The hairs on our bodies – including our eyelashes – follow a natural growth cycle. The eyelash growth cycle lasts for approximately three months. We're born with a number of hair follicles, and that number remains pretty much the same through life.
The Natural Lash Shedding Cycle
On average, a person loses about 20% of their natural lashes every two weeks. Natural eyelashes grow in and fall out in cycles, which occurs every 60 to 90 days. Depending on their individual lash growth cycles, a person can typically shed between 1 and 5 natural lashes every day.
If it was because of natural shedding, regrowth will take around six weeks. If, however, your eyelashes fell out with force, the regeneration will take a lot longer. To fully understand when you'll be able to flaunt your new mascara to the max, you'll need to appreciate the three stages of the eyelash growth cycle.
You can help your eyelashes grow back by treating any underlying conditions, and using Latisse, an FDA-approved medication. Eyelash loss may be preventable, especially lashes lost due to cosmetics, lash extension removal, etc.
Lash lifts and eyelash extensions are more mainstream solutions you may have heard of. Eyelash transplant surgery is another method used to improve the appearance of sparse lashes. Unlike lifts and extensions, this procedure offers more permanent results, if performed correctly by a board-certified surgeon.
The life span of an eyelash can vary from 4 months to as long as 11 months. There are three phases to this life span: the growth phase, the degradation phase, and the telogen phase.
Eyelash shedding season occurs twice a year in Spring and Autumn when temperatures begin to change. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to prevent this, but it is crucial to educate yourself and your clients regarding the lash shed.
There are however seasons throughout the year, specifically spring and autumn, where lashes will shed more noticeably. This is exactly like the process that animals go through, where they shed their summer and winter coats, ready for the next season.
While a single lash normally takes months to complete its growth cycle, that cycle can shift in the spring, causing lashes to shed more frequently.
Before a natural lash even falls out at maturity a new lash has already started its growing phase in its place. This process is nonstop, with people shedding anywhere from 1 to 5 natural eyelashes each day. This means that you could lose 1 to 5 eyelash extensions per day.
While hair on the scalp usually stays in the anagen phase for 2 to 7 years (depending on various genetic factors), the hair of your eyebrows and eyelashes stay in that phase for a meager 30 days. Therefore, they don't get as much time to grow and become as long as the hair on your head.
Vaseline is an occlusive moisturizer that can be used effectively on dry skin and eyelashes. It can't make eyelashes grow faster or longer, but it can moisturize them, making them look fuller and lusher.
Eyelashes usually grow back after they're plucked. But new eyelashes need to be left alone for a while in order to complete the growth cycle. That said, plucking eyelashes for cosmetic reasons isn't nearly as common as plucking eyebrows. Some people pluck their eyelashes due to trichotillomania.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, if the eyelashes get singed but the hair follicles are still intact, the lashes will usually grow back in 6 weeks. However, if the hair follicles were also damaged, the eyelashes might not grow back.
Age – Eyelashes naturally thin as a part of the aging process. Medical Conditions - A medical condition such as blepharitis, thyroid disorders, alopecia, inflammatory diseases, skin cancer, and many other diseases could cause eyelashes to thin.
Sebaceous glands attached to these follicles produce less sebum, causing our lashes to become dry and brittle. At the same time, our eyelashes and the skin around them don't hold in as much moisture. Menopause-related hormone changes make our follicles weaker, slowing or stopping lash growth completely.
Your eyelashes naturally thin as you age. For the most part, you shouldn't be overly concerned with it. Your lashes are like the hair on your head. It grows, rests, shed's, and regrows.
The way your eyelashes look is most likely genetic or because you already have thin hair. Lashes may get damaged over time, so you can condition them with moisturizers like coconut oil or castor oil to help them appear thicker and fuller. Latisse is the only FDA-approved product that makes eyelashes grow longer.
Does crying make your eyelashes longer? Unfortunately, no. There is no current scientific evidence that supports this beauty myth. In fact, what many people could be mistaking for longer lashes is actually the eyelashes clumping together from the moisture, becoming darker, and overall more eye-catchingly noticeable.
My goal as an optometrist is to maintain eyelash follicles from inflammation so that the growth phase can last as long as possible – hence creating an eyelash for the most potential for maximum growth. This is the growth phase. It lasts anywhere between 30 to 45 days.
Seeing as your lashes spend most of their time either hanging out or falling out, it's understandable why actually growing out your eyelashes can take a sec. In fact, Dr. Haberman says it can take three months for your lashes to grow naturally.
If you've ever had your eyelash extensions grow out naturally, you might notice that your lashes look extra stubby and short – this is most likely because your lashes broke when the lash extension came off!
Your lash extensions only last a week!
This often happens when not enough lash extensions have been applied. If you think you've found the cheapest technician around then the chances are they aren't spending enough time during the appointment to provide a long lasting, full lash effect.
Extensions are attached to lashes that are at the middle of last stage in their cycle and there is no way to know the exact time that the a lash will shed naturally, so it is not uncommon for a freshly extended lash to shed the day of the application.