By Hannah Sivak, PhD
Skin Actives Scientific LLC

NOTE: Skin Actives Scientific sells an effective eyebrow and eyelash serum that does NOT contain precription medicines, but the information below is truthful. Read it and make your own mind.

Is Latisse (bimatoprost solution 0.03%) expensive? A doctor's visit plus $140 per 3 mL (one tenth of 1 fl.oz) is indeed expensive, but there is more to this than "just" money.

Bimatoprost is the name of a drug that has been sold for some time under the name Lumigan, to control progression of glaucoma and ocular hypertension. These are dangerous conditions that can lead to blindness. What does this prescription medicine have to do with skin care?

It was found that one of the side effects of Lumigan was to increase the growth of eyelashes of some of the patients using it. Allergan applied for a patent for the use of bimatorpost for this purpose in 2003.

In 2007 the FDA confiscated Jan Marini’s Age Intervention eyelash product containing bimatoprost under the fancy name “eyelash growth factor”. This action was taken for legal reasons, a prescription drug should state that clearly on the packaging and have permission from the FDA. Allergan has obtained that persmission from the FDA and is now selling Lumigan (bimatoprost 0.03%) under the name Latisse. Latisse is, of course, a prescription medicine.  

Application of a chemical for more than one condition is not new. Minoxidil was originally prepared and sold for use as an
antihypertensive. Propecia (finasteride) was originally developed for benign prostatic hypertrophy

But fancy names on the packaging don’t make a difference to our body: is still a bad idea to use a glaucoma medicine for its one desirable side effect, unless you actually have eye hypertension or glaucoma. The side effects are still the same because the chemical and its concentration are the same: "Common side effects include itching of the eyes, eye irritation, dry eyes, eye redness, eye lash darkening and reversible darkening of skin around the eyes. Bimatoprost may also cause permanent brown pigmentation in the colored part of the eye and hair growth in other areas of the body that it comes in contact with.”

An additional side effect that has been seen is the loss of periorbital fat, which would cause deepening of the upper eyelid sulcus, loss of the lower eyelid fullness, which would add to fat loss in the area seen with aging. Ouch! More work for plastic surgeons…

Let me say that if my ophthalmologist prescribed me bimatoprost I would use it with no hesitation, and I would not care about loss of periorbital fat or change in eye color, because the eye sight is more important to me and all medications have side effects. But I object to the use of a potent medication for frivolous reasons, especially when there are effective alternatives that don’t require prescription medications.

In short, don't go the expensive, risky way when you can choose the safe, inexpensive way. Go Skin Actives!

9/09 UPDATE: FDA warning to Latisse (Allergan) regarding their web advertising. Apparently, Latisse is not advising potential users of the side effects. They are not telling people about the increased iris pigmentation, growing hair in areas different from the treatment zone, and risk of infection. The FDA says that Allergan "omit and minimize risks associated with Latisse treatment".