Does Olive Oil Make Your Eyelashes Grow in Thicker and Longer? |Jessica Savino Makeup

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Does Olive Oil Make Your Eyelashes Grow in Thicker and Longer?

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I believe there is a bit of confusion floating around the internet and something that gets my goat is when misinformation is passed around willy nilly.

I know it is hard to avoid in the world of blogging and as hard as I try to make sure I put forth correct information, I am certain I have been guilty of the same thing. All any of these blog post comes down to is someone's opinion, right? Unless there is scientific evidence behind it and that is what I am trying to find out.

The other day, I watched as a popular YouTuber mixed together this concoction of different oils and explained how these specific oils will make your eyelashes and eyebrows grow in thicker and longer.

And to that I call Bullshit!

Now, I may very well be wrong (but I don't think that I am). You see, I have been using oils for years on my face and body. I have used olive oil as a moisturizer on my face, as well as on my body, I use coconut oil as a pre cleanse to remove my makeup and sometimes as a moisturizer or lip balm. I would think it safe to assume that if this works on your lashes and brows, it would have to work on all the hair on your body. So in theory, I should have a nice coating of peach fuzz everywhere or by the way it sounded in this video, I should look like a gorilla by now. In all this time of using oils, I have never come across any hair growth issues anywhere and quite honestly this is the first time I had ever heard about this. Oh sidenote--the vlogger seemed to apply this oil mixture to her lashes before she applied her mascara which I think is a bit bananas even if it does work!

Call me crazy but what do I know? So off to the internet to see what I could find and sure enough, what I find is website after website (some very reputable), blog after blog writing about how different oils (mostly castor oil and olive oil) make your lashes grow in longer and thicker. They all spoke of this miracle but not one of them explained the science behind why oil makes your lashes grow (and not anywhere else on your body). I kept hearing it was because of the high vitamin E content in olive oil. Then why not just put vitamin e on your lashes/brows.

According to what I've read, everyone seems to agree that this process takes about a month to see results. I've always thought that eyelashes are on a set cycle that you are born with, where fallout and regrowth will occur every 3 months or so. There is nothing that will make your lashes grow in longer or thicker except a prescription serum such as Latisse and even then, it will still take you 3 months to see results. So if you can do it with olive oil in 1 month, how has Latisse stayed in business?

I believe that applying oils to your lashes will condition them and make them stronger, but not thicker and longer. I believe that is where the confusion lies. Some people may be conditioning and strengthening their lashes, therefore experiencing more healthy lashes with less breakage. I honestly believe that if oils did make your lashes grow longer, every single cosmetic company on the planet would have their own version of olive oil mascara or castor oil eyebrow gel.

So here's what I'm going to do. In all fairness to everyone who truly believes this works, I am going to apply olive oil to my lashes and brows every night for the next month. I will report back to you with my findings.

If this does work, I will eat my words and I will probably be thrilled. As you can see in my photos, my lashes are....lets call them skinny.

In the meantime, if anyone has any real explanation as to why oil supposedly causes eyelash growth, please inform us all. I will be trying to get my hands on a doctor for some information but I'm guessing it would be more beneficial to our hair/nails/skin if we ingested the oils instead.