When it comes to your eyelashes, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til they’re gone…right Miley Cyrus?

If you’ve ever experienced anything similar, you know how hard it is to grow those puppies back. Lucky for you, we have some hot tips on everything from prevention to recovery. So if yours have been looking a bit sad lately, don’t worry. Solutions are on their way…keep reading for long, beautiful lashes, always.

“Before you begin taking steps to improve your natural lashes, make sure you’re not doing yourself a disservice by practicing these bad habits.”

1. “Avoid eyelash curlers because they break and damage your lashes.”

2. “Avoid waterproof mascara because it quickly stiffens and dries out lashes. It’s also really hard to remove, which causes excessive scrubbing on the lashes (and that results in breakage).”

3. “Always remove your eye makeup (especially mascara) before bed. Sleeping with mascara on is not only unsanitary, but it also dries out the lashes causing them to become brittle and frail. And believe it or not, a stiff lash can actually scratch your cornea while you sleep!”

The Natural Route: Use a natural lash conditioner like castor oil, coconut oil or vitamin e nightly by applying a thin layer on eyelid and lash line. You can use one or you can make a mixture by combing all three—drop equal parts of each ingredient into a small container. Keep it by your bed so you don’t forget to use it! You should notice growth within a few weeks.”

The Not-So-Natural Route: Use a lash growth serum—like my favorite, Bimat — for extra length and fullness. This formula really works and long lasting results start to show in 4-6 with 16 weeks being the full treatment when used daily.

Prevention Is Key: Clean up your diet and make sure you’re eating high-vitamin foods and lots of body-friendly proteins. Stay away from red meat and highly-processed protein powders. Vitamins and proteins are essential for hair growth. Biotin is also a great B vitamin that you can take daily to increase rate of hair growth.