Shoppers Are 'Amazed' That This $9 Lash Serum Lengthens 'Short, Tiny Lashes' Within Weeks

Finding a lash thickening serum that actually works is like finding a needle in a haystack, and when it happens, people pay big money to hold onto it. Some serums go for up to $150, enough to make your eyes water beneath those newly long, thick lashes — but according to shoppers, one $9 drugstore secret is phenomenally effective. And unsurprisingly, it's from Maybelline's family of fantastic lash products.

The brand counts Meghan Markle as a fan of its original Lash Sensational mascara; according to Markle's makeup artist, Lydia Sellers, the duchess introduced Sellers to the mascara in 2018. Maybelline's newer iteration, the Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara, has had TikTok in its grip since it went viral earlier this year, and the formula wins accolades from self-proclaimed "mascara snobs" impressed by the never-before-seen length it guarantees.

Those Internet-famous successes considered, it's amazing that the Maybelline Lash Sensational Boosting Eyelash Serum (Buy It, $9, amazon.com) has escaped TikTok's attention for as long as it has — but because that means shoppers aren't yet vying with hordes of vloggers to get their hands on it, maybe it's not a bad thing. But if you listen to Amazon reviewers, it's just a matter of time, especially because some see results in as little as a week. (

Buy It: Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Boosting Eyelash Serum, $9, was $10, amazon.com

"After using this product for a couple of weeks, I am AMAZED at how much length this serum has given me," wrote a shopper of the "game changer." "Even from the first application I noticed a little length change. It's a great primer to put on before applying mascara, and it definitely will grow out your lashes."

Another said of the results they saw in a month, "My short, tiny lashes on the inner corners of my eyes are long and nice now! Amazing quality and price compared to other ones."

Some lash growth serums are notorious for causing irritation, but reviewers say that's not the case for Maybelline's — it's "gentle and works." Even people who accidentally cut off their eyelashes in a lash curler encounter gone wrong (nightmare status) say it helped them regrow *even longer* in three weeks, and applying the extra to their brows has filled them in, too. (Psst, if you're also in the market for an eyebrow growth serum, check out this guide for fuller brows.)

The formula is based on vitamin B5 (aka alias panthenol), along with centella asiatica (translation: a soothing antioxidant) and the amino acids arginine and serine. As Kelly Dobos, a cosmetic chemist in Cincinnati, Ohio and president of the U.S. Society of Cosmetic Chemists previously told Shape, both panthenol and amino acids are beneficial for strengthening hair. "When [panthenol is] applied to hair, it takes on a pro-vitamin form converting to pantothenic acid, which can penetrate hair fibers to add strength," she said.

Those ingredients make for efficacy so convincing, customers are on their fifth or six tubes of the Maybelline serum and rave about how it "saved [their] lashes," bringing breaking ones "back to life" with added length. And while some say it's hard to find in stores, the difference they see is enough to warrant an Amazon shipment.

"I loved this. I originally thought it would be a scam, but the low price made me want to try it. It ended up working so well!" wrote a last reviewer. "My eyelashes went from being short and thin to long and voluminous, in only three weeks. Would definitely recommend."

For $9, there's no downside. Grab a tube for yourself before the rest of the Internet catches on.