Biotin For Eyelashes: Is It Good To Use?

The quest to have longer, fuller and healthier lashes is the beauty holy grail for most makeup enthusiasts these days. Many will go to the point of having extensions added or wearing falsies to achieve the luscious lash look you’ll find all social media influencers wearing.

If this resonates with you, then you’ll no doubt have heard about how using Biotin serum will be the thing that will help your eyelashes grow thicker and longer than ever.

But does this sound too good to be true?

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the biotin for eyelashes trend and whether it’s actually good to use on your lashes.

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Biotin For Eyelashes

There are now beauty serums for practically everything, and eyelashes are no exception. The promises made by eyelash growth serums brands that claim to help you to grow longer, healthier and thicker lashes are very attractive, considering you wouldn’t need to use mascara and false eyelashes on the daily.

And of course, the companies that make eyelash growth serums want you to believe that their products will help the little tiny hairs on your eyelids grow like mad.

And they promote this fact all over social media with before-and-after pictures that seem hard to question!

Each manufacturer of eyelash growth serum has its own key ingredients list, including peptides, panthenol, almond oil, hyaluronic acid, castor oil, and biotin, which is the most common one found in over-the-counter formulations.

Each manufacturer of eyelash growth serum has their own key ingredients list, including peptides, panthenol, almond oil, hyaluronic acid, castor oil, and biotin, which is the most common one found in over-the-counter formulations.

A Brief Note on Lash Serums

Most commercial lash serums, including Revitalash (which we looked at here) use biotin in the ingredients list. But perhaps the most famous lash serum, Latisse, does not. Latisse is prescription only, and you’ll need to talk to your doctor if you want to use it.

Assuming you don’t want to bother with prescriptions and all the hassle, let’s look at the commercially available products and the powerhouse ingredient Biotin.

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What is Biotin?

So, what exactly is biotin? Well, it is also known as vitamin B7, and it is claimed to improve the health of your hair by helping to improve the strength of keratin, which is the protein that makes up your hair’s structure.

This is why there are a lot of shampoos and conditioners, and even oral supplements, that are formulated with biotin.

And all of these products that advertise the promise of fuller, thicker, and more voluminous hair often contain biotin.

However, despite these remarkable claims, there’s very little scientific evidence that suggests biotin promotes hair growth, even though a deficiency in this B vitamin is known to be a factor in those suffering from increased hair loss.

So, what does this all mean?

Is there a connection between biotin and hair growth?

Well, yes and no.

Because even in cases where there was a biotin deficiency present in a patient, supplementation didn’t necessarily stop hair loss.

Despite these remarkable claims, there’s very little scientific evidence that suggests biotin promotes hair growth, even though a deficiency in this B vitamin is known to be a factor in those suffering from increased hair loss.

For instance, in one study, the researchers prescribed a biotin supplement to 22 patients that had low biotin levels after gastric sleeve surgery. After 12 weeks, only five of the patients reported a significant improvement, while three claimed that there was no effect from taking the supplement.

This meant that there were 14 patients that reported only a slight effect, which suggested to the researchers that more factors were also at play when it comes to hair loss and biotin supplementation.

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So Is Biotin Good To Use On Your Eyelashes?

There’s no super compelling evidence to suggest that biotin supplementation actually increases hair growth. This is likely the same when it comes to your eyelashes, as well as your eyebrows.

There’s no super compelling evidence to suggest that biotin supplementation actually increases hair growth. This is likely the same when it comes to your eyelashes, as well as your eyebrows.

And we think this is probably true. Supplements rarely get absorbed into the body properly, since the active ingredients have to survive getting past your stomach acids first, which is unlikely.

So, if biotin supplements can’t get absorbed properly, then it’s also unlikely that a topical eyelash growth serum will do the job instead. It will do nothing to actually affect the growth cycle of the hair that comes out of your eyelids.

Plus, if you constantly apply a biotin growth serum close to the roots of your lashes, there is a possibility that you will clog the glands on your eyelids, which are essential for the function of tears, and can cause discomfort and infection, such as styes and conjunctivitis.

And in fact, there is some preliminary evidence that lash serums can change your eye color permanently!

But even still, some may want to try it. And if you are curious, give a lash serum a shot. Many report success! But false lashes or extensions will be much more effective.

Without a doubt, Latisse will likely be much more effective than products you can order on Amazon, but again, Latisse doesn’t have biotin in it.

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How to Boost Biotin Naturally

To boost your hair, skin and nails in a more natural way, you can make sure that you’re eating a well-balanced diet that includes foods that are rich in vitamin B7.

Naturally occurring sources of biotin are:

Eggs

The yolks of eggs are especially rich in biotin.

Legumes

Both peanuts and soybeans are great sources of biotin. Just make sure that the soy you eat isn’t genetically modified.

Liver

Liver is one of the best sources of biotin available, although organ meats aren’t popular food sources these days, even among most meat eaters.

Yeast

Both brewer’s yeast and nutritional yeast contain biotin. However, you should be aware that specific amounts will vary according to brand.

Avocado

This delicious and popular fruit is a great source of healthy fat and is very rich in biotin.

Sweet potato

Sweet potatoes are one of the best vegetable sources of biotin for vegetarians and vegans, and they can be eaten both baked or boiled.

Nuts

Sunflower seeds and almonds are among the best sources of vitamin B7, although eating a variety of nuts and seeds would help to balance levels in your body overall.

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How to Help Your Eyelashes Grow

Using a more natural eyelash growth serum may also help your eyelashes to grow healthier and thicker than they are now. And for this, you can use castor oil, which many beauty enthusiasts have found makes their eyelashes grow in thicker, stronger, and glossier.

The best time to use castor oil on your eyelashes is before bedtime. Make sure that they’re clean and free of makeup before you start. You should dab a small amount of castor oil on a cotton swab before running it along the top of your lash line.

Make sure that you take great care to not get any oil in your eye though, or it will sting and burn. If you do get oil in your eye, by accident, then you should wash out the castor oil immediately with water.

Make sure that you take great care to not get any oil in your eye though, or it will sting and burn. If you do get oil in your eye, by accident, then you should wash out the castor oil immediately with water.

When you wake up in the morning, simply wash away the castor oil on your lash line either with water or makeup remover.

If you need a suggestion for castor oil to use on your eyelashes, then we suggest Home Health’s Original Castor Oil, which is a cold-pressed, non-GMO, solvent-free, and non-toxic formula that retains the beneficial nutrients sourced from the seeds of the castor plant.

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Conclusion

So, do you actually want to spend money using biotin for eyelashes? Well, as we’ve discovered here, the marketing claims made by the manufacturers of eyelash growth serums doesn’t add up to the evidence.

Therefore, we believe that you’ll be better off getting adequate biotin boosting from the foods you eat. That will help to keep your hair and nails healthy, as well as allow your eyelashes to grow in thicker and stronger.

And until then, you can use the castor oil bedtime treatment mentioned above to boost their glossy look.