Woman gets ‘addicted’ to product in bachelorette gift basket. She finds out it’s $26, so she asks the internet for a dupe: ‘It’s cheapest at Costco!’
What started as a harmless little bachelorette party freebie has spiraled into a full-blown beauty dilemma. One tiny bottle of eye drops made this woman feel so good she started using it daily…until she realized her “addiction” comes with a $26 price tag and a very small vial. Now she’s crowdsourcing the internet for a cheaper dupe. While commenters argue over Costco hacks, others side-eye the daily use and offer up classic TikTok armchair medical expertise.
Eye-drops or Hard Drugs?
In a controversy many couldn’t have predicted, Cait (@bangbangskrimpp) has opened up the floor on eye-drop addiction. Her one-minute confession clip has garnered 418,000 views and almost 700 comments.
She begins by explaining how she first came across “this little devil” when she got a skincare basket at a bachelorette party she had attended the year before.
“The addiction I’ve had since then. The chokehold that Lumify has on me,” she admits. She continues to say that now, she cannot leave the house without using it. However, she must admit that the price is not that appealing.
Cait says the bottle she’s currently holding is “like $26.” During this, Cait is putting the eye drops in both eyes and unfortunately misses. She matter-of-factly mentions that that’s a dollar wasted.
Cait goes on to say that she’s tried to look for “knock-offs,” but when reading the ingredients, realizes they don’t compare with Lumify’s recipe.
“Whatever this crack cocaine does to my body,” she says, “I feel so pretty after I put it in.” Cait ends the clip by saying sometimes she’ll wonder what’s missing before she leaves the house and then figures it’s the Lumify. Her caption states: “I have a bad lumify addiction.”
What is Lumify?
Lumify is more than just your normal eye drops. In 2018, Celia Vimont from the American Academy of Ophthalmology reported on the then-new eye drops. She explained that the solution was created as a diluted version of the prescription drug for glaucoma (Alphagan). The way Lumify works is to constrict the venules in the eye to remove signs of irritation and/or redness. On their website, Lumify describes the product as “eye drops significantly reduce redness to help your eyes look whiter and brighter, revealing their natural radiance.” The bottle of 7.5 mL is listed at $21.99.
Vimont also speaks on the term “rebound redness.” After using the drops for a prolonged period of time, users notice that once stopping, their eyes look redder than ever before.
“The enlarged arteries pump more blood to make up for lost time, which can cause increased redness in the eyes—called the rebound effect. This can lead to a cycle where people depend on the drops to have clear, white eyes,” says Vimont. Thus, this can lead to people using it everyday in avoidance of seeing this rebound effect.
Is it Safe to Use Lumify Eye-Drops Every Day?
This seems to be quite a controversial topic, even among ophthalmologists. Lumify’s website states not to use the eye drops more than four times daily, but others beg to differ.
On the r/Dryeyes subreddit, a post asking if it’s OK to use it daily got a mixed bag of answers. One Redditor claiming to be an optometrist states, “I’m an optometrist and even though it’s okay to use everyday, I personally wouldn’t. They say it doesn’t cause rebound redness but it does for me a little bit. I save it for special occassions and only if my eyes are particularly red. I would focus on addressing the root cause of your red eyes, which is often inflammation, as opposed to using it every single day.”
Other Redditors chime in to say they’ve also noted a strong case of rebound redness after stopping their use of the eye drops. Some say their optometrist says it’s fine, while others are advised or even prohibited from everyday use. Cait’s comments section has more people sharing their stories and opinions.
@bangbangskrimpp i have a bad lumify addiction #lumify #bachelorette #eyedrops #eyes #fyp ♬ original sound – cait??☀️
Medical Advice from Fellow TikTokers
Some spare no words in calling out Cait’s self-proclaimed addiction. One viewer says, “The veins coming out from the corners of your eyes is literally the first sign of the dependency on these.” While another simply says, “Girl you’re stressing me out.”
Some share possible permanent side effects. “People have experienced irreversible damage from using that,” says one viewer. Another shares, “My bf’s mom has permanent blurry vision from using Lumify everyday…pls be careful beautiful!”
Multiple viewers connect it to Affrin, another over-the-counter medicine that has been noted for dependency and addiction among users.
“It’s like afrin for your eyes. Please don’t use it all the time,” says one viewer. A second chimes in, “This is how i felt after i used Afrin once and my nose was totally freee and clear and ever since then i knew i was screwed lol.”
One viewer asks, “I’m confused when you say ‘addicted’… does your body crave it like a drug? Or do your eyes crave it like they are dry? Or are you ‘addicted’ only because you just love how they make your eyes look?”
Cait replies, “Addicted to the way it looks. I definitely don’t crave it, ive only hit it once this week.”
Update: Cait Finds a Deal
Since her original clip mentioned the high cost for the small amount of drops, TikTokers naturally came to the rescue. Many comments claimed that Costco sells the eye drops in a pack of two. Lo and behold, Cait’s update on TikTok is a picture of the Lumify stand at Costco, where it shows a pack of two bottles for $29.99. In her caption, Cait states, “Don’t give me a lecture I can’t stop right now.”
The Mary Sue reached out to the TikToker and Bausch + Lomb via email.
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