Do Eyelash Serums Really Work?

Yes. 

But not all eyelash serums contain the same ingredients - or work in the same way.

I've got a long history with lash serums. I've tried more than I can remember, with varying degrees of success. My obsession started after I had lunch with a Beauty Editor I hadn't seen for a few months. She arrived with eyelashes so long they could have swept the floor.

Her secret? RapidLash eyelash serum. I'd heard plenty about serums promising camel-adjacent, luscious, fluttery lashes, but I'd always assumed they were beauty hype. Her lashes changed my mind.

My First Experience

I bought the serum my way home from our lunch and applied it religiously, morning and night. And eight weeks later... nothing. Well, not quite nothing. My eyes were red and a bit itchy. Not painful, but not pretty either. But I'd already invested two months in the pursuit of the dream lash, so I carried on. Beauty is pain and all that.

A couple of weeks later... boom. My lashes were exceptional. They were noticeably longer and fuller. So long, in fact, they brushed against my eyelids when I blinked. I was obsessed.

I cut back on using the serum daily to a few times a week and eventually stopped applying it to my lower lashes altogether because, frankly, they were beginning to look silly-long.

For about four months, I had the best lashes of my life. Then they started to go on the turn.

The Bit No One Talks About

The ends of my lashes started looking gnarly, wispy and fine - a bit like your hair looks when it desperately needs a good cut. It was around then that I learned the serum I'd been using, like many of the OG lash serums, contained a prostaglandin analogue – a hormone-like ingredient related to drugs originally used to treat glaucoma. This prolongs the growth phase of the eyelash cycle, enabling lashes to stay longer/grow longer before they naturally shed. The results can be spectacular. But, as I can testify, the good times don’t last forever. Eventually, you reach a plateau. My super-long lashes began to shed as part of their natural growth cycle and, because they didn’t all depart at once, I ended up with lashes of noticeably different lengths – long in some places, short and stubby. Lovely. 

A New Generation of Lash Serums

Fast-forward a few years and Sam Chapman was raving to me about Sweed Beauty's Eyelash Growth Serum. She'd got impatient removing some strip lashes and lost some of her own in the process – and was amazed by how quickly her natural lashes were growing back.

The difference? This newer generation of lash serum relies on peptides rather than prostaglandin analogues. Instead of extending the lash growth phase, peptide-based formulas are designed to support and condition the lashes, helping them look stronger, healthier and fuller.

In my experience, they're gentler on the skin around the eyes too – and are still hugely effective – even if the results aren't quite as speedy or dramatic as their prostaglandin formulated rivals. 

The Bottom (Lash) Line

Yes, eyelash serums can work – but you need to be committed to the process. Think at least two to three months of consistent use before judging the results.

And they are not all created equal.

Prostaglandin-based serums can produce dramatic length by prolonging the lash growth cycle, but come with a greater potential for side effects.

Peptide-based serums take a gentler approach, focusing more on conditioning and supporting the lashes you naturally grow.

I've had results from both.

The question isn't really do lash serums work?

It's which kind of lash serum do you want to use?