RapidLash Eyelash Enhancing Serum

Been using this full size 0.1fl oz/3mL tube of RapidLash Eyelash Enhancing Serum off and on for the past 2 months. It came from the Dermstore Fall 2012 Super Luxe Grab Bag #4 (mistakenly identified as Bag #1 due to packing list mix up), and good thing it did, because I would never pay $50 for it!

Before we go on with the review, I want to make a couple of things clear. First off, I don't have much lashes. My lashes are short and sparse. My eye brows too, for that matter. Unlike some gals out there, I was not blessed with long lush lashes or thick dark brows. So my philosophy when it comes to my lashes and brows have always been - why bother?!? Seriously, why bother spending so much time and effort (and money) on something I don't have when I can direct all that resources and focus my energy on what I do have? So over the years, mascaras have been the very first samples/freebies I pass on to my family and friends. I have tried a few (Lancome Definicils, Hypnose, Clinique, blah...), but each time I hated how they all weigh down my whole eyes in addition to giving me spider-leg lashes. Ick. Oh yeah, and they run and smear. I just don't get mascaras, period. 

When it comes to eyebrows, it was only after hanging out with my sister in Japan that I picked up her habit of shading the brows. She just uses any dark, matte eye shadow, while I took a shot with Anastasia of Beverly Hills Highlighting Brow Kit and was thankful it worked out. But I was still only shading and did not learn to shape until my recent trip to Taipei. Let's just say hubby, me, and my sister tried our tourist luck with the glamour photography industry there, and I pretty much let the makeup artist did whatever she wanted with my brows. It was an eye opening experience in all senses of the word! My brows, while still thin and light, are now in their best shape ever!

So all that above was a long and rambling roundabout way of saying it was quite a stretch for me to start using this Eyelash Enhancing Serum, solely because I don't give a rat's ass and could not be bothered. If anything, I expected it to fail, and I was so sure it wasn't going to do a thing for my wimpy lashes and brows that I didn't even care to take pictures of them to document the growth result. And during the past two months, I've been totally nonchalant, applying only when I remember, skipping every third night either way due to my retinoid treatment (Differin). So at best, you can say I've been a lousy tester for this product.

As for the product itself, it is a clear and unscented growth enhancing serum with a thin gel texture that doesn't dry quick enough in my humble opinion. It comes with a fine brush tip applicator, with which you to apply every night along the upper and lower lash lines (*not* the water line!) as though you're lining with liquid liner. The serum can also be used on the brows, which I do. What I notice immediately after application is that it heats up in a flash and then cools off. That made me really nervous in the beginning because I thought it would burn my eyes, but it didn't, and it still doesn't. I do wish it would dry much faster than it does, because with my Asian eyes one blink is all it takes to smear the stuff all over my lids. Should I worry more stray hair will grow on my lids? Nah...

After 2 months of irregular use, did it work? A little bit. It seems to work better with my brows than my lashes. My brows are now a tad darker and slightly fuller with fewer bald spots. With my lashes, they are not any darker or fuller but are slightly longer, and only with my right eye. Buhh?!? O.o Yeah, my reaction exactly. I wish I could tell you why because I apply both with equal laziness, but I have no idea LOL! So really, take my words with a grain of salt, because all this may very well be imagined and not real. 

RapidLash Eyelash Enhancing Serum:

Water, Rhizobian Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Butylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Biotin, Panthenol, Pantethine, Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans, Allantoin, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Seed Extract, Dipotassium, Glycyrrhizate, Alcohol Denat, Isopropyl Cloprostenate, Octapeptide-2, Copper Tripeptide-1, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean Oil), Phosphatidylcholine, Polypeptide-23, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Sorbic Acid.

***List of ingredients from Dermstore.

P.S. 

If you were wondering about the glamour photography I mentioned above, this is what happened, with the top 2 being "backstage" and the bottom 4 "results" with minimal retouch. There is an entire industry in most of Asia dedicated to glamour photography like this. The variety of style as well as price range is huge and if you spend time shopping around, undoubtedly you will find a studio and photo package you like. It's a neat experience, and they usually do an excellent job with the pictures, which means great gifts for mums and grandmas, pretty holiday cards, at least decent and somewhat less boring decoration for the coffee table. The options are endless! And who knows, you may walk away learning to shape your eyebrows like I did ^.^