New drug allows women to grow longer and thicker eyelashes

New drug allows women to grow longer and thicker eyelashes

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:08 AM on 15th January 2009

Glamorous girls could soon throw out their mascara and fiddly false lashes thanks to the arrival of the first eyelash-enhancing drug.

Women can look forward to growing longer, fuller and darker lashes within as little as two months using Latisse, the first eyelash enhancer to be approved by the FDA.

Allergan, the company that developed the wrinkle-smoother Botox, will launch the revolutionary treatment in the U.S. later this month. It is expected to reach the U.K. by the spring.


Progression: Week 1 and week 16 of treatment

The product, which will be available on prescription, is predicted to be a great hit in women, who spend £3billion a year on mascara.


Timeline of growth

Eye drops are applied to the base of the eyelash each day at a cost of about £80 for a month of treatment.

Like Botox, the treatment was created after a medicinal drug was found to have a highly sought after side effect.

Allergan famously turned the obscure muscle paralyzer for eyelid spasms into the blockbuster wrinkle smoother.
Now it will re-market Latisse, which is the same as the glaucoma drug Lumigan.

Used for glaucoma, Lumigan is dropped into the eye to lower pressure.

But for lashes, the same medication is dabbed on the top of lashes like eyeliner.

In order to get FDA approval, Latisse had to be specifically tested to prove its safety.

However, the trials showed that the eyelash-enhancing effects died away when women stopped treatment.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1117162/New-drug-allows-women-grow-longer-thicker-eyelashes.html