Do Your Lashes Need Enhancing?

You condition your hair after you wash it, but do you ever condition your eyelashes? There are plenty of companies selling products that range in cost from $5.99 to over $200 in the hopes that you'll believe you need to condition your eyelashes, and make them longer and fuller. But do you need to spend that much to enhance or condition your lashes?

The cosmetic shelves and drugstores and department stores have been filled for years with mascaras that promise you longer lashes, fuller lashes, or both. Lash primers are sold to give your lashes volume and add to their length, and in some cases, to moisturize and protect your lashes.

If your lashes are very short, or missing in patches, then you may want to see a doctor about them. Prescription Latisse^TM promises to make your existing lashes grow longer, and to make new lashes grow. The only major side effect is that the product you apply along the lash line can darken the iris of your eyes, or make hazel eyes brown - a change that is irreversible. For many women, that's worth it for full, long lashes.

People with normal lashes don't need to spend hundreds of dollars, although many do. The Nine By Zero (NBZ) beauty blog has listed their top five over-the-counter lash enhancing products. They are, in order, LiLash Purified Eyelash Stimulator ($139.97); Sovage Eyelash Maximizer ($90.00); RevitaLash Eyelash Conditioner ($119.00); GloMinerals gloLash Enhance Eyelash Serum ($145.00); and Fusion Beauty LashFusion Micro Technology Pure Protein Lash Plump Black ($39.00). I would add two products to that list. LashFood TM all-natural eyelash conditioner ($77.99) has mixed reviews, but uses "nutraceuticals" to "feed" your eyelashes. Real Lash ($44) is a conditioning eyelash treatment, used twice a day, that treats your existing lashes to help them grow, but won't help you grow new lashes.

Then there are the host of mascaras on the market that don't just color your lashes, but promise to make them fuller or longer, for much less than most of the above. Smashbox Cosmetics has three mascaras with slightly different promises; Lash DNA ($19) for length; Bionic Mascara ($19) primarily for fullness; and new Hyperlash for both length and fullness, while botanical antioxidants and peptides protect and repair your lashes. Clinique's Lash Building Primer, $13, claims to moisturize, repair, and protect lashes. The list could go on, but you get the idea.

Turning to drugstore brands, Maybelline's Colossal Volum' Express mascara guarantees 9 times the volume, with its patented MegaBrush and collagen formulation, and it's just $5.99 at www.drugstore.com. One of my sisters swears by Voluminous Full Definition mascara from L'Oreal ($7.50) for her very long lashes; the other uses (department store) Lancome Oscillation Vibrating Infinite Powermascara ($34; after priming her lashes with Lancome's Oscillation Primer). Me? When I'm not using Smashbox Lash DNA mascara, I stick with Maybelline Great Lash mascara, the Allure Award Winning formula that's one of the favorites of celebrity make-up artists, and still around $5. Does it make my lashes longer and fuller? I guess that's a matter of perception; I believe that it does.

Unless you have seriously short or thinning lashes, a good mascara, but not necessarily an expensive one, used with or without a primer, can give you great results. $145 is a lot to spend for a month's worth of "enhancing serum" if you have healthy lashes to begin with, and the companies that sell them make a lot of money. For those who truly need eyelash help, talk to your doctor to see if you need a prescription product like Latisse, or if one of the over-the-counter lash enhancers is right for you.

(Sources: http://www.eyelashesadvice.com/eyelashes-care.html, http://www.lovelyskin.com/products.asp?MID=189. http://blog.ninebyzero.com/beauty-and-makeup/top-5-eyelash-conditioners/, http://www.eyelashgrowthproduct.com/, http://www.sephora.com/search/search_results.jhtml?command=text&attr1=eyelash+conditioners&attr2=&%2Fcom%2Flvmh%2Fcommerce%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2Fiphrase%2Fproxy%2FIPhraseSearchFormHandler.search=search&_D%3A%2Fcom%2Flvmh%2Fcommerce%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2Fiphrase%2Fproxy%2FIPhraseSearchFormHandler.search=+&searchString=eyelash+conditioners&_DARGS=%2Fincludes%2FsearchFinder.jhtml&x=23&y=3 )