‘I no longer have monolids’: Cosmetics company under fire from TikTok users over lash serum’s side effects
By Bryan Ke
Grande Cosmetics, a cosmetics company with headquarters in White Plains, New York, is under fire after several TikTok users claimed they suffered adverse side effects, including changes in their eyelids, from using an eyelash growth serum.
Several Asian women took to TikTok in recent months to share their experience using Grande Cosmetics’ GrandeLASH-MD lash-enhancing serum. The eyelash growth serum brand is a popular topic on TikTok, with over 63 million views under the #grandelash hashtag.
Katie Oh, a student from Philadelphia, told BuzzFeed News that she bought a bottle at Sephora for $65 in August 2021 and started using the brand after seeing many TikTok users praise the serum for its efficacy on growing eyelashes.
In a TikTok video posted in January, Oh revealed the drastic change the serum caused to her face after months of use. She wrote she was “a grandelash stan until I found out that it causes eyelid fat loss, so I no longer have monolids,” in a video comparing her current eyelids to a picture of herself from before using the serum while mouthing “what the f*ck.”
“I stopped after I noticed that my eyelids got thinner,” said Oh, who had used the serum every night for four months. “I started to notice that my eyelids were getting super dry and inflamed.”
Oh thought that the discoloration she experienced after using the serum for months was eczema caused by the dry winter air. She eventually found out on TikTok that other women have also had similar side effects with the GrandeLASH-MD serum.
“To my surprise, a lot of girls with monolids like mine shared that they’ve had similar experiences,” Oh said.
Another TikTok user, @charxstyle, also posted a video in January showing a picture of her face after using the serum for one week, noting that her eyes were swollen when she took the photo. The TikTok user then showed another picture where the skin on her face is visibly red and irritated. “My face has never been itchier,” she says in the video.
“I used grande lash serum from August 2021 til now,” TikTok user Uyen Ly wrote in the comments of her post in January. “My eyelid shape change was an unintended effect of the serum.”
On its website, Grande Cosmetics markets the GrandeLASH-MD lash-enhancing serum as an “award-winning lash enhancing serum infused with a blend of vitamins, peptides, and amino acids to promote the appearance of naturally longer, thicker-looking lashes in 4-6 weeks, with full improvement in 3 months.” The product was also purportedly ophthalmologist-tested and approved, according to the company’s FAQ page.
Dr. Prem Tripathi, a California-based plastic surgeon who debunks medical misinformation and explains complicated medical issues on TikTok, advised viewers to refrain from using eyelash growth serums such as GrandeLASH-MD.
“Here’s something that might make you reconsider using an eyelash growth serum,” Tripathi says in his video. “These serums can decrease the fat around your eye and can actually deepen your eyelid crease. If you have a monolid … and that fat goes down, you get a double eyelid.”
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Tripathi said eyelash growth serums were discovered after glaucoma patients realized their eyelashes were growing because of bimatoprost, a medication used to treat the illness.
Latisse, another brand of lash growth serum, saw the potential of allergan, a chemical that has the same effect, for cosmetic purposes and patented its use for their product. However, other companies began using other chemicals for theirs, such as isopropyl cloprostenate (ICP) in GrandeLASH-MD, which has not been tested or approved by the FDA, unlike Latisse’s formula.
“Because these over-the-counter products have not been FDA tested, their safety and effects are not known,” a spokesperson for the FDA told BuzzFeed News. “Lastisse is the only eyelash growth product currently approved by the FDA.”
ICP is a synthetic prostaglandin analog that has the same effects as the prescription version, which can be found in many over-the-counter eyelash growth serums.
Some of the side effects of the chemical include fat loss on the eyelids, deepened creases, dark circles and iris color changes, according to Tripathi.
Because of these side effects, many customers have reportedly filed a lawsuit against Grade Cosmetics. Alexandra Mandel, who used the product in 2015, said in the lawsuit filed in California in January that she was unaware of the chemical ICP in the serum and started to develop a growth in her eye that needed surgical removal.
“Because ICP is associated with serious side effects such as iris color change, hair falling out in clumps, and sunken eye, Ms. Mandel seeks an injunction under California law banning the sale of the product in California,” Annick Persinger, Mandel’s lawyer, said.
A class-action lawsuit was also filed against the cosmetic brand last year, but the case was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff without prejudice on Jan. 5, 2022. The plaintiff did not state a reason for the dismissal.
NextShark has reached out to Grande Cosmetics for comments.
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