What's the buzz on balding lately? Well, it all has to do with eyelashes.
I was in plastic surgeon Dr. Z. Paula Lorenc's office, discussing the various concerns of midlifers and he mentioned it – Latisse, the 'cure' for short shrimpy eyelashes.
You know they're testing that on baldness now.
A week later I was in optometrist Dr. Susan Resnick's office discussing sunglasses and she brought it up when we touched on Latisse.
You know they're testing that on baldness now.
And at an informational meeting on Elure, a new line of skin lightening products, another journalist brought it up there… You know they're testing that on….
Yes, yes, I know. I've heard.
To me it's seems like a no-brainer. Latisse really does make eyelashes grow, so why wouldn't it do the same for the hair on the head? It seems odd to me that they didn't try testing it ages ago.
After all, as I've explained before, Latisse was a happy accident itself. It was derived from the medication used to treat glaucoma.
It certainly makes sense that if it makes eyelashes grow like crazy — and some say eyebrows too, although I couldn't really tell, but my application was too sporadic to count – that hair would start coming up in tufts.
I checked in with our go-to guru, aesthetics consultant Wendy Lewis:
Latisse has become a staple for women in search of long lashes. Many now use it to regrow overplucked brows as well. If you're a non-believer, just try it for 6-8 weeks and you'll see how well it works. In fact, your lashes (and brows) might need to be trimmed. It is said to be undergoing clinical trials for the brow indication."
That's also why you see so many over-the-counter products, like mascaras, promising to grow longer lashes—they generally contain a "watered-down," much less of the prescription-strength version of the formula. Which is why it takes longer to grow the lashes but with continued, steady use you should see a similar effect.
Wendy went on:
[Latisse] is also being studied for receding hairlines which would revolutionize treatment for hair loss. …women also have problems with thinning hair and even male pattern baldness, so Latisse could turn out to be a godsend in the near future! "
We do know it's a concern for many of our readers, so we've covered other ways to handle this situation (see some of the articles listed below).
Realistically, it won't be cheap. Latisse itself is about $100-150 for a tiny 3 mL bottle – although it can last a long time. I often see results much sooner than the promised 4 weeks, which means I can get away with using it sporadically.
So, to cover an entire head… Still, I imagine it's much less that having hair transplants, and less traumatic, so the prospects are exciting.
More fixes for cosmetic concerns:
Salon Secrets for Thinning Hair
What to Do About Thinning Hair
