Whether you’re ageing gracefully, reluctantly or (if you’re very lucky) hardly at all, the chances are you’ve at least noticed changes to your eyes and lashes as you grow older.
Wrinkles, crows feet, drooping lids and bags are just some of the things we can worry about as we get older, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll spend an undisclosed fortune a year on anti-ageing serums, creams and retinols (not to mention more invasive solutions). All of these things are designed to prevent those clock hands from ticking onwards and to keep us looking youthfully bright eyed.
The delicate skin around our eyes might be the first giveaway of our age, but it’s not the only one. As we age, our eyelashes tend to be shorter, and our eyebrows can decrease in density, colour and thickness. There are a number of causal factors, the menopause for women, long-term mascara or extension use, UV damage and other health and environmental factors. It’s a sad fact that older eyes are not just characterised by wrinkles, but by shorter lashes and sparser eyebrows.
The good news is that there are a host of things you can do to “fix” your lashes and brows so that they appear healthier, fuller and, let’s face it, younger. The bad news is that they bear careful picking; get it wrong and you might be announcing your age yet more loudly.
Lash extensions are a tempting fix; they give an immediate image boost, they come in a huge variety of types, lengths and thicknesses from fluttery Russian mink to synthetic L curls (with a huge variety of price points to match) and have been considered de rigour for decades.
They’re also, however, one of the potential causes of lash loss. Traction alopecia, caused by the weight of even the lightest extensions, can impact your lash’s natural ability to grow. They’re also expensive and require a lot of maintenance. If you do end up suffering from traction alopecia, your lash tech is likely to insist on a break. This could leave you with fewer lashes than your started with, at least until they can recover.
Younger consumers are also starting to buck the lash extension trend, opting either for a lighter application or for a bare lashed look to suit a more natural aesthetic. To gen z, thick black bands of lash extensions are a trend of the older generation. The very lashes we turn to could be ageing us more.
While extensions have dropped in popularity, lash and brow serums have risen in both popularity, availability and variety.
Anything you apply to your eye area should be selected with care from a reputable source, but in most cases a serum with conditioning agents will contribute to healthy growth of both the lash and the brow. It’s like using conditioner on your hair. It smoothes and moisturises the hair cuticles, making them less prone to drying and breakage.
A serum that you apply directly to your hair, like a conditioner, isn’t actively causing growth. But it helps each individual hair to stay healthy, and to better sustain a natural length and thickness. The affect can be amazing.
Before and after photos showing real customer results after 12+ weeks of Sun Protect Serum use.
