“Look closely at the roots of your eyelashes in a magnifying mirror and you will see they are set in staggered layers along the outer edge of the eyelid, like bricks in a wall."
I know this because, for the past six weeks, I’ve been applying minuscule amounts of a magic potion to said roots with a microbrush that looks like a chimney sweep’s brush shrunk to the size of a pinhead… all in the hope of making my lashes grow.
You may think this is beauty gone mad, and you may be right. But it’s working a treat, and if there’s one thing most of us want — along with a Jennifer Aniston body — it’s longer eyelashes.
Mega-eyelashes have been the look du jour for so long that on the catwalks reaction has set in and high fashion for autumn means near-lashless eyes.
I’m trying the Mylash service as an alternative to Sue Marsh’s couture eyelash extensions, which I’ve been hooked on for years. I’d have thought that encouraging clients to grow their own lashes was going to do Sue out of business, but she says not, as most people’s lashes, like mine, grow straight. That means you can’t really see the length you’ve gained (I reckon I’ve gained about 3mm so far) so you need to go to her for a “lift”, a sort of half-curled lash perm, to show lengthy lashes to their best advantage.
Admittedly, it’s complicated, but these are the lengths women will go to for longer, thicker, darker lashes.
Expensive — nearly £100 — lash-growth enhancers that you paint nightly on to your lashes have been available for a few years. Products such as Revitalash, DermaLash and Marini Lash are modestly popular, but the latest products are more accessible.
L’Oréal’s Renewal Lash Serum (£10.99 at Boots) claims that 75 per cent of testers felt it improved their lashes’ thickness and length; Mavala Eye-Lite Double Lash conditioner (£10 at John Lewis) is said to give noticeable results after one month’s use; while Boots has produced a £39.99 lash improver serum called RapidLash. This launched to such hype that it is now reportedly selling a tube every 30 seconds — not least because there is clinical evidence to prove how well it works (even though those to whom I gave a tube have given up on it after experiencing reactions that made their eyes sting, swell up and go puffy).
Even easier, you could plump for a mascara that promises to grow your lashes (see box). None of these drug-free products will GROW your lashes, but they contain ingredients that will condition and thus strengthen your lashes so they have less risk of breaking off. That does sound like marketing twaddle, but should you stop to consider how little care and attention we pay to our eyelashes — ie none — the TLC theory sounds plausible. Eyelashes fall out after six weeks, but it seems a bit of kindness wouldn’t go amiss.
Eyelashes get washed when you wash your face, which leaves them dried out; UV rays cause damage to their structure; and repeated friction from rubbing your eyes can also weaken them. Add to that that, only 15 per cent of our lashes are in a growth phase’ (the rest are resting or falling out) and the odds seem stacked against them.
You could improve your chances of growing Bambi-style lashes by eating protein-rich food (Philip Kingsley, a trichologist, recommends a high-protein diet for improving hair condition, and I bet the same science applies to lashes) and getting enough sleep and R & R, since excess stress, I’m told, is another reason for premature lash loss and breakage.
Yes, you might have lived without an lash conditioner all your life, but now you know all this, how could you deny your lashes a treat? As for that high-fashion, lash-free look? I think it’s going to be like the trend for bleached-out eyebrows a few years back. Looks edgy on the catwalk, but not a chance of it crossing over into a hot look for real life.
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