RevitaLash in New Zealand: which one to start with

What RevitaLash is, and who it suits

RevitaLash is a lash and brow brand. The core of the range is conditioning products you apply to the lash line or along the brows, once a day. Around that sit hair products aimed at the look of volume, plus mascaras and brow makeup. Most of this guide is about the conditioners, because they are the part that needs explaining before you buy.

They suit a particular kind of person. Someone who wants the look of fuller lashes or brows without booking extensions, and who is genuinely willing to do a small thing every day for a long stretch. They do not suit someone who wants a difference by the weekend. Conditioning products work in weeks, not days, and the effect is not permanent. Stop using it and things drift back to where they started.

That is worth saying up front, because it is the thing people most often get wrong before they buy.

Where to start if you have never used it

Start with one product. Not three. For most people that is the RevitaLash Advanced Eyelash Conditioner Serum, which is the lash one, applied along the lash line.

If your eyes are on the sensitive side, or you have had trouble with eye products before, look at RevitaLash Advanced Sensitive instead. It is the same daily habit, made with sensitive eyes in mind. Worth asking us about rather than guessing between the two.

If it is your brows you care about, the lash one is not the answer. RevitaBrow Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner is the brow version, swept along the brow line on clean, dry skin.

The application matters more than people expect. Skin and lashes need to be clean and dry, so the lash conditioner goes on after you have taken your makeup off, not on top of the day. A thin line along the base of the upper lashes, once a day, and that is the whole job. Follow the directions on the pack and stick to them. Using more will not shorten the wait, it will only use the product up faster.

Take a photo on day one, in the same light, and then leave it alone for a while. Change that gradual is hard to see in your own bathroom mirror, and checking every morning is a good way to talk yourself out of it early. If you would like a plainer explanation of what lash conditioners are doing and what they are not, we have written about what the research says about lash serums, and a more practical guide to using one properly.

If you are not sure you will stick with it, the Lash and Brow Trial Kit is the smaller commitment. It holds a 1.0ml lash conditioner, a 1.5ml brow conditioner, the double ended primer and mascara, and a mini brow gel, so it covers both the daily habit and the makeup side in one go. It is a sensible way to find out whether applying something every day is realistic for you before you buy a full size of anything.

The rest of the range

Grouped by what you are actually trying to do.

Lashes and brows

This is the heart of the brand. The lash conditioner goes at the lash line, the brow conditioner along the brows, and there is a version made for sensitive eyes. All of them are daily, all of them are slow, and all of them need you to keep going. The trial kit is the way to try both areas at once.

Hair

The hair products are a separate thing from the lash side, aimed at the look of volume and thickness. The Volume Enhancing Foam is for fine hair that falls flat, and the Thickening Hair Duo pairs the thickening shampoo and conditioner. You do not need to be using the lash products to use these, and using these will do nothing for your lashes.

If you want something visible today

Conditioners are a long game. Makeup is not. The Double Ended Volume Set has a primer at one end and a mascara at the other. For brows, the Hi-Def Tinted Brow Gel shapes and sets them with a bit of tint, which is the fastest way to make brows look tidier. There is no reason you cannot use a conditioner at night and makeup in the morning, and it gives you something to look at while you wait.

Buying RevitaLash in New Zealand

You can buy it from us two ways.

In person, come to Verdo Cosmetics at 245 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland. This is the better option if it is your first time, because someone can show you how much to use and talk through whether a conditioner or a mascara is actually the right answer for what you want. We also do eyelash extensions and lash treatments in the salon, so if you are weighing a conditioner against getting extensions done, that is a conversation worth having in person rather than guessing online.

Online, order through verdocosmetics.com and we send it out. Shipping is charged at checkout and the rate depends on where in the country you are.

What an authorised stockist means

Verdo is an authorised RevitaLash stockist. In plain terms, that means we buy our stock through the brand's official supply for New Zealand rather than from a third party. We are not the only authorised stockist in the country, and that is fine. The point is that there is a chain you can trace.

What to watch for is stock sold outside those channels, sometimes brought in from another country and resold here. It might be perfectly good. The problem is that you cannot check. You have no way of knowing how old it is or how it was stored and carried on the way. A lash conditioner is a slow, patient purchase where you will not know for weeks whether anything is happening, which makes it a poor thing to guess on.

If you are buying somewhere other than the brand or one of its stockists, it is a fair question to ask the seller directly whether they are authorised.

Things worth knowing before you buy

A few things we would rather you knew now than find out later.

• It is not fast. If you have an event coming up, buy the mascara and primer and come back to the conditioner afterwards.
• It is not permanent. The look of fuller lashes fades once you stop applying. Treat it as an ongoing routine with an ongoing cost, not a one-off purchase that fixes something.
• Nothing happens if it sits in a drawer. If you already know you will not keep up a daily step, the trial kit or a good mascara is a more honest use of your money.
• Check with your doctor first if your eyes are under care. If you have an eye condition, are seeing a specialist, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to them before starting any lash product. That is not a question we can answer over a counter.
• Tell your lash technician. If you currently wear extensions or are booked in for them, mention what you are using at your appointment so they can plan around it.

If you are still unsure which end of the range you belong in, come in and ask. It takes about two minutes to work out, and it saves buying the wrong thing.