Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Dermatology Information

Latisse Won’t Make Your Blue Eyes Brown

by Lori H. Saltz, MD * Medical Director at La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre

I have always been lucky enough to have long eyelashes. Yet when Latisse became available, I thought “why not make a good thing even better?”

If you’re not familiar with Latisse, it is a prescription treatment that helps eyelashes grow longer, thicker, and darker by applying a thin line of the product to the upper eyelid,  at base of your eyelashes.

Remember the old song lyric by Crystal Gayle, “Don’t it my my brown eyes blue”?   This made me think about a topic that many of my patients ask about… “Will using Latisse make my blue eyes become brown?”  In a word, no, and the reason is simple.

The same ingredient in Latisse (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution), is in another Allergan product, Lumigan, used to treat glaucoma.  For glaucoma patients, one to two drops of Lumigan are placed directly into the eye four to six times a day.  That’s up to 12 times the amount used on the lashes with Latisse.  Approximately one percent of glaucoma patients using the drops in their eyes experienced a darkening of the pigment of the iris.  That is where the “buzz” about Latisse turning blue eyes brown started.

When the iris changed color in this small percentage of glaucoma patients, it did not magically happen overnight. Instead, the color slowly changed, starting around the edge of the pupil and moving outward.

So in theory, does Latisse have the potential to darken the iris?  Theoretically yes, but in all the clinical trials for Latisse, no cases were ever reported. This is because Latisse is applied with a sterile applicator (included in your kit) to the base of the lashes, not in directly into the eye.  So you end up getting just a fraction of the drug compared to the amount used by glaucoma patients.

In just about eight weeks, sometimes sooner, you will begin to see your lashes get darker, thicker, and longer. We can barely keep Latisse in stock because women are so excited about having natural looking long eyelashes.  You can continue to use your regular mascara (but some patients have stopped because their lashes look so good withou it). If and when you stop using Latisse, your lashes will eventually return to their original state.

My staff and I love this product and so do my patients.  Bring out those longer, beautiful, thicker lashes with Latisse.  Check out what it did for mine in the photos below!