Review: Talika Lipocils Expert lash enhancer

Before I begin talking about this, I just wanted to mention why I haven't been showing many "new" products or hauls.  I leave for college in under a week (!!!), and my last day of work for the summer was yesterday, so I'm trying to save as much as possible right now.  I know you all understand but I just thought I'd put it out there.  I've been doing really well not buying anything makeup related- I think it's been like four days, haha.  In any rate, I know I'll be doing some shopping when I get to Chicago next weekend, so I'm also trying to save up for that!  I can't wait!  (Forever 21 is at the top of my list)

That being said, today I'm finally reviewing my Talika Lipocils Expert lash enhancer.  I won this through a giveaway hosted by the company, so a month ago when I received it I wrote a post talking about my first thoughts (here).  Now that it's been four weeks I can tell you my thoughts on it.

So, this is pretty similar to those other lash enhancers on the market right now- Rapid Lash, L'Oreal Lash Boosting Serum, Latisse, etc.

Available to purchase from Sephora.com for $55.00

Talika, the company that makes Lipocils Expert, claims that it promotes growth, length, pigmentation, and curling of your lashes.  

List of ingredients:

Aqua (Water), Sodium Lactate, Carbomer, Hydrolyzed Sericin, Glycerin, Maltodextrin, Phenoxyethanol, Alcohol Denat, Phosphatidylcholine, Sodium Hydroxide, Allantoin, Dextran, Hypericum Perforatum (St. John's Wort) Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Hamamelis Virginiana (With Hazel) Extract, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Extract, Urtica Diodica (Nettle) Extract, Coleus Forskohlii Root Extract, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9, Acetyl Hexapeptide-1, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben.

You apply it twice a day (morning and night) for 28 days, and then once a day to maintain the results.  I did this religiously- who wouldn't with all it promises?- I'm pretty sure I didn't miss one day.  I was determined to make sure I did it right!

I'll start off by showing you my pictures. 

Before:

(Click to enlarge)

After:

Since I forgot to take pictures from different angles before I started using this, I'm going to show you what my lashes look like before/after with mascara on (Both pictures I'm wearing L'Oreal Bare Naturale in Black):

Before, with L'Oreal Bare Naturale:

After, with same mascara:

My overall thoughts on how it performed for me:

When looking at the "after" pictures with no mascara, I can tell that my lashes are a bit more curled (I know this is hard to show you since I don't have other pictures to compare from before).  When I get up close I can see the slightest difference- my lashes look a little more filled in and curled, like I said. 

That's about where the changes stop.  

I didn't notice any real improvement in the length of my lashes, and in all honesty, I think they looked better before?  (See pictures here and here)

I also think they looked fuller before, too.  You can't see any difference by looking at them straight-on, only when I tilt my head and you get up close.  

One last thing I noticed- I've never had a big problem with my lashes falling out, but since using this I get one or two that fall out every week.  It's still not a huge deal but I thought it was worth it to mention here.

My recommendation:

Obviously the way this kind of product works will vary from person to person.  However, I can't recommend it based on my experience.  The main reason I say don't even try it is because of the $55 price tag- way too much to pay for something that really didn't do much for my eyelashes.  I'm just glad I received this through a giveaway.

If you want to try out one of these types of lash enhancers, I would go with something cheaper like L'Oreal Lash Boosting Serum.  I don't know much about it, but it's around $10-$15 which isn't too much if it totally backfires on you.

I'm disappointed that this didn't work for me, but on the other hand, now I don't have to be tempted to shell out the money for it.  That's always good!

;)