Everything you should know about eyelash glue

Okay, science time!

Big, bold, and voluminous lashes are all the rage this season. But, most of us are not naturally blessed with it. Thankfully, we can use something known as false eyelashes to get exactly the type of eyelashes we want — classic, contemporary, or dramatic.

If you have used false eyelashes before, you must already be aware of eyelash glue or adhesive. This product is quite literally glue that you use to stick the fake eyelashes onto your natural ones.

The fact that you are putting a product so close to your eye creates the need for you to be careful with the type of formula that you use. Read on as we discuss the ingredients that are usually used to create your eyelash glue.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Biotene

Biotene is a naturally produced element in our body that helps to promote hair growth. Most of the time, beauty companies add this ingredient to eyelash glue to provide a little bit of natural goodness.

Biotene can help to give you strong and thicker lashes so that’s most certainly a good ingredient to add to any product.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Ethyl Cyanoacrylate

Even though this ingredient may sound intimidating, in reality, it is not as complex.

The word Eth in ‘Ethyl’ means that a particular compound contains two carbon atoms. Whereas, cyanoacrylate is a combination of cyanide and acrylate.

A carbon atom, cyanide is triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom to be used as a thickening agent. Now before the red flags start waving in your head on hearing the word cyanide, let us assure you that beauty companies only use it for manufacturing purposes and cyanide isn’t actually present in the product itself.

Coming to acrylate, this ingredient is an acrylic acid derivative. Acrylic acid is an organic acid and has self-polymerizing properties. This means that, on being exposed to air, it’ll harden or thicken.

When we combine the acrylate with cyanide, we finally get a substance that is known as cyanoacrylate. Cyanoacrylate is a self-hardening solution that is commonly used in many quick-drying adhesives. This substance is biodegradable as well.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Hydroquinone

As the name suggests, well sort of, hydroquinone is hydrogen. Acting like a stabilizer, the main purpose of hydroquinone is to make sure that the polymerization of the other ingredients takes place in a stable manner. In the absence of this particular ingredient, the eyelash glue will harden inside the bottle itself.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Candelilla Wax

Candelilla wax is sourced from the candelilla shrub found growing in northern Mexico and the Southwest. The wax is extracted by boiling the leaves and stems of the candelilla shrub. The main purpose of this ingredient is to add that “stickiness“ that helps to stick the fake eyelashes to your eyelids. The natural properties of candelilla wax are to moisturize and soothe your skin without irritating it.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Poly (Methyl Methacrylate)

The meth in ‘Methyl’ means one carbon atom. This particular ingredient is a combination of three parts – polymerization, methyl, and acrylate.

Polymerization, of course, is to harden, whereas acrylate is a self-polymerizing substance. The essence of this ingredient is a polymerizing version of acrylate containing a single carbon atom.

The main purpose of adding this ingredient to your eyelash glue is to make the bond even stronger as it can be used to strengthen the ethyl cyanoacrylate substance.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Carbon Black

Carbon Black is mostly used as a pigment in the eyelash glue to lend that deep and dark eyelash color. It is also used as a reinforcing agent.

Having said this, recent reports have highlighted that carbon black should be avoided since it had the potential to be a toxic element that can lead to complications.

Eyelash Glue Ingredients: Chamomile Extract

Been used for centuries for treating multiple health conditions, chamomile can be used for therapeutic properties. This ingredient is a natural ingredient that serves as the perfect alternative for the usual carcinogenic that can be found in ordinary fake eyelash adhesives.

So, these are a few ingredients that are usually added to the eyelash glue. With an active shift in the interest of people for more organic products, there has been an increase in eyelash glue products that use only natural elements. You need to make sure that the adhesive you choose should be high-quality and safe for your eyes so that it won't irritate your eyes during wear, or after you remove it.

Resources— True GlueThe Lash Professional

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