In pursuit of the perfect lashes, some folks might jump straight into lash extensions or find the perfect mascara to enhance their natural lashes.
A third option, lash growth serum, is one that plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Umbareen Mahmood says she would never recommend, after using one that she says lead to multiple surgeries.
In a TikTok that has drawn over 2.2 million views as of Friday, Mahmood (@dr.umbarm on TikTok) says the lash serum she tried was from skincare and beauty brand Rodan + Fields.
She says for the first two months of using the Rodan + Fields eyelash serum she experienced good results before finding that one of her eyes appeared to be bulging from her head.
“One of my eyes was bulging all the way out, you could see the white around it,” she says in the video. “The other eye looked smaller. It’s very noticeable when you take a photo because a photo is a still snapshot, so you’re not talking, not blinking, you can see everything.”
She says she initially went to her eye doctor who agreed that something was wrong and referred her to a specialist who suggested it might be a symptom of hyperthyroidism, which ended up not being the case. Together they explored several possibilities, including a brain tumor.
@dr.umbarm The beauty product I would NEVER recommend #skincare #beautyfail #plasticsurgeonsoftiktok #plasticsurgeon ♬ original sound – Dr. Umbareen Mahmood
When the specialist could not figure out what was happening with her eye, she said she began independently consulting other surgeons to see if anyone else had ideas about what could be impacting her. Then, she came across a surgeon who asked if she had done anything to her eye that would lead to this reaction.
“He was like, ‘That’s exactly what it is,” she says he told her when she mentioned the lash serum.
She goes on to explain that most eyelash growth serums incorporate a compound called prostaglandin that is harmful to the eye, causing muscle thinning in her eye which leads to drooping, and the other eyelid gets bigger to compensate. Correcting the issue required two surgeries, she says.
In addition to causing muscular issues around the eye, she said prostaglandin can also cause the fat around the eye to atrophy, causing eyes to appear sunken, eyelid discoloration, red eyes, dry eyes, cysts and other issues with the inner workings of the eye itself.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Rodan + Fields via email regarding the video, as well as to Mahmood via TikTok direct message regarding the video.
Mahmood is not the first to report issues with a lash serum, as users of other brands of similar products have reportedly gone to the hospital after using them, needing to address similar health concerns that arose out of continued use. In particular, one Grande Lash user says she went to the hospital because her face had grown so swollen that it was draining blood. She said the doctor she saw for the issue told her it was a common issue among users of similar products.
Rodan + Fields has also settled multiple class action lawsuits with customers who had similar complaints about the brand’s lash serum, per Allure.
Several viewers commented on the video that they had similarly poor experiences with lash serums, including the one mentioned by Mahmood.
“This is so true,” one commenter wrote. “I used the Rodan and fields lash serum for about a year on and off and the volume loss under my eyes happened so fast.”
“I was using lash serum years ago and inexplicably developed cataracts in both eyes,” another commenter wrote. “The left eye was so severe I lost all vision and had to have surgery.”
“I used them for years and simultaneously was getting undereye filling for my sudden sunken-in eyes,” a commenter wrote. “TikTok taught me about this problem, I stopped using it a year ago, & my undereye fat has come back!”
However, some users recommended other brands that allegedly did not contain the prostaglandin ingredient.
“Ordinary doesn’t have prostaglandin for anyone looking for a lash serum,” a user said. “It’s not as fast as other lash serums but still more safer??” According to the Ordinary’s website, the product does not list prostaglandin as an ingredient.
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