As the years go by, our brows and lashes tend to take on a life of their own (literally). Are you struggling with patchy, sparse, and greying brows not to mention thinning lashes? Fuller, elegant brows and lashes frame the eye area and are important beauty enhancers for the face as we get older.
We chatted to Dr. Paola Dal Corno from our R&D headquarters in Switzerland to discover the lowdown on brows and lashes.
What is so special about long lashes?
Pic credit: Elizabeth Taylor
Long lashes are essential to enhance the beauty of the eyes… they frame the eyes and provide a canvas upon which to ‘make the eyes up’. Ever since the 1960s with style icons like Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Lauren, lashes have been the cornerstone of a sophisticated eye makeup look. They also serve a functional purpose to protect the eye cornea from drying out and during blinking, which the eyes does on average 30,000 times a day!
The basics... what are lashes made of?
Eyelashes are just like other hair on our body and are made of 10% water and 90% keratin proteins with some essential lipids to cement the constituent particles together plus pigments.
The hair follicle (located beneath the skin) is the active and living structure of the hair, while the shaft (hard filamentous part that extends above the skin surface) is dead. Just like other hairs on the body, lashes and brows thin as we get older.
How long is the lash cycle we hear so much about?
The lifetime of a lash varies from 45 to 90 days, depending on the physiology of each one’s age, lifestyle habits, make-up and removal habits, possible therapeutic care... The lash life cycle starts with a growth phase between 30 and 45 days, followed by a phase of life, rest and ageing, to end with the unavoidable lash loss. Around 150 to 200 lashes - of an average length of 8 to 12 mm – form the upper lashes against 100 to 150 lashes – of an average length of 6 to 8 mm – for the lower lashes.
Everyday, new ones grow...
Interestingly, each individual eyelash has a mini life cycle of its own, so they are in a constant state of renewal depending on where they are in the cycle. Everyday we loose some, everyday we grow some!
How hard is it to lengthen our lashes and brows if we're not genetically blessed in that fashion?
It’s a process that takes time and dedication, much like investing in skin and nail health. Start by diligently applying a conditioning, nutritive serum like Mavala’s Double-Lash, which for over 50 years has been offering women a solution to short, weak and brittle eyelashes and eyebrows. Invest in a volumising mascara for a great short-term solution for eyelashes and a brow pencil for colour to the eyebrows.
Double-Lash enhances the natural lash production cycle by feeding the lashes with a concentrated formula of proteins, vitamins and glycolic acid. It’s applied in the evening only on clean lashes, as an extra step in your skincare regime, so works best while the body is resting and eyes are closed. A noticeable difference will be seen from 30 days of use for a densifying effect, and after 60 days for a lengthening effect. At the risk of sounding too technical, Double-Lash contains a complex that revitalises both the regenerating and growth phases of hair: it shortens the telogen phase of the hair life (loss phase), in favour of the anagen (birth) and catagen (life) phases, for longer, denser and silkier lashes and eyebrows.
Can anyone use it?
This is suitable for any person looking to achieve healthier, more voluminous lashes and brows (after excessive plucking for example), and to minimise hair loss. The product is gentle and safe to use, having undergone rigorous clinical and ophthalmological tests. The fact that it remains a best seller after launching in 1967 is testimony to its performance. It does not contain any prostaglandin analogues which can sometimes cause iris and skin discoloration around the eyes.
