorites:
Too Faced – Better Than Sex Mascara ($26) at Sephora.com
Maybelline – New York Volume Express ($7) on Amazon.com or at your local grocery store
Chanel – Le Volume de Chanel ($32) on Nordstrom.com