Yes. Eyelashes (and eyebrows) are made of the same protein — keratin — as the hair on your scalp, grow from follicles in the skin, and go through the same anagen–catagen–telogen growth cycle. They are simply tuned to a much shorter growth phase.

Do eyebrows ever stop growing?

Each individual eyebrow hair grows for only 2–4 months before its follicle enters the resting phase and the hair falls out. New hairs are constantly starting in their place, so eyebrows look stable in length — but no single hair keeps growing indefinitely, which is why eyebrows never reach scalp-hair length.

Do eyelashes stop growing at a certain length?

Effectively yes. The anagen (growth) phase of an eyelash lasts only about 4–6 weeks, growing at roughly 0.12–0.14 mm per day. Once the lash hits its programmed length, the follicle transitions to catagen and then telogen, and the lash eventually sheds — usually replaced over 4–8 weeks.

Are eyebrows and eyelashes the same kind of hair?

They are both terminal hairs growing from skin follicles, but their cycles differ slightly. Eyelashes have a very short anagen phase (~4–6 weeks); eyebrows have a somewhat longer one (~2–4 months). Both are still dramatically shorter than the 2–7 years of anagen scalp hair gets.

Why won't my eyebrows grow longer?

It is built into the follicle. Each eyebrow hair only grows for the duration of its anagen phase (2–4 months) before shedding, so there is a natural ceiling on length. Plucking, over-trimming or conditions like alopecia areata can also shorten the visible length, but for healthy follicles the genetic anagen limit is the main reason eyebrows don't get long.

Why Don't Eyebrows And Eyelashes Grow As Long As Head Hair?

Table of Contents (click to expand)

Hair Growth In Humans
Hair Follicle Growth Cycle
Why Do Eyelashes And Eyebrows Stop Growing?

Yes, your eyebrows and eyelashes do grow — but they stop short because they spend far less time in the anagen (active growth) phase than scalp hair does. Scalp follicles stay in anagen for roughly 2 to 7 years, which is why head hair can grow to a metre or more. Eyelashes, by contrast, stay in anagen for only about 4 to 6 weeks, and eyebrows for about 2 to 4 months, so each individual hair falls out long before it can get long.

A good number of people, especially folks living in urban settings, spend a considerable amount of time and money keeping their hair in check. And why not? A full head of hair adds some serious ‘weight’ to one’s overall physical personality. Hair on one’s head continues to grow and must be cut/trimmed roughly once every 2-3 months.

Woman brown eye with extremely long eyelashes — Photo Credit : Inga Ivanova / Shutterstock

However, what about the hair on our eyebrows and eyelashes? Do you remember the last time you trimmed your eyelashes? Probably not. How is it that the hair on our eyelashes and eyebrows doesn’t grow as fast as the hair on other parts of the body?

Before we get to the bottom of this ‘hairy’ mystery, it’s important to know a thing or two about hair growth in general.

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Hair Growth In Humans

Aside from a few parts of the body, hair is present all over human beings. That’s very good news for us, because depending on the location on the body, hair plays a vital role in thermoregulation, i.e. maintaining the core temperature by keeping us cool during the summers through perspiration and warms us through insulation in colder weather.

neanderthal — The hairy bodies of prehistoric humans kept them safe from harsh weather conditions

In ancient times, when woolen clothing and blankets were not common commodities, it was body hair that kept our pre-historic ancestors warm/cool in the face of an unforgiving climate.

Hair Follicle Growth Cycle

Hair follicles are mammalian organs present in the skin that are responsible for the production and growth of hair. The production of hair occurs in three main stages, excluding the formation of the specific hair follicle (called follicular morphogenesis). These stages are as follows:

Hair growth cycle — Phases of hair growth in humans (Photo Credit : Alila Medical Media / Shutterstock)

Anagen Phase

This is the active growth phase of hair follicles. During the anagen phase, the root of the hair divides rapidly and the length of the strand grows at the rate of about 1 cm every 28 days. This is the most important stage, as far as hair growth is concerned. Towards the end of this stage, hair follicles automatically enter the next phase…

Catagen Phase

This is a transition stage that marks the end of hair growth and the cutting off of the blood supply to the hair strand. This phase lasts for 2-3 weeks and converts the hair into a club hair.

Telogen Phase

After moving through two eventful phases, this is the phase where hair finally gets some rest from all that internal activity. It is in this phase that hair begins to fall, which occurs for every strand of hair on your body. In other words, don’t panic if you see a few strands of hair in your shower after washing your head; they were just finishing their run!

Why Do Eyelashes And Eyebrows Stop Growing?

Many people think that the hair found in eyebrows and eyelashes doesn’t grow at all, that they stay the same from birth to death. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Hair in those areas does grow, but not as fast as hair on the scalp.

Since we’re specifically talking about ‘growing’ hair in eyebrows and eyelashes, the anagen phase provides the best explanation. Although every strand of hair on your body goes through the anagen phase, the duration for which the strand stays in the anagen phase varies hugely according to the location of the strand.

While hair on the scalp usually stays in the anagen phase for 2 to 7 years (depending on various genetic factors), the hair in your eyelashes stays in that phase for only about 4 to 6 weeks, and eyebrow hairs for roughly 2 to 4 months. Each individual hair therefore falls out long before it has had a chance to grow as long as the hair on your head.

Scalp eyebrow eyelash anagen phase

If the hair of our eyebrows also experienced a longer anagen phase, our eyebrows and eyelashes would be much longer than they are now, but that would probably get very annoying, very quickly, don’t you think?

References (click to expand)