Homecoming week is rapidly approaching folks. Many Florida A&M University dolls are saving up their nickels and dimes to spend hundreds of dollars on sew-ins, fake nails and longer lashes to dress the part.
But there may be another alternative to those model-like lashes so many ladies yearn for.
Latisse, a new FDA approved solution, is now available for ladies who want longer, straighter, darker lashes without the hassle of glue or clumpy mascara.
According to Timesdispatch.com, Latisse was accidentally discovered by a doctor who noticed the eyelashes of glaucoma patients. The patients took bimatoprost eye drops and experienced natural eyelash extension.
At $120 each, a three milliliter bottle is applied at the base of the eye, the same way liquid eyeliner is applied and must be taken once a day to become effective.
According to the product’s website, the active ingredient, bimatoprost, is what helps the eyelashes grow and eventually over time enhances the eye features. The product derived from research done by a pharmaceutical leader in eye care products.
“Latisse is ideal for patients who may have inadequate eyelashes or hair loss due to cancer treatments,” said Beth Sink, cosmetic coordinator for the Tallahassee Plastic Surgery clinic.
“Patients love it,” Sink said.
Sink believes ladies will eventually turn to Latisse as a superior product as an alternative to fake lashes and glue.
While the product has not quite evolved in the African-American community as much, Sink said inquiries about Latisse come from all sorts of women from different ethnic backgrounds.
Sink also said that the product requires continual usage.
“If you stop using the product, your eyelashes will eventually return back to the way they were before you started [using the product],” Sink said.
But tuition costs are slowly increasing and college students are leering away from expensive purchases.
Ragan Sweet, 22, a third-year doctor of pharmacy candidate student from Perry, said that she does not know much about the product, but she knows every medication has its side effects.
“I think a lot of women would try Latisse because it is a new product,” Sweet said.
She also thinks that if someone were self-conscious about the way they appeared, then the product may be the right thing for them, but she would not use it herself.
“I wouldn’t buy it, but eventually it may be in high demand because of African-American students,” said Octavia Jackson, 19, a second year criminal justice student from Jacksonville.
“We spend hundreds of dollars on extensions…eyelashes will be next,” Jackson said.
Jackson said everybody wants the “perfect look” and a product such as Latisse may be the way to it.
According to the FDA, the product is not recommended to those who have a diagnosed eye problem such as glaucoma or those who are on eye pressure medication.
For more information visit www.latisse.com.