Lashes, I love thee!

Hey Girlies

Lashes, lashes, lashes . . !

I am loving using these lash enhancement products (notice, I said these. More later)

I have never been in to gardening but now, I’m getting why some people go out at the break of dawn each morning to water flowers and move tomato plants. I think it might give them the same lovely warm, fuzzy proud feeling in the pit of their stomachs that I get as I watch my lashes bloom. That is right, bloom! It is so satisfying to take the time to give my lashes a little tender loving care each day. Now okay I’m not watering them but like a gardener, I like to think I’m nourishing them and now, spring has arrived early. Well . . , in the world inhibited by my lashes and I anyway.

Here are some pics.

The pics above were without mascara.

 

The pics above are with the Max Factor Lash Extending mascara, that I may have mentioned once or twice before. ;-)

See, I don’t know if you can see in the pictures but there is length here and over the last week or so, I think there is definitly extra volume. Although rather then new hairs growing in the gaps of my lash line, new lashes are starting to grow slightly above my normal lash line. In effect, this is giving me two rows of upper lashes. Is this even possible?!

Now I think about it, it probably is not. Maybe I need to take a closer look. I will probably find the roots anchored in the same line. Maybe the new hair is just growing with different direction and curling differently giving the two row effect.

Ooh, lashes . . , aren’t they fascinating? :-)

I stopped using my Ardell product last Wednesday, just over a week ago. I am happy that it improved the condition of my lashes and certainly gave the impression (and possibly reality) of longer lashes. When I was using it, each individual lash looked thicker and stronger. I am not sure if it added volume to my lash line or filled in any gaps.

Last Wednesday, I started using Talika Lipocils. This was meant to be on stand by for when I finished Ardell but I still have a little Ardell left and despite, Ardell’s grade A results, I still got bored and as I like to swap it up, the temptation of Talkika’s 28 day promise was too much and I changed my product of choice. Talika guarantee eyelash growth in 28 days. They also say that the product allows your lashes to reach their maximum growth potential. It is described as an eyelash conditioning gel with vegetal extracts. I will keep the raminder of my Ardell on stand by for when I finish (or get bored of) Talika.

I chose Talika as my new product because like Ardell, it was relatively cheap and had better reviews then products such as L’Oreal’s new lash enhancement serum. Reviews and results were key and I was almost tempted to splash out on Revitalash or Lash Food but changed my mind after reading some discussions and posts on BeautyBrains which seemed to say that any lash enhancement products would not be able to maximise lash growth unless they were a drug as it is affecting the body’s metabolism and if it was causing growth then, the product was a drug. All of the big players have no drug license and it’s use would be technically be illegal in the USA (and I presume the Uk). I know that JulieG713 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67f0l9oF2Ho has done a brilliant review of Talika as has xsparkage http://www.youtube.com/user/xsparkage#p/u/49/r-aMjr0g-GE  and I must say that these were very influential when I was considering what to buy.

Talika was the first product authorised to advertise it’s eyelash growth claims in France so I can not help thinking there is something in it. I have been using this product twice a day and have noticed an increase in volume since I started using this. However, I’ve only been using the product about a week and the new hair which I’ve only just noticed already seems quite long so I wonder if Ardell started this new growth off. Maybe I hadn’t noticed it before, when I was using Ardell, because the hair was new and short and now time is passing and it has grown a bit and I can see it.

Reading this post back, I do seem quite gullible. Longer lashes may be just about believable but extra rows of lashes which are long and glossy straight away, it sounds almost like the less believable claims conveyed in some mascara adverts!

So apologies but this is my review and this is truly what I percieve when I look in the mirror. I wonder if some of it is illusion and my lashes though possibly a little longer are merely standing differently now maybe stronger, they are dancing and curling differently and somehow this is making them look thicker. Maybe just adding the product gives the illusion of thickness. After all. coating your barnet in colour makes your locks look thicker. At the end of the day, isn’t this what mascara is all about? Maybe this clear gel just reflects the light differently and the coated lashes give out the illusion of length. Hmmmm or maybe all these fears sound just as nonsencial as the orginal growth claims.

Well, whatever! I am very impressed with how I percieve my lashes at the moment and will continue to use these products until they finish and I’ll probably share another review of Talika when the 28 days are up.

What about you? What is more important, length or volume? Do you, would you use Lash enhancement products? What is your gut feeling? Do they work or am I just skipping around in pure lash fantasy?

X

PS You can find out more about the Lipocils product here http://www.talika.com/product-8910.html I ordered mine from HQhair.com. 10mls cost me around £20. It took about two and a half weeks for the product to arrive due to stock issues.

Lash update!

Today is the 19th of January 2010 and I think it is time for a lash update.

I started using Ardell Lash and Brow Accelerator on the 23rd of December 2009. Ever since, I have applied it to my top lashes once a day before I go to bed. I have applied it more occasionally, when I can be bothered, to my brows and lower lashes. I believe my lower lashes still benefit from the product on a daily basis as when I close my eyes to sleep, the accelarator on the top lashes probably makes contact with the bottom lashes. I always coat both the top and underside of my top lashes.

I did take some pictures on the 23rd of December before I started applying the accelerator but the pictures are rubbish and I’m not going to use them because you can not see in them, what lashes I started with.

So for my before shot, we have a photo took on a social occasion before I started using the acclerator. This is typical of how my lashes would look with mascara on.

 

 

The next two pictures are of my lashes on New Years Eve. At this point, I had applied the acclerator 8 times.

And this is me earlier today (playing with my MAC), 19 days on from New Years Eve

In order to try and reach fair conclusions, I have had to use photos where I am wearing mascara as I do not have enough bare lashes ones. It should be noted though (I sound like a mascara disclaimer) that I may be using different mascara products in some of the pics. I honestly don’t know what I was wearing in the earlier ones. Today was a basic Rimmel 100% waterproof mascara though.

So, my conclusion . . !

Well, I think that I see a difference. I certainly have not lost any volume or length.  I would go further and say in that last photo, my lashes seem fuller and maybe stronger. I’m not sure how well the first photo of today shows that though.

I am certainly not disappointed when I got the acclerator for less then ten pounds and application takes less then twenty seconds every night.

I know in a earlier post I mentioned that my eyes felt a little sensation at times. I have not felt this for a while and feel there have been no more negative reactions to the product. I noticed two or three eyelashes falling out last week but have seen none for a few days since. I think maybe I naturally do lose lashes in little cycles like this.

I will finish the bottle of Ardell and I hope the difference, that I feel its making, is soon proved beyond doubt.

I’m still not sure if I am applying the product correctly, once a day before bed. There were no application instructions. If anybody has used this product differently, please let me know what you did and the result.

I’ve got a feeling lashes are going to become another obsession so if anybody has any more recommendations for growth products that I might want to look in to when I finish this one, please leave me a comment or an email.

X

PS Don’t forget you can now subscribe. There is a little competition for subscribers coming very soon now.

Lashes for 2010!

 

 

I was very pleased to hear recently that lashes are to be BIG in 2010.

I would say that my eyes are one of my least flawed features so it is strange that on my mission it is one of the first I try to enhance. Maybe it is just that the others are going to be a lot more work!

Anyway on December the 23rd 2009, I started applying the Ardell Brow and Lash Excel Growth Accelarator to my top lashes. I already have quite long lashes but want more volume and colour. I’m hoping that this product will help.

The main reason that I chose the Ardell product was the price. It is a great deal cheaper then many other renowned products in this market such as Lilash, Enormous Lash and Jan Marini. The average price for this type of product seemed more then £80. I brought this Ardell product for less then £9. The reviews I found for Ardell seemed ok and some were even quite impressive. I could not find any horror stories.

There was no application instructions with the product but I have read a little on the internet and have settled in to a routine of applying the product each night before bed to my upper lashes and a space in my brow.

For the first couple of days, I noticed nothing but between days 3-6 (approx), I felt my eyes were ever so slightly more itchier then normal on the lower lash line and I felt a faint tingling sensation occasionally in the eye area. Now, it would be easy to say that this was down to the accelerator but it should also be noted that it was christmas, and I was making up and cleansing more frequently then normal. I never normally notice dropped lashes but at this time, I did notice maybe two or three over a three day period which had fallen.

Fingers crossed though as the itching has now subsided as has any tingling and please, please I have spotted no more fallen lashes. In fact right now, I think my lashes are certainly standing out more. I can not really tell yet if this is just because they are glossier and in better condition or if it is because there has been some growth.

I have yet to see a difference in my brow gaps. Watch this space . . .

X