According to TikTok users, castor oil can give you longer, fuller, thicker lashes in no time. Photo: AFP
Forget eyelash extensions, it's time to embrace a more natural doe-eyed look. Determined to banish indecipherable formulations from their bathroom cabinets, TikTok users are looking to more natural alternatives, all without compromising on their beauty look.
As a result, they now swear by castor oil to get longer, thicker and more beautiful lashes, with no need to visit the salon.
There are countless beauty tips on the Chinese social network. Most of them go viral in just a few days and generate millions of views, showing a keen appetite among users for these – often unusual – beauty tips aimed at improving their daily routines.
This has been seen in recent weeks with an unprecedented craze for hairspray, a miracle product to keep makeup marks off clothes, aluminium foil to tame flyaways, or aloe vera ice cubes for a fresh and healthy complexion.
This week, it's a vegetable oil that's all the rage among TikTok users.
The oil in question is castor oil, which is said to have the (almost) unsuspected virtues of making eyelashes grow and making them thicker.
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More than five million views
Castor oil is known to have many benefits in the world of beauty, whether to strengthen and nourish the hair, or even promote its growth, or to fight against imperfections and signs of ageing.
But what about its powers on eyelashes?
According to users of the Chinese social network, castor oil could be a handy alternative to some of the serums that promise to promote longer, fuller and thicker eyelashes – basically, just like for the hair on your head.
A tip that has quickly gone viral, with five million views for the #castoroilforeyelashes hashtag and its derivatives.
And this beauty tip doesn't require much, except a bottle of castor oil and a wand or brush like the one in your mascara. All that's left to do is apply the said product to your lashes every night for several weeks, or even several months according to some users.
The videos posted on the social network suggest that the result could be spectacular, with eyelashes potentially growing several millimeters at the end of the treatment.
The tip was quickly adapted to eyebrows. As a result, the hashtag #castoroilforeyebrows now has some 2.6 million views on TikTok.
However, some voices are now being raised – including among beauty experts – to say that castor oil has no effect whatsoever on the growth of lashes and eyebrows. Its highly nourishing potential seemingly only boosts the shine of lashes, which could give them a fuller look. Nothing more.
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It's therefore a tip that not everyone agrees on, but it's one which at least has the merit of being harmless – provided that it avoids contact with the eyes.
It's also particularly affordable and makes beauty fans feel great.
What's not to like? Especially since there are already many castor oil-enriched serums on the market... aimed at boosting the growth of eyelashes and eyebrows.
However, it is advisable to choose a cold-pressed, organic vegetable oil that does not contain any chemical ingredients, which can be used for skin, hair and eyelashes, as well as nails – taking care to systematically change the application tool to avoid any risk of irritation. – AFP Relaxnews
