These wonder serums gave me full, fluffy brows and luxuriously long lashes

March 12, 2022 at 1:23 AM·7 min read

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Full eyebrows are just a click away. (Photo: Getty)

Much to my discontent, I’ve always had very short, light eyelashes and sparse brows. A few years ago I made it my mission to defy nature: I tried growth serums, tinting, castor oil and everything else under the sun to grow them. Nothing worked, and eventually, I accepted that those things were for people who had viciously overplucked in the '90s and 2000s, not for those of us who were not blessed with bold brows and lashes in the first place.

I adopted an extensive makeup routine to compensate for my measly eyebrows. I began to incorporate pomades, powders, tinted and clear gels — this got old fast. I then resorted to microblading, turning to Shaughnessy Otsuji, one of the pioneers of the practice, to give me realistic, fluffy-looking tattooed brows. Have a look at the result:

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A post shared by SHAUGHNESSY OTSUJI (@shaughnessy) on Nov 11, 2017 at 5:25pm PST

Microblading was great for me, and I would never trust anybody other than Shaughnessy with tattooing my face. It knocked precious time off of my morning routine and made me feel like I could confidently leave the house without makeup. Unfortunately for me, Shaughnessy is based in Vancouver, which makes the recommended yearly touchup difficult for someone who lives in New York.

A few years later, my microblading had mostly faded, and while I hadn’t returned to my exhaustive makeup routine of pre-microblading times, I was back to filling in my brows every day. Below you can see a photo of my brows and lashes at this point (after applying a brow growth serum that gave me some irritation).

Then, last summer, one of my friends with enviably bushy brows and long lashes visited New York — her lashes looking even longer than normal. She credited GrandeLash MD Eyelash Formula serum with the new growth, which at first glance I'd thought must be extensions. I ordered a tube that day.

I was diligent about applying the product along my top lash line every night, and about two months later, people started to notice. Come the three-month mark, everybody thought I’d gotten extensions, too.

GrandeLash (Photo: Walmart) — GrandeLash MD serum. (Photo: Walmart)

GrandeLash $23 at Walmart

After seeing so much lash growth, the next time I ordered GrandeLash (about three and a half months after buying my initial tube), I decided to also order GrandeBrow Enhancing Serum.

GrandeBrow Enhancing Serum (Photo: Walmart)

GrandeBrow $26 at Walmart

I apply GrandeBrow below the front of my brows near my nose, above the tail of my brows at my outer eye, and use whatever is left in the brush throughout my entire brow, dipping into the tube once in between each brow. My methodical application is intended to create a straighter brow effect, which I think gives my eyes a lifted look. It’s now been two months since I started using GrandeBrow, and I’m seeing plenty of new growth in the areas where I apply it most. Below see my lashes before and after using GrandeLash and GrandeBrow regularly.

Before using GrandeLash or GrandeBrow serum.

After using GrandeLash and GrandeBrow serum. — After using GrandeLash serum.

While I am still very happy with my microblading experience, it’s nice to have more control over how full my brows are, adding some depth and boldness on days that I want it and keeping my brows a bit more sparse and natural with clear gel most days. I’ve now practically become a Grande spokesperson — I got my mom, my sister, and several of my friends hooked, and they’ve all seen similar growth.