RevitaLash Advanced Eyelash Conditioner: First Impressions

My last few eyelash related salon treatments have gone seriously awry - anyone who thinks bad perms went out with the '80s hasn't been near my eyelids - so I've sworn off them until I win the Lotto and can afford to fly home to Up To My Eyes on a regular basis for extensions. In the meantime, I'm cautiously optimistic that this here tube of RevitaLash Advanced might do what it says on the tin.

Previous incarnations of RevitaLash contained a prostaglandin analogue - similar to bimatoprost, the active ingredient in Latisse - and could therefore claim to boost eyelash growth. It was reformulated after a skirmish over patent infringement and now the manufacturer's promise is simply that the infusion of powerful peptides and soothing botanicals together with a mysterious proprietary blend of proven functional cosmetic ingredients in RevitaLash Advanced will beautify and nourish the eyelashes.

That don't impress me much: most mascaras and indeed anything that conditions the lashes could claim to give the same result. The statistic that 97% of an unknown quantity of RevitaLash Advanced users in a clinical study saw an improved appearance in their eyelashes within 3 weeks didn't win me over, either. Still, there are enough anecdotal reports and reviews of longer, more lustrous lashes after use of the new formula doing the rounds to give me hope that it's worth trying, so I've started applying it to my upper lashes at night before I hit the hay.

The instructions are a bit on the oblique side - "apply a thin line of RevitaLash to the base of your lashes, above the level of your skin" - and the accompanying illustration's further confuses matters since at first glance it appears to show RevitaLash being applied to the skin like eyeliner. Indeed, the applicator looks for all the world like an eyeliner applicator. To be clear, though: RevitaLash goes on your lashes, not on your lids.

It feels a bit cold on application, but in the couple of days I've been using it I've had no problems with eye or skin irritation. I'm not yet in danger of causing a gale when I bat my lashes but I'm going to keep a photo diary so that I'll have a visual record of whether they're improving, and I'm also going to attempt to measure them at regular intervals to chart any increase in length. Because that's just the kind of completely mental beauty nerd I am.

I'll check in again in a few weeks with an update on RevitaLash Advanced, but for now I'll leave you with news that there's a version for eyebrows, too. RevitaBrow might just be worth a shot before dropping a couple of grand on an eyebrow transplant, eh?

RevitaLash Advanced is now available from Harvey Nichols Dundrum, priced at €90 for 2ml / €110 for 3.5ml.