I’m sure most of you have heard about Latisse, the relatively new prescription drug for the treatment of hypotrichosis (the state of having inadequate or not enough, or an insufficient amount of eye-lashes). The actual active part of the drug known as bimatoprost was first used as a glaucoma treatment to reduce increased or elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in those affected with hypertensive conditions of the eye. I believe the brand name for the original use was/is Lumigan. Those who used the original prescription solution for their IOP (as well as those who prescribed it) started noticing an increase in the length, volume and color of their (or their patients’) eyelashes. Thus the eyelash enhancing solution (Latisse) was born.
 
For the most part, Latisse seems to have an impressive success rate and users seem to be satisfied and happy with their results. However, as with many prescription drug preparations, there can be drawbacks, some of which may be serious. Side effects can include (but not limited to) eye irritation, eye dryness, changes (or darkening) of the eyelid (most likely reversible after discontinuation), and theoretically Latisse can deepen iris pigmentation (likely permanent) causing a light or blue eye to actually turn brown. However, it is my understanding that the latter was most likely found in patients who used the original solution for the treatment of glaucoma whereby the product was placed directly into the eye as opposed to the application of Latisse in which the solution is applied to the margin of the upper eyelid only. Additionally, those who have eye issues such as glaucoma who may already be using medications to lower their ocular pressure may actually interfere with the treatment of lowering their IOP when using the two drugs concurrently. Therefore, those with eye conditions and/or eye disease should be monitored closely and may not be a good candidate for using Latisse.

Though Latisse seems to have quite a following and some impressive studies and is obviously FDA approved, I was still a tad nervous to try it even though I probably had less than 20 eyelashes per eye and they were blonde to boot. LOL But then again I do have many eye problems so I’m fairly certain I’m not a very good candidate so I suppose you can’t really go by what I chose to do instead. However, the eyelash enhancing treatment I used worked brilliantly and I was never even remotely nervous to try it. I’ll share what eyelash enhancing product I decided to go with on Monday!