This Lash & Brow Serum Promises To Boost Volume & Thickness For Less Than $20

In our series Trial Run, TZR editors and writers put the buzziest new beauty products to the test and share their honest reviews. This week, our beauty writer is testing the new The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Lash And Brow Serum.

If you are a longtime fan of the DTC skin care world, then you likely have already heard of The Ordinary, a Deciem brand that offers its customers efficacious ingredients at a fraction of the cost of its competitors. Well, The Ordinary did it again with its recent release of The Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum. For the uninitiated, peptides help to build proteins in the hair follicle — and this formula specifically addresses your lashes and brows by boosting collagen levels for a fuller, denser, and even longer appearance.

Whether I’m looking for a blemish-busting cream or a dark spot correcting serum, I’m always on the hunt for new products that will enhance my natural features so that I won’t feel the need to apply makeup every single day. The same goes for my lashes and brows — I want a serum that can boost volume for my lashes while adding feathery density to my brows so that I can skip out on wearing a mascara or brow pencil each day. Well, after hearing about the purported benefits of the Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum (along with the affordable price tag), I decided to test it out for four weeks to see if it was worth the hype. Here’s what it did for my lashes and brows.

Fast Facts

• Price: $14.50
• Best For: Growing lash and brow hairs.
• Your rating: 4.7/5
• Clean/Cruelty-Free?: Yes
• What we like: Feels lightweight, grows existing lash and brow hairs, and is affordable.
• What we don’t like: Hard to say, but the brush may be *too* dense for people with sensitive skin.

My Lashes & Brows

Admittedly, I’m not a fan of beauty treatments like lash extensions or brow microblading, since the former tends to look unnatural on me, and microblading just *seems* scary. Luckily for me, I was born with pretty thick brow hairs and long lashes — courtesy of my Mediterranean ancestry — that make it easy for me to skip out on these types of salon visits. Still, when I stare into the mirror long enough, I do long for more: I’m always on the hunt for a mascara that’ll add volume and length to my lashes, and brow products that can fill in the sparse gaps in my brows while giving them a full and feathery finish.

The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Lash & Brow Serum

This light and non-greasy formula contains 11 active ingredients that all work to support lash and brow thickness, length, and, ultimately, health. The serum comes in a tube that’s about the same size as a mascara sample, making it easy to stow in your overnight bag. Plus, the Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum’s brush tip is made with pretty dense bristles to ensure you’re getting in between every last brow hair.

The brand does recommend conducting a patch test prior to use, and provides a testing guide on its site to make sure you don’t have any negative reactions to the formula.

The Science Behind The Multi-Peptide Lash & Brow Serum

According to The Ordinary’s website, this twice-daily serum will enhance the density of both your lash and brow hairs in as little as four weeks. There are four trademarked ingredient complexes: SYMPEPTIDE XLASH® complex, Widelash™ complex, REDENSYL™ complex, and CAPIXYL™ complex. Have a moment to take that in, because I’m going to list all the peptides that are key players in these complexes: myristoyl pentapeptide-17, oligopeptide-2, biotinoyl tripeptide-1, and acetyl tetrapeptide-3 all work synergistically to thicken and lengthen lash and brow hairs.

“Applying topical peptides to your eyelash and eyebrow hairs every day is like giving these hairs extra vitamins or ‘fertilizer’ to stimulate better and greater hair growth,” says Dr. Jaimie DeRosa, double board-certified facial plastic surgeon and founder of DeRosa Center Plastic Surgery & Med Spa. “It has been shown to increase the length of eyelash hairs and the density of brow hair.” Dr. Derosa mentions that peptides sink right down into the hair follicle root and help to strengthen the hair, repair damage, and stimulate more collagen production, which can translate into hair growth.

Now here’s the catch: peptides, in short, are chains of amino acids that connect to one another to form proteins. There are many different peptides out there, and not all peptides work to stimulate hair growth. Dr. DeRosa notes oligopeptide-2, and acetyl tetrapeptide-3 (which are both ingredients in The Ordinary’s Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum) are particularly great for building collagen, which is the main protein in hair.

In addition to peptides, this serum also contains panthenol to hydrate and soften the lash hairs, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Larix Europaea Wood Extract, and Zinc Chloride to help support hair thickness. And finally, this formula contains high-solubility caffeine, which has been shown to help with hair growth.

My First Impression Of The Multi-Peptide Lash & Brow Serum

I’m all for simple packaging, and I was glad to see that The Ordinary kept with its minimalist theme. The tube is all white and fairly scientific-looking, and it looks great on my vanity when compared to other lash and brow serums that have loud, metallic packaging. Other than that, I was glad to feel how densely packed the brush tip is: it allows me to part my *extremely* coarse brow hairs to ensure that I get down to each and every follicle. Plus, the serum itself feels very lightweight, which made it easy to incorporate into my routine.

How I Used The Multi-Peptide Lash & Brow Serum

The Ordinary recommends using this serum twice a day, so I did just that and applied it to my upper and lower lash lines and brows every morning and night for four weeks (before using both moisturizer and eye cream). A single coat of product is enough to coat each lash line (that’s four coats in total), whereas I needed about two coats to cover my brow hairs. I used a back-combing motion on my brows to ensure that the serum reached every nook and cranny to soak into my follicles.

My Results

Now, knowing that some skin care products don’t produce results until about eight weeks of use, I had to know if the Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum would give me fluttery lashes and thick brows in record time. Well, I’m glad to report that my lashes now don’t require mascara every day. The serum added volume to the base of my lashes while boosting a bit of length, too. It didn’t provide *so* much length that it makes me seem like I have lash extensions, but it was enough to mimic a slight lash lift. Plus, I’m always afraid that the hairs won’t grow evenly with these types of serums, but luckily my lash growth was cohesive with this one.

As far as my brows go, I noticed that my hair became fuller and softer in certain spots. Unfortunately, the tail-ends of my brows are victims of my early aughts over-plucking phase, and the serum did not help to grow hairs in that area. But I don’t see this as a dysfunction of the serum — I’ve tried everything to regrow my brow hairs in those areas and I’m sure I just have damaged hair follicles. Otherwise, the hairs that *could* grow look feathery and ready to mold into the perfect wispy brow.

Is The Multi-Peptide Lash & Brow Serum Worth It?

I’ll cut to the chase with this one: if you’re in the market for a no-frills option that will grow your lash and brow hairs, you’ve got to give the Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum a try. At just $14.50, this formula is way less than half the price of similar serums that target either lash or brow growth. Plus, it will give you two products for far less than the price of one wrapped up in one aesthetically pleasing tube.

The unbeatable price aside, this formula is also quite effective. Sure, it didn’t help to grow my brow hairs where I have damaged follicles, but that is more on my own damaged follicles. If that’s not an issue for you, then you’d likely have better luck with brow regrowth. But the results for my lashes (namely volume, if not a ton of length) this serum is definitely a must-have for my product collection.

BDG product reviews and recommendations are written and conducted by writers and editors with expertise in their fields. Testers often have specific experience with the situation or product at hand, and/or their review or recommendation is provided in consultation with experts. You can learn more about our standards here.