A friend who recently underwent chemotherapy asked me the other day about the risk of eye color change with Latisse, because her oncologist advised for that reason that she used Revitalash instead. Unfortunately this is misguided advice, because I have not been able to find a confirmed report of a single case of eye color change with Latisse, while there are no clinical studies documenting effectiveness of Revitalash. Latisse remains the only FDA-approved product proven to grow eyelashes longer, darker, and fuller. The confusion comes from mandated FDA labeling because the active ingredient in Latisse (bimatoprost) is the same as a glaucoma medication called Lumigan, which when applied directly into the eye does cause darkening of green-hazel eyes in a small percentage of patients. The eyelash growth was observed as a side-effect, and Allergan formulated it into Latisse, which is applied to the eyelid and not placed into the eye.
So I give all due credit to the oncologists who are doing miraculous life-saving work, and can’t blame them for not taking the time to research the finer points of eyelash growth products. But as people recover from the ravages of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, it is healthy to want to look and appear well, and they deserve our best informed advice on that front too. Something as seemingly trivial as re-growing eyelashes can have a disproportionately positive effect on a patient’s well-being. If we are to be guided by clinical data in this phase of treatment as much as with anti-cancer therapy, then Latisse is the way to go.