How do you grow eyelashes? How long will they take to grow back? What are some of the common natural home remedies to grow them back? Get some tried and tested ways you can get longer thicker eyelashes.
Show me a person who has not wished they long thick doll-like eyelashes and I will show you a liar. Long thick lashes have been considered attractive since we were cavemen and a hairy animal skin was the height of fashion. Because we find them attractive in other people, it just figures that we also want them so we can also be seen as more attractive. Or rather so our eyes are seen as more attractive.
Also, we need them to bat at a person as the universal sign of open flirtation. And no single book says she batted her scanty short lashes at him, oh no! It was always the ones with long thick lashes getting it. So yeah, knowing how to make your them grow longer is important business.
At least we treated it as such and got you some great ways to get your lashes to grow. Whether you are looking for prescription medicine for eyelash growth or some good old natural remedies, we got you.
How to Make lashes Grow – treatments
The length of your eyelashes is predetermined by genes. When this is being decided deep in the crevices of our chromosomes, providing effective protection for the eye, which is their more functional role is probably the main consideration. Other factors like diet, age and the general state of our health also have a role in the way yours turn out.
Many people seeking for solutions to grow their eyelashes are just dissatisfied with the length and volume of their perfectly healthy if somewhat scanty eyebrows. For a small percentage though, the reason they want solutions for their growth is that theirs are falling out visible gaps or none at all. While it is not life threatening as a condition, we imagine it can cause enough worry.
The individual hairs that make up our eyelashes are at different stages of growth. We will not go into the jargon , because we generally do not like getting into the jargon. But also because the breakdown makes sense too without us losing any sleep over it. So here goes, hair basically has three stages of growth. The active growth phase, the intermediate phase, and the resting phase. The hair on the resting phase will hold out for a limited period of time, then shed.
The amount of time mature hair stays in the resting phase depends on where the hair is located, it is basically pre-coded for different hairs on your body. For eyelashes, this resting period could be up to 100 days. Though the cycle of growth and shedding is continuous, you may not notice any changes in your their thickness because you are still left with plenty of lashes in the other stages.
Eyelashes falling out so much it is noticeable could be due to age, some conditions like thyroid problems and cancer, and weakening due to too much rubbing of the eyes as well poor beauty habits like sleeping with eye make up on.
Now that you know more about why you have the eyelashes you have, we can move on to ways you can grow them so long they are practically a curtain over your eyes. Ok, maybe that does not conjure the most attractive mental picture, but you get it, we are aiming high on the length and thickness chart.
Find all you need to know under each of the how-tos below.
How to grow them with Latisse
You may have come across it in your search for longer eyelashes online. It is the brand name for Bimatoprost, the only prescription medication for growing them. Bimatoprost was glaucoma medication under the brand name Lumigan for a long time until the numbers of glaucoma patients reporting longer darker eyebrows while using Lumigan led to some research. That research gave us Latisse. It is still used as glaucoma medication though under its old brand name.
Latisse is often used to treat Hypotrichosis which is fancy speak for scanty lashes.
It comes with its own special applicator and should only go on the upper eyelashes. It is important that you discuss with your doctor before using Latisse just so he can take you through the pros and cons. You will also need a prescription as it is ideally not sold over the counter.
Along with giving you longer darker, thicker lashes, the medication may also leave you with some darkening of the eyelid and iris. Iris, in case you are wondering, is the colored part of the eye. The darkening on the eyelid may be temporary but that on the iris may be permanent. You may also end up with hair on other parts of the eyelid if the Latisse keeps leaking and spreading during application. Some people may also get red dry eyes while using the medication.
Consistent and proper use should give results in upwards of eight weeks. There is some mystery to how exactly Latisse spurs growth. What is known however whatever it does is not permanent and your lashes will gradually resume their normal state once you stop using it.
How to grow longer and thicker with OTC
These you can try without bothering your doctor as they are sold over the counter, but they do not qualify as DIY home remedies still because you purchase them as a ready to use products. Revitalash, Lash Out and Rapid lash are good examples of over the counter products that are sold as lash growth accelerators. Should you choose to give them a try, do remember patience and consistency is key to getting a result here. This review on instyle,.com here could help guide you on the best eyelash growth serums on the market.
