Ok, the “evolution” (or de-volution) of prescription medications has reached ridiculous levels. Women go bald on their eyes now? I never heard this one. They need a prescription medication to grow more eyelash hair? Ladies, is this truly a major problem after 40?
There are all kinds of potential side effects, some permanent (and rather frightening). I don’t get it. Isn’t that what mascara is for?? Why would you drug yourself just for thicker eyelashes? Especially when you can just put some effin’ makeup on?
Everything I’ve read and heard about this stuff sounds like there’s no way it’s worth the side effects. I wouldn’t risk it, no matter how awesome it made my eyelashes look.
However, if it wasn’t for the risks, this is something I could definitely have seen myself trying during all the years I worked in clubs. It’s not like a drug you ingest, it’s more like something you paint onto your lash line. If it works, the appeal of thicker, longer lashes is very easy to understand. Hell, there are some women who go to salons to get semi-permanent lash extensions, and lots of women use fake lash strips when they want to go for a more dramatic look. Lash strips are a pain, and I always seem to lose a few lashes every time I pull the suckers off. If a woman could get the same effect by painting on Latisse every morning (without the risks), that would be an amazing product.
I can see why men might think this is really silly and frivilous, but trust me, women do far weirder things in the name of beauty. This is nothing compared to some of the other stuff, lol.
It’s actually a glaucoma eyedrop medication that some patients discovered they were also getting long, thick eyelashes as a side effect of. The company that made the eyedrop turned it into a liquid that you apply with a little brush to your lash lines. Sort of like how Viagra was originally developed as a heart medication, and patients experienced another beneficial side effect.
And yes, apparently some people do have thinning lashes/eyebrows, in addition to those who want it purely for thicker lashes.
Frankly, I’d worry more about it not working than it having side effects; I haven’t heard of any high rates of side effects if used as directed. A coworker of mine (we both work in Ophthalmology) has glaucoma and uses the drop (bimatoprost), and hasn’t seen any thickening at all! Then again, she’s older and may simply not be experiencing any loss there due to the other beneficial effects of the drop, rather than having no effect at all.
I’ll go look for a cite if anyone wants one, but I’ve read that another benefit of technologies like this one (and laser hair removal, which also originally began as treatment for skin melanomas, then patients began experiencing the beneficial side-effect of depilation) is that when they become posh UNINSURED beauty treatments, that brings in lots of extra funding to continue research and development.
Also, isn’t Latisse also an option for cancer patients whose disease or chemotherapy (see laser example above) has left them (nearly or completely) hairless? I seem to remember that being one group who would be happy to have this technology.
There’s a chance of it. My aforementioned coworker has very blue eyes, and has been using the drops for at least a year or two, so it’s not a sure thing.
Plus the idea with the Latisse applicator is to avoid getting it into your eye as much as possible, so hopefully there’s only a minute chance.
The thing about mascara is, if you have only very skimpy lashes to begin with, it’s just going to look clumpy. The idea is to make them long and thick, and contrary to what the ads show you, mascara just will not do that. It can make them darker, it can make each individual lash look thicker (by coating it), but if your lashes are very sparse it really won’t help that much. And of course if you’re going to cry, or swim, or be in a humid environment, the mascara is going to run. Doesn’t stay on forever in any case.
I just happened to ask my optometrist a version of this same question earlier today. He said that it is a glaucoma drug that showed a thicker lashes side-effect so they re-packaged/re-purposed it. He says that in all the glaucoma use he prescribed in which drops were placed directly in the eye he never saw any of the iris darkening they talk about. He seemed to think it was innocuous.
It does appear that when you stop treatment whatever improved growth you have goes away. I don’t think I would waste money on it (I don’t dye my hair, and I don’t spend money on temporary facial treatments) but then again I have eyelashes that seem sufficient to me so I can’t judge.
I would totally do it if it weren’t so expensive. I realize that even that tiny bottle lasts for a while, but it’s just not an expense I can justify. I do wear mascara occasionally, but I notice it, the extra weight or something.
As others have said, mascara only serves to thicken existing lashes. Many women do in fact have a problem with thinning eyelashes, and others just use it for cosmetic purposes, but plenty of pharmaceuticals exist just for that purpose. If you’re shocked by Latisse, for heaven’s sake don’t google Botox.
I’m not going to re-watch the commercial, but my impression was that it can also cause you to grow weird hairs in other places, if you get it there. I really wanted to get some and dump the bottle in my enemy’s body wash. But, I don’t have any enemies…
[QUOTE=jamiemcgarry;
There are all kinds of potential side effects, some permanent (and rather frightening). I don’t get it. Isn’t that what mascara is for?? Why would you drug yourself just for thicker eyelashes? Especially when you can just put some effin’ makeup on?[/QUOTE]
I thought the same thing; who would take meds just to have thicker eyelashes? Can we ever just age peacefully accepting the changes in our bodies?
To be fair, though, most of the reported side effects are for the active ingredient when used as an eyedrop. Yaknow, since this drug started out its life that way. Looking at the package insert, they had to list the side effects for the drug, but mention that they weren’t observed when applied to the eyelid.
