Luscious, long lashes? (Alex Quesada for The New York Times)A friend of mine with early glaucoma uses daily drops to prevent vision loss in one eye. The result: one eye has changed color and developed long thick lashes.
But it never occurred to me that people with healthy eyes might consider using these drugs to get a similar side effect. In “Love the Long Eyelashes. Who’s Your Doctor?” my colleague Natasha Singer today writes that Allergan, the company that brought us Botox, has repackaged a glaucoma treatment as the first federally approved prescription drug for growing longer, lusher lashes.
The product has the same formula as Allergan’s eye drops for glaucoma, called Lumigan. It is one of several drugs in a category known as prostaglandin analogs, which are meant to reduce dangerous pressure in the eyeball. But as a side effect, the treatment tends to make the eyelashes of many patients longer and fuller.
Unlike the version for glaucoma, Latisse isn’t used as a drop, but instead is applied once daily to the base of the upper eyelashes with a disposable applicator. One worry is that cosmetic users may experience some other side effects, including red, itchy eyes and changes in eyelid pigmentation. And longer lashes don’t come cheap. Latisse is expected to cost about $120 a month.
I regularly use mascara to lengthen my lashes, but I can’t imagine going to the trouble of daily eyedrops. But Cindy Ross, vice president for sales at Young Pharmaceuticals in Wethersfield, Conn., who participated in the Latisse clinical trial, loves the result so much that she had a doctor prescribe the glaucoma drug to use on her lashes until Latisse becomes commercially available.
“People would say to me ‘Are you wearing false eyelashes?’ — even my own mother asked,” Ms. Ross said. “I wouldn’t stop. I found a way to get it.”
What do you think? Are long lashes important to you? Would you take a daily drug to get them?
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From 1 to 25 of 70 Comments
That cannot be healthy! I’ve noticed my formerly long eyelashes are becoming shorter with age. Or could I just be imagining it, since I don’t even bother to wear mascara every day anymore?
If there was a safer, less expensive way to get back the lashes of my youth, probably I would go for it. But itchy eyes and discouloured eyelids, at 120 bucks a month? No.
— SusannaI take Lumigan for glaucoma and yes, it has lengthed my lashes. People remark about my lashes, and I wonder if they think I am wearing false ones. The lashes hit my glasses at times, which is a bit of a nuisance. The medicine is expensive, but it works on the glaucoma, and that is what I am most concerned about. My reddish brown eyes have darkened to the extent that I have to think about what color my hair should be. The previous hair color looked awful with the new eye color. I wonder what happens with blue, grey, or green eyes. I wonder if someone will comment on that?
— kayssurfUse unnecessary drugs? In your EYES? Not on your life. We can replace hips, knees, and whole limbs; we can transplant organs; we can get pacemakers and insulin pumps. But eyes are irreplaceable and precious. I’ll stick with mascara, thank you. Safer, cheaper, and time tested!
— EllenI’m averse to eye drops to begin with. Can’t imagine daily eyedrops unless I need it for a medical condition. And longer lusher lashes do not fall under ‘medical condition’.
I can deal with the annoyance of occasional exfoliation, eyebrow tweezing…etc… but not daily eye drops. Besides, I have enough to deal with regarding my vision (bad myopia), I don’t need to apply something else that may screw up what messed up vision I have.
Lashes aren’t worth it. Pharma just wants more $$$.
— CorinneInteresting. I wonder if it would help speed eyelash regrowth following chemotherapy. I lost all my hair and it is now beginning to grow. I can wear a wig but having no eyelashes is odd looking and harder to conceal.
— NewcalMascara doesn’t suit my looks, so no, I wouldn’t even be tempted. I can understand why some might be, though.
Perhaps if companies weren’t so cavalier about our actual health, they would have gone to the expense of inventing an eye drop that lengthened eyelashes with fewer side effects.
— SashaReaders seem to be getting the false impression from this article that the product is taken as eyedrops. It’s not (that’s just for glaucoma, and it actually could turn your eyes browner, no matter what color they are now).
For the purpose of lengthening eyelashes, a much weaker solution is applied with a special applicator just to the edges of your upper eyelids.
FROM TPP — This is an important point and you are correct that it isn’t clear in the original story. I have updated the blog post to clarify this issue.
— Tedre: Ted
Thanks for the clarification — I still wouldn’t do it. Out of the fear that I may accidentally stab my eyeball with the applicator. I still get nervous putting in my contact lenses.
— CorinneWhat I find ridiculous is that there is actually a market for a product like this. I am embarrassed to admit that included in my gender are women vain and stupid enough to take a drug into their body whose only purpose is to increase the fullness and size of their eyelashes. Do these women have nothing more important on which to focus their energy? Have they no other means of increasing their self-esteem? Can’t they think of any nobler use of their money?
— SueThe fact that a drug company used their resources to develop and test this drug seems idiotic to me, but then the company who developed Latisse is the same company who developed Botox so women could have fewer lines on their forehead. What must this company think of women and where they derive their value as human beings? Do they feel that they are making a significant contribution to humanity with Latisse? On the contrary, I think they are making it obvious to the entire world that their purpose is to profit from the vanity and stupidity of women.
Re: #7 Oh, but that changes everything!
