Want thicker lashes? Five easy ways to make them look bigger

Cleansers, serums, heated curlers and Vaseline all have an impact on your eyelashes

Want to make an impression with your lashes? First, make the most of what you have.

Long, thick lashes may be tiny tendrils, but they can make a serious impact. Perhaps it’s the way they contrast brightly with the scleral whiteness of the eyes or how they frame our most expressive facial features so beautifully, but they are never out of style. The best way to get them looking longer and thicker naturally is to make the most of what you have.

Use an oil or balm cleanser

I sometimes read that castor and coconut oils thicken lashes. Both are very viscous and can make lashes feel bulkier, but they don’t physically densify anything. However, removing your makeup with an oil or balm cleanser can help preserve and condition the lashes you have, allowing them to reach their maximum growth potential. Eye-makeup removal is my least favourite part of cleansing. It needs to be done gingerly to avoid discomfort and lash loss and doing so thoroughly takes time. A fragrance-free oil cleanser can save you money and effort.

Pestle&Mortar Erase Cleansing Balm, €39.35 at meagherspharmacy.ie

Grandmothers are wise about many things and mineral oil-based Pond’s Cold Cream is one of them. Stay with me, naturally oily ladies, because many of these products have emulsifiers that turn them into milky lotions when you rinse them, the viscous grip of the oil phase is just so much better at thoroughly coating and sloughing off makeup than water-based cleansers. Pestle&Mortar Erase Cleansing Balm, €39.35 at meagherspharmacy.ie, is a non-greasy blend of cold-pressed meadowfoam, pumpkin enzymes, and prickly pear seed oil that conditions as it cleanses.

Switch your mascara

Delilah Intense Day-to-Night Buildable Volume Mascara, €27.45 at lookfantastic.ie

Each mascara is unique, and some are more drying. Formulas that hold a curl firmly or are waterproof, for example, tend to leave lashes feeling brittle. It is worth monitoring how your lashes feel after wearing any new product a couple of days in a row. Rather than ditching a mascara you love, you might try switching to a lighter or more emollient formula a couple of days a week. In my experience, Delilah Intense Day-to-Night Buildable Volume Mascara, €27.45 at lookfantastic.ie, is very conditioning, it has a vegan plant-wax blend for a base and some Vitamin E. 

Róen Cake Mascara, €28.75, at cultbeauty.com

Róen Cake Mascara, €28.75, at cultbeauty.com, another vegan formula, is a glossy black and has a brush-head that separates beautifully. Olive oil and yet more vegan waxes keep lashes feeling good.

Avoid heated curlers

The less you tamper with your natural lashes, the more likely they are to thrive. Just as heated appliances fragilise the hair, heating up your curlers damages the lashes. Lashes are far more delicate than hair and using extensions can weigh on and weaken them. The adhesive that comes with false lashes can irritate the margin above your natural roots and inflammation promotes lash loss. If you truly love the look of these enhancements, I suggest you flutter away but even a six-month break from them (you will need that time to strengthen and regrow lashes) can completely transform your natural reserve.

Non-prescription lash growth serums don’t work, but conditioners help

If you follow the Kardashians, you’ve probably heard of Latisse, the prescription-only serum with the active ingredient bimatoprost, a glaucoma remedy that also grows lashes. Bimatoprost is currently the only proven and approved way to enhance lash growth topically, which hasn’t stopped multiple beauty brands promising that their peptide or plant extract-based products achieve lash growth without the doctor’s visit or the high price point. This is not dishonest per se, applying peptides or plant oils to lashes can have a conditioning effect, leading to less lash breakage and loss. However, those are not new lashes that you see in the before-and-after photos — they’re just the model’s existing ones lasting longer before they shed. Over-the-counter serums shouldn’t harm your eyes, but you can condition lashes with Vaseline, evening primrose oil, and other moisturisers you probably already own.

Check for an underlying condition

The length, density, and lifespan of your lashes is strongly determined by your genes, but you should not ignore an unusual amount of shedding. Like our hair, eyelashes can indicate overall health and it is best to get sudden changes checked out. Lash loss can be a sign of the immune condition alopecia areata or a thyroid problem, as well as a side-effect of inflammatory skin problems such as blepharitis. Changes that can cause hair loss from the head — crash dieting, stress, unbalanced attempts at veganism, etc. — can also trigger lash loss. Improving or resolving these other issues is a surer route to getting back to normal than my above tips.