How to grow longer eyelashes naturally
1. Use Vaseline
Vaseline has a myriad uses in beauty and skin care. From soothing chapped lips to helping scrapes and burns heal to acting as a makeup remover, I am sure you have a longer list than mine in your head. You can add helping in eyelash growth to that list. Here is how to grow longer eyelashes with Vaseline; just dab a little Vaseline on your clean eyelash area and spreading all over the upper ones. You can use a cleaned out mascara applicator or your clean fingers.
Proponents swear that if you do this every night you will see longer lashes after several weeks. And while you wait, that your lashes will look more defined with the Vaseline giving you a more awake look. A little Vaseline may also help the mascara you apply the next morning last longer. However, the operative word here is a little, too much and you will have smudging and raccoon eyes.
2. Use Castor Oil
The thinking behind this is that if it can help hair growth elsewhere including the hairline and eyebrows, it can help with the eyelashes. Castor oil massaged into the scalp is said to stimulate the hair follicle which encourages growth but will also help strengthen and moisturize existing hairs.
You can use pure castor oil much like we described using the Vaseline above, a little on your lashes every night. Basing on its popularity on natural beauty and health blogs as a remedy for hair growth, we say this remedy worth a shot. Some say the castor oil to use for best results is Jamaican black castor oil; others say that even pure cold pressed castor oil will serve the purpose. You can also mix it with other ingredients to make an eyelash growth serum. Here is an easy one that promises to give you good ones to die for.
3.Massage with Coconut Oil
We seriously recommend always having a bottle of extra virgin coconut oil handy because apparently, it can be a solution to 98 of your 99 health problems. Scalp acting up? Fix it with some coconut oil. Skin break out? Banish those zits with coconut oil. And now, want to grow out your eyelashes? You guessed it, make a habit of applying some coconut oil onto your lash line every night and just wait to see them popping all over the place in a few months.
There is not much backing by research that coconut oil, almond oil, or other natural oils help eyelashes to grow. One explanation is that it does nothing for growth and the only reason it may appear you have thicker eyelashes and eyebrows after using the oil is that it conditions existing hairs so they do not fall off as early as they would have in the resting phase.
However, some people swear it works and it is just researchers lagging behind, so don’t write the remedy off yet.
3.Brush them
You will need an eyelash brush. You can get these at your local beauty store, most likely as part of a set of makeup paraphernalia. Place the teeny brush on your upper ones and brush outwards and upwards. Repeat daily. Apparently, that is all you need to them to your dreams in a few months. If for nothing else, you could try this because it has got to be the simplest home remedy ever!
How long does it take for eyelashes to grow back?
Let us assume for a minute that you lost your eyelashes after some abnormal shedding. You will naturally want to know do eyelashes grow back and also, how long do eyelashes take to grow back?
The answer to the first question is yes, they totally grow back. But it is hard to give a definite time frame that will apply to everyone who has suffered madarosis which by the way just means eyelash loss. So to answer the how long question;
We love quick fixes as much as the next person. We wish we could give your tips on how to grow your eyelashes overnight. But we can’t, at least not with a clear conscience. Eyelashes are hair and if you have read about or attempted a remedy to increase hair growth, you know that there are no quick fixes there. The fastest treatments may only produce results after several weeks. But just because it is not working quickly does not mean it will not help you grow more eyelashes. So instead of wondering about how to grow eyelashes fast, why you don’t devote your energy to making sure the remedies work for you.
You will get results with several weeks of consistent using at the earliest. Some people have seen satisfying results after months so do try commit to using the remedy for a while.
How soon you get your lashes back will also depend on whether the underlying cause of the madarosis is properly addressed, to begin with. For example hormonal replacement in case of menopause, or proper treatment in case you are losing them due to thyroid problems.
Even if you have not lost any and just want an extra millimeter or two on your lashes, you will still need to be patient and consistent as you use the treatment before you see any changes.
Do not lose all hope if the above treatments do not make your eyelashes grow, you may need to explore treatments for extreme cases like an eyelash transplant.
