The five criteria
Formula
What the actives actually are, at what point in the ingredient list, and whether the combination makes sense for lash conditioning.
Transparency
Is the full INCI list published? Are claims specific or vague? Does the brand name its actives or hide behind a trademark?
Tolerability
Applicator precision, texture, and the pattern of irritation reports — stinging, redness, lid darkening.
User feedback
Volume and consistency of long-term user reports, weighted towards people who used the product for a full 12-week course.
Value
Cost per millilitre against how long one bottle realistically lasts at one nightly application.
The process, step by step
Start with the INCI list
Full ingredient list from the brand's own product page or packaging. No published list, no score.
Classify the lead actives
Peptide, botanical, vitamin, prostaglandin analogue — and where each sits in the list, since ingredients run in descending order down to 1%.
Assess the claims
Specific, sourced claims earn credit. "Clinically proven" with no study attached costs marks under transparency.
Assess the applicator and texture
Precision, drying time, comfort. Technique-driven irritation is a real cost of a bad applicator.
Read long-term user reports
Weighted towards reviews describing a full twelve-week course across multiple retailers, and towards consistent patterns rather than outliers.
Calculate value
Cost per millilitre against how long a bottle lasts at one nightly application.
Score, then sanity-check
Final scores are cross-checked against the rest of the ranking so that a number means the same thing on every page.
What we do not count
- Before-and-after photography supplied by a brand. Too easy to influence with light and mascara.
- Influencer endorsement. A paid post is an advertisement.
- Star ratings without text. A number with no description of the routine tells us nothing.
- Claims we cannot trace to a source. If we cannot find the study, we do not repeat the sentence.
Independence
lashes-serum.com takes no payment from brands for coverage, position or links. We do not run affiliate links; every
outbound brand link carries rel="nofollow" precisely because it is neither sponsored nor commercial. If
that ever changes, it will be disclosed at the top of every affected page before you read a word of the review — see
our editorial policy.
Corrections
Formulas change and mistakes happen. If something on this site is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will check it, fix it, and note the change on the page.
Method questions
Do brands pay to appear in your rankings?
No. There is no paid placement, no sponsored review and no affiliate commission on this site. Every outbound brand link is rel="nofollow" and earns us nothing.
How do you handle before-and-after photos?
We down-weight them heavily. Lighting, mascara residue, camera angle and eyelid position change apparent lash length more than most serums do.
What happens when a brand reformulates?
The score is provisional until we have read the new INCI list. Where a formula has changed materially, we say so on the page rather than quietly editing history.
Can I suggest a serum for review?
Yes — send it to us. We do not accept product in exchange for coverage, but we do read every suggestion.