Grande Cosmetics was founded in 2008 by Alicia Grande with a single product, a lash serum called GrandeLASH-MD. Everything else in the line, the brow serums, the mascaras and the heated curler, grew out of that one bottle. Almost two decades later it is still the product most people mean when they say Grande lash serum.

I like a brand that starts with one thing and gets it right. A lash serum is not a quick fix, though, and that is the part nobody likes to hear. You paint it along the base of your lashes every night, like liquid eyeliner, and the results show up over weeks, not days. Grande says four to six weeks for GrandeLASH-MD, and several of the others quote about four.

The first grid is the Grande line: the original serum, a peptide version for sensitive eyes, two brow serums, and the mascaras and curler that carry you through the weeks while you wait. The second grid is other brands' lash serums, so you can compare, since they are built on quite different ingredients.

Here is a test I like: take a close-up photo of your lashes in daylight on the first night, with no mascara, and another at six weeks in the same spot. Lash growth is so gradual that you will not notice it in the mirror, but you will in the photos.

GrandeLASH-MD is the original lash serum, and the brand says it promotes the look of longer, thicker lashes in four to six weeks. Its key ingredient is isopropyl cloprostenate, alongside radish root ferment and hyaluronic acid.

If your eyes are sensitive, GrandeLASH Peptide+ is made for you. It is built on a complex of peptides with chamomile, green tea and biotin, and aims for thicker, longer-looking lashes and less fall-out.

For brows, the GrandeBROW brow serum promises fuller-looking brows in six to eight weeks, with full results in about four months. The GrandeBROW 2-in-1 is the everyday version, a tinted brow gel with tiny fibers for color and volume now, plus serum for thicker-looking brows over time.

Then the things that help while you wait. GrandeMASCARA is a conditioning peptide mascara for a faux-lash look. GrandeDRAMA is the thickening one, with castor oil for dense, glossy lashes. GrandeWRAP is a tubing mascara with provitamin B5 and mango butter. Tubing mascaras wrap each lash in tiny tubes that slide off with warm water, so they are gentle on lashes you are trying to grow.

The GrandeLASH-LIFT heated lash curler is rechargeable and lifts with just enough heat, with no crimping, pinching or lost lashes.

Here is a tip: let the serum dry for a minute before your head hits the pillow, so it stays on the lash line and not on the pillowcase.

What I would skip: rubbing your eyes to take off mascara. Gentle removal matters more than people think when you are growing lashes.

If you want to compare, these are other brands' serums, and they lean on peptides, plant extracts and conditioning ingredients.

The Ordinary's Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum is the easiest first try, a lightweight serum for thicker, fuller-looking lashes and brows in as little as four weeks. Olaplex's Lashbond brings the brand's bond-building technology to lashes, with peptides, hyaluronic acid and biotin, and it is clinically tested for longer, stronger-looking lashes in as little as four weeks too.

For plant-based formulas, Vegamour's GRO Lash Serum uses red clover and mung bean phytoactives, and Dr. Lara Devgan's Platinum Long Lash uses phyto-peptides, provitamin B5 and clover flower for both lashes and brows. MILK's KUSH serum is another daily lash and brow formula, with hemp-derived cannabis seed extract, plant peptides and quinoa.

neuLash is built on bioengineered polypeptides, vitamins and hyaluronic acid, and it says it shows results in 30 days. Shiseido's Full Lash Serum uses arginine to condition lashes and brows and give them shine. Augustinus Bader's two-in-one serum, with the brand's TFC8, roselle and biotin, is the one I would give as a gift.

Here is a routine I like: a serum nightly, and mascara only on the days you need it. Your lashes get a real break on the nights off.

What I would skip: layering two serums at once to speed things up. Pick one and have the patience to let it work.

I think lash serums reward patience more than any other beauty product. The routine is dull on purpose: one thin line, every night, for weeks, and at first nothing seems to happen.

So pick one serum and use it every night for two months before you judge it. Take the day-one photo, set a reminder and keep the bottle next to your toothbrush. Switching every few weeks tells you nothing, and the people who see a difference are simply the ones who kept going.