Like your eyes, but not your eyelashes? Noticing that as you age, you’re getting a little thicker but your eyelashes are getting thinner? Well now there is some help. Unless you have been living in a tent on Angel Island, you’ve probably heard of Latisse. This prescription medication contains brimatoprost (0.03%), a prostaglandin that has been used for several years to treat glaucoma. During treatment, some glaucoma patients noticed their eyelashes getting thicker and longer. Someone smart at Allergan put two and two together, and behold, a treatment for thinning lashes was born.

Latisse is applied directly to the upper eyelid at the base of the eyelash. It is applied once a day, usually in the evening. Using it more often will not increase eyelash growth. It usually takes about a month to see results. The results are not permanent. If you stop using it, your lashes will eventually return to their previous appearance.

If you have a history of eye pressure problems or are using eye medications, you should consult an ophthalmologist before using Latisse. The most common side effect is itching or redness of the eyes. This occurred in about 4% of patients in a large clinical trial. One somewhat concerning side effect is possible increased permanent brown pigmentation of the iris when brimatoprost was put directly into the eye. However, this occurred rarely and was not reported in Latisse clinical trials. This can probably be avoided by carefully applying Latisse to keep it out of the eye.

A month supply of Latisse and the applicators are sold for a little over $100 dollars. However, some patients have found that by applying less it can last significantly longer. In the patient show above, she applied a very thin layer. The one-month supply lasted for 10 weeks, and as you can see from the photos, the results can be very nice.