When it comes to make up and beauty products we all have our own preferences and things we like and dislike but I think there is one thing that unites us all…. The longing for longer lashes. I think if you was to ask most women if they would like longer lashes they’d say yes. Of course unless you are one of the lucky few like my sister who are blessed with amazingly long lashes already but unfortunately most of us myself included just weren’t blessed in the lash department so when I heard about latisse I knew I just had to try it.
The first time I tried latisse was in early 2012 it was VERY expensive for this tiny little bottle of liquid, Which you are supposed to apply every night….. I applied it every other night or whenever I remembered i was pretty lazy at remembering to put it on every night and i found putting it on every night made the skin around my eyes very red. Because i was only using it a couple of time’s a week i really wasn’t expecting to see much of a difference however despite this after 2 weeks i did see a slight difference in my lashes i thought maybe i was imagining it as it seemed too soon to see results i kept using it and after a few weeks my lashes were HUGE and I mean HUGE the difference in my lashes was amazing. When I wore mascara it looked like i was wearing false lashes and everyone commented on how long my lashes were. Sadly i have no pictures as this was a few years ago before i started this blog but my lashes where as long as the picture below so it definitely did what it claimed it would do.
So how does latisse work?
The active ingredient in latisse is bimatoprost which was originally used for glaucoma medication to reduce eye pressure. The patients using this medication noticed that their eye lashes grew longer when they started using the medication. The reason bimatoprost makes your lashes grow longer is because it makes the anagen growth phase of your lashes last much longer. Normal anagen lash growth phases usually last 30-45 days but while using latisse your anagen growth phase doubles resulting in dramatically longer lashes.
Sound too good to be true?….well it kinda is.
unfortunately I think there is some major cons when it comes to using any lash growth serum that contains biamatoprost which are
Redness the reason I only used latisse twice a week was because of the redness the day after I’d use it. The skin around my eyes would be extremely red and quite sore and itchy. It was easy to cover with make up but without makeup it looked pretty bad. But the redness will go away pretty quickly after discontinuing use of latisse.
Dark circles bimatoprost causes your skin to darken over time meaning you end up with quite bad dark under eye circles. For me this was a massive problem I already suffered with pretty bad dark circles so after using latisse I looked like I had permanent bruises under my eyes. The darkness will subside gradually when you discontinue use of latisse.
Price latisse costs $125 for a 3 month supply so it is pretty pricey. As mentioned latisse is just glaucoma medication. I know a lot of people buy lumigan which is a glaucoma medication and costs around $20 and use it the same way you use latisse and they get the same results. so if you still want to use it but want to save money look in to lumigan.
Warnings
Fat loss this is the side effect I think people really need to be warned about because nobody ever really mentions it. It is well documented in glaucoma patients that bimatoprost causes the fat cells around your eyes to shrink resulting in a loss of lipid content. Meaning your under eyes and upper eyes become very hollow overtime giving you a tear trough deformity on your under eyes. this happens quite gradually when using latisse but overtime it will become noticeable.
I have hereditary tear troughs under my eyes and my eyes where kinda hollow to begin with but after a while of using latisse I looked very ill my under eyes were so sunken and dark it aged me about 10 years. Thankfully it is reversible but takes some time for the fat under your eyes to return it took about a year and a half for my eyes to look normal again and even then I don’t think my eyes have ever quite gone back to how they once were. I know some people who have puffy under eyes don’t mind this side effect but for me it was a massive issue.
Eye colour change this is quite a well documented side effect of bimatoprost. It increases the amount of melanin in your eyes. People with blue or grey eyes don’t have to worry about this because blue eye’ed people have less melanin in their eyes so it’s unlikely if you have blue eyes that you’ll see a colour change. However if like me you have hazel, green, or light brown eyes your chances of seeing pigmentation change in your eye colour is a lot higher. I have dark olive green/hazel eyes and I never noticed any colour change in my eyes but it is something to be wary of because once it happens it is permanent
Overview
Overall I have to say I think the side effects and cons of lash growth serum’s that contain bimatoprost far out way the only one positive about it which is having longer eyelashes. I personally don’t see the point in having beautiful long lashes if your eyes are going to be constantly red, dark ,and hollow when you could just wear false lashes or get eyelash extensions without any of those nasty side effects. It was sad seeing my long lashes go back to being regular lashes after I stopped using it but I’m glad i did.
Have you had a similar experience with lash growth serums? if so I’d love to know.
Heidi x
Quick reviews 