If you have cut your eyelashes, the most immediate question is whether they will return to their normal length. The answer is a clear yes: eyelashes are hair, and like all hair on the human body, they are programmed to regrow after being cut. Cutting only removes the hair shaft above the skin, leaving the hair root and the surrounding follicle completely intact and functional. This means the growth process continues exactly as it did before the cut.
The Eyelash Growth Cycle
The mechanism that guarantees regrowth is the natural, three-phase hair cycle that all follicles follow. This cycle dictates the lifespan, length, and eventual shedding of every individual lash.
The first stage is the Anagen phase, the period of active growth where the hair is attached to the follicle and nourished by the blood supply. For human eyelashes, this phase typically lasts between 30 and 45 days, which is why they do not grow as long as the hair on your scalp. Following this is the Catagen phase, a brief transition period lasting about two to three weeks, where the follicle shrinks and the lash stops growing.
The final stage is the Telogen phase, the resting period where the fully grown lash remains in the follicle before naturally shedding. This resting phase is the longest, lasting approximately 100 days or more before a new Anagen phase begins and pushes the old lash out. Because each lash operates on its own timeline, they are not lost all at once.
The Regrowth Timeline After Cutting
When an eyelash is cut, its regrowth timeline is determined by where it was in its cycle at the time of the trim. A lash cut during the Anagen phase will simply continue to grow until that phase naturally concludes. Full regrowth to the original length generally takes about six to eight weeks. This duration accounts for the remainder of the current cycle and the time needed for the hair to visibly lengthen.
The cut lash may initially appear blunt or stubbly because the natural, tapered tip has been removed. Cutting your lashes will not make them grow back thicker or darker, despite this being a common myth. Hair thickness and color are determined by the hair follicle itself, and trimming the hair shaft has no effect on the biological programming beneath the skin. The appearance of thickness is merely an optical illusion created by the blunt tip.
Cutting Versus Removing the Root
It is important to distinguish between cutting a lash and pulling it out, as the latter significantly alters the regrowth timeline. Cutting the lash only affects the visible hair shaft, leaving the growth cycle uninterrupted. The follicle continues to function, and the remaining lash continues its journey through the Catagen and Telogen phases before shedding naturally.
Removing the lash by plucking or pulling, however, extracts the entire hair, including the root from the follicle. This action forces the follicle to immediately enter a prolonged Telogen phase, effectively resetting the entire growth cycle. Because the follicle must restart the cycle from the very beginning, a new lash will not appear for several weeks.
This complete reset means that a plucked lash will take much longer to grow back to full length compared to a cut lash. A cut lash is only delayed by the time it takes the existing shaft to grow out.