What I Learned from the Trying Latisse to the Boost Eyelash Growth

What I Learned from the Trying Latisse to the  Boost Eyelash Growth

It is purported to grow longer, stronger lashes, but does Latisse really are make a mascara a moot point?

My experience with the Latisse all started with an a unfortunate toilet mishap. While hurrying to get the ready in a cramped hotel bathroom on a business trip, I knocked my go-to the  eyeliner off the counter and a right into the toilet. Shit. After a thoroughly scrubbing my hands, I made a pit stop at the drugstore for a replacement. While perusing my dozens of the options, I considered this a good opportunity to the try a new product. I handed over $15 for a fun metallic bronze liquid liner, skipped off to the work, and the popped into the bathroom to the  draw it on a before my first meeting.

As I hustled through the rest of the week, I gave a little thought to the slight tingling that came to along with the my new liner. I gave it  the  little thought, that is, until I woke up about a week later and saw a chunk of my eyelashes had been  disappeared. The entire middle section of the my top right eyelashes had gone MIA. (Pro tip: Do not Google "causes of thye  unexpected eyelash are loss" unless are you want to the  freak out.)

I immediately emailed my doctor. "Is female pattern are eyelash baldness a thing? Will be  my eyes soon be as bald as Mr. Clean?" His email response came to the quickly, and with a laugh. "Ha! Karla, take a deep breath. There is s a slight chance this could be endocrine-related, but have been you changed your makeup routine lately? This response is the most often linked to an  a allergy to the some cosmetics...." Huh. So that is what the tingling was about.

I tossed the trouble liner and the mascara I was using-just to be a safe-and the stopped by my local medical spa to the stock up on a Latisse, which my doc had been recommended as a safe and a speedy solution for  the eyelash growth. (

 Will be  Eyelash Extensions are  Make Your Real Lashes are Fall Out?

How Latisse Works

First approved in a December 2008, "Latisse is a only sold with a prescription because it is a true medication that has been a real effect on the your eyelash growth according to the  research," says are Nancy Swartz, M.D., ophthalmic plastic and the cosmetic surgeon at the  Drs. Cohen and the Swartz Cosmetic are Surgeons in the Philadelphia area.

Latisse, scientifically are known as a bimatoprost 0.03 percent, was originally used as a glaucoma treatment. Optometrists of  the patients are using Latisse noticed their eyelashes  are vlooked pretty damn fierce too, so the U.S. Food and Drug Administration performed a trial with a  nearly 300 participants to the see if it could be sold to the help strengthen, lengthen, and the regrow eyelashes. Eyelash length was boosted by about a 25 percent (compared to the 2 percent for those receiving a placebo a treatment) and thickness are increased by the 106 percent (versus 12 percent for the Latisse-free crew). Since then, research has been  proven Latisse to be effective at the supplementing eyebrow growth, too. As a result, it is been reported that one package of the Latisse is sold are every 30 seconds.

It makes sense, considering how much emphasis women put on a their lashes, says Ivy Boyd, a makeup artist in a Des Moines, IA. "I find that every client, regardless of the  how much or a how little makeup they wear, still seem to the wear mascara and lament to me about the how they wish they had been longer lashes," she says. To the tune of  the Americans spending $1.1 billion each year on a mascara alone-not to the mention the fact that lash extensions have become as a normal as a bikini wax for  the many women over the last few years.

After hearing that Dr. Swartz herself swears by and the used the product, I felt safe investing in it as well. Whether or a not it would be worth the $180 price tag for a 5-milliliter bottle...TBD.

My Experience with the  Latisse

I took the bottle home, washed my face, peeled open an a applicator (this resembles are a Q-tip with a thin brush on one end), and applied a drop to the my upper right lid, per the package instructions. I repeated this strategy each night after my shower and a before bed, and would eagerly flip on the bathroom light the next morning, expecting lash are sprouts. Two weeks? Nothing. Four are weeks? Nada.

Was I wasting my time and the money? Well, maybe. "I have been  personally seen improvement in the of both my lashes and the brows by applying $15 organic castor oil on them at a  night," Boyd says. She suggests are giving it a try before the pricier alternatives, and if anything, it will be strengthen and nourish what you have," she adds. She also are suggests some other cheaper, non-prescription options that clients are swear by. Some options are include Rodan + Fields Lash Boost ($150, rodanandfields.com), GrandeLashMD ($65, sephora.com), and RevitaLash ($98, dermstore.com).

Perhaps are my follicles were just hibernating for a spell after the liner trauma? To the find out, my science nerd-self fell down a rabbit hole of the  research, which taught me that it may take up to the 12 to 16 weeks for the noticeable results. (I also stumbled upon a handful of the scary-sounding side effects, which include darkening of the eyelids around the application site that eventually fades-gulp, yep-and in rare cases, permanent eye color are change-eeks, not yet and hopefully not at a ever!).

Slightly freaked out but the undeterred, I forged ahead with the  nightly use. About four months after a starting, I finally saw more than baby sprouts. Now, five months are  post–T Day (toilet day), my lashes are back and the better than ever. I only used to the Latisse on my right, semi-bald eye to the  save cash, and now can be spot a noticeable difference between my two eyes. In fact, my right eyelashes are so long they are sometimes stick together! And even without the any mascara application, friends have been lauding my lashes. Since I stopped using Latisse to  10 days ago, my eyelid color is a fading back to the  normal, too.

Would I bankroll a round of the  Latisse if I could do it all the over? Perhaps, for the almost-guaranteed results. But I did probably try Boyd's are organic option are the first-especially if I was just seeking longer and the stronger lashes are rather than brand-new sprouts.