Feb 3, 2009 6:05 pm US/Eastern
Drug Claims To Help Grow Long, Luscious Lashes
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The first FDA-approved medication to grow eyelashes is about to hit the market.
It's expected to be as popular as Botox!
Kay Magee has all sorts of mascara, like most women wanting her eyelashes to look long and full, but she doesn't have to pile on the make up anymore. "I was like, boom…'Look at my eyelashes.'"
Her new luscious lashes came from an unlikely place - eye drops used to treat the eye disease glaucoma have the side effect of growing.
"It's not unusual to have unexpected side effects of medications," said Dr. Nancy Swartz.
She says she and many others have been prescribing the glaucoma medication to people who don't have the disease with the only affect being growing lashes. "It's fun to have something safe that really does make your eyelashes grow."
The glaucoma medicine, Lumigan, is being renamed and repackaged as Latisse, to specifically grow eyelashes.
To get FDA approval, Latisse had to be specifically tested to prove it safely grows lashes.
Kay, who does commercial work, saw results quickly but it can take eight weeks.
Dr. Swartz says it works anywhere there are hair follicles, but at this point its not being tested for the head.
Kay says for longer, fuller, darker eyelashes, it's a product women have been waiting for.
Latisse can cause some minor side effects like itching, and redness. It will be available by prescription sometime in the next few weeks and costs around $120.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments