They do say that eyes are the windows to the soul. Whatever they are, most of us women tend to want lovely, long and curled ends to our lashes, but how many of us have thought about the whole life cycle and what happens to them?
All the hair on our bodies follows a natural growth cycle, and it’s important to look after our lashes so they remain in good condition throughout our lives. Just look at the amount of people who plucked their eyebrows to the bare minimum in the 80’s and 90’s, and how they can’t ever recover those full brows they once had.
Our eyelashes have a very important job, so look after them. If something touches them, we blink, which in many cases, repels the dust and dirt from falling into our eyes. We’re all different in how many lashes we have. On average, we have about 120 on our upper lid and around 77+ on our lower lids. We can lose a few lashes every day.
The Lifecycle of an Eyelash
1 – Growth
This lasts around a month and a month and a half. They grow at different times, otherwise, they’d all fall out and be regrowing at the same time.
2 – Transition
When our lashes have reached their full length, they stop growing. When that happens, the now redundant follicle begins to reduce in size, and the eyelash risks falling out. This phase can last a few weeks, and if an eyelash falls out at this point, it won’t recover and begin to grow again until the resting time has elapsed.
3 – Resting
At this point, it’s when our lashes lie dormant, not growing and the follicle does nothing, and can last up to three months. During this time, the lash will fall out and when it’s over, new ones will begin to grow.
Tips To Protect Precious Eyelashes
- Take mascara and make up off before going to sleep. Lying on your lashes can cause them to break, when the rigid, mascara coated lashes come into contact with a pillow you’ve fallen soundly sleep on.
- Use water based mascara as often as possible. Waterproof mascara may be top-notch is making a curled end stay in place, but it’s hard-wearing on our delicate lashes.
- Pat your face dry, especially your eyelashes, and don’t rub. Rubbish can break and pull out lashes before they’re ready in the natural growth cycle.
- Comb your lashes gently and regularly, when they are clean and make-up free, to separate them, especially if they’ve been lifted or have extensions.