Still, questions remain:
Does it work, if the concentration is weaker?
So it still has to touch the eyelids? It doesn’t hurt them?
Does it work for the lower lashes as well?
WHY does it work? Could this be a cure for baldness as well?
When will a cheaper generic come on the market?
— SusannaInteresting–I noticed recently that my husband’s lashes appear to have gotten longer, and he has been taking glaucoma medicine for a while. While I dislike having shorter and sparser lashes than my husband, I don’t think I’ll risk borrowing any of his medicine for such a frivolous use.
— Danielle SaundersThis product is very similar to one that car be bought from physicians and dermatologists called Revitalash which is not a prescription. I have used it for almost five months now and it works well (even on eyebrows). It costs $150 and lasts for longer than the one listed in this article, and I have not had any of the side effects listed above.
I read that the man who developed Revitalash did it for his wife who lost her eyelashs with chemo treatment for breast cancer. So part of the proceeds go to breast cancer research.
— DanaYou could not pay me enough to do this–not having lost sight in one eye from doctor tricks. No way!!! Yet, I know people who might do this. Wise up! Incidentally, three of my physicians, my primary, and two eye docs, have started these beauty practices–they are a cash biz. I call them beauty whores.
— StarBeauty is skin deep. I’d rather spend money on a nice meal or a picnic with my family. In 50 years, I’m not going to care how my eyelashes looked, but I will happily remember good times with my family.
— MargaretDoes ANYONE else stop to think about the bigger picture here? Our nation’s health care system is in shambles, we have 47 million uninsured (and a whole lot more underinsured), our legal system is destroying good physicians, and doctors around the country are closing their doors because of poor reimbursement. Healthy people with Medicare can’t find a physician to accept them and go without basic medical care.
And we’re arguing about cosmetic drugs for eyelashes? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!!
— What the…?If it is brushed on and not enough goes in the eye to alter the color, then I probably would. I also wonder if you could get the same results by using it only a couple of times a week. I know women who spend a fortune having lashes glued on at the salon. This would be much cheaper.
— JennyDoes the medicine have to be applied everyday? Those who want longer eye lashes can apply mascara daily, or they can apply this medicine (which sounds a lot like applying eye liner) everyday. I’m not really sure what the benefit is.
I wear mascara (almost) everyday but never wear eye liner b/c I hate applying it. I’m have a pretty strong family history of glaucoma, so chances are I’ll have medically induces long lashes at some point, but it’s a good 50 years away, I hope.
— MPI am DEFINITELY doing this. I already called my eye doctor and set up a consultation. I have been convinced for years - nigh on a decade - that my eyelashes will not grow back and I’ve lost plenty.
— AdrienneIf people are willing to pay for it and understand any possible risks, why should I or anyone else care? One woman might spend her money on purses, one might spend it on charity, one might spend it on eyelashes. The beauty of it is that we get to chose.
— SarahMy concern is that this (along with botox, hair dye, the exaggerated slimness of fashion models) is raising the bar of what we think of as “acceptable attractiveness” for a woman to a point that NO woman can be “pretty” without this kind of extreme enhancement. How long before preteen girls start asking for this, out of fear that they’re hopelessly ugly?
— rickiTwice I had to have the lashes on my left eye trimmed off prior to retina surgery and the lashes grew back longer and thicker both times. I’m trying to work up the courage to have the lashes on my right eye cut off so they will grow back to match the left…I just don’t relish spending a month lash-free while they grow back.
— SherriIt’s so funny — not long ago in the NYTimes social etiquette section (Sunday paper) someone wrote in to ask how she could suggest to her new lover that he get the hair in his genital area waxed and tamed– apparently she was shocked at its unruliness. The columnist pointed out that this preference for minimimzing hair down there is a rather new standard and not everyone adheres to it.
Why do we obsess over minutia like this so much? We want hair here, but not there; more there, less here. What difference do longer lashes make in life? We all know the answer. A hundred bucks easily better spent.
Except, in the case of people who lose their eyelashes completely due to illness. Eyelashes do serve a physical function of helping to keep particles in the air out of our eyes.
— francoisPersonally, for me, I think it’s lunacy. But who am I to judge others? Beauty is in the…. eyedrop of the person with a bigger budget for beauty products!
My 83-year-old father has long lashes because of his glaucoma medication. We had a chuckle after we both heard an advertisement for this on the radio…
Now, where’s my belladonna?
— ColleenYou said it #15!!!
Although, I do want to add that this seems like a nice product for people with severe allopecia, or who have undergone chemo and have lost their lashes. There is a lot to be said for one’s psychological health in relation to healing, and if longer lashes helps, then so be it.
It’s a completely different story if used under any other circumstance. I suppose there is no limit to vanity, and that is very sad to me.
— shocked and appalledI’m a 30 year old woman and have been losing all of my hair for the past 9 years, due to male pattern baldness. I am losing hair on my head and face, while my eyebrows are fine, my eyelashes are now incredibly thin. I think that for some of us with this problem or other medical problems any drug that offers any kind of help is incredibly attractive. It is sad that a number of people reading about this think that women who might go in for treatment are just shallow. It’s also upsetting that these biggots do not take into consideration people with medical problems like mine.
— Alex