Latisse

I have been blessed with microscopic blond eyelashes. I always envied dark women with their beautiful long, dark lashes. I have been getting eyelash extensions for about a year and a half now and I have decided to try Latisse instead. Latisse is the stuff Brooke Shields is advertising. I decided to blog about my success (or lack of success) with Latisse. I know some of you will think Latisse (and lash extensions) is a silly waste of money, but here's my rationale: I work very, very hard and I deserve to spend some of my hard-earned money on something frivilous and fun for myself.

So, I'm going to confess all, even the cost of this whole project. I have been spending $50 every three weeks for eyelash extensions, plus twice I've had to pay for an entire new set, which raised the cost to $75. Here's total:
78 weeks divided by 3 means I've had extensions about 26 times.
26 times $50 is... HOLY *&()^&%!!! $1300!!!, plus the extra $25 twice means I've spent about $1350 on eyelashes. Wow! I've never stopped to add it up before. What an eye opener (so to speak)!!

The last couple of months, my eyes have been irritated and sore after I got extensions. The last two times they were very painful. The extensions are beautiful for about the first week, then they start to clump together and curl in strange directions and a few fall out so there are empty spaces.

The pros to lash extensions: they do look beautiful for about the first week. They are long and black without mascara. They make the morning and the nighttime routine faster, no mascara to put on or wash off.

I bought Latisse for $120 for one bottle. I started using it on January 13, two days ago. I got it from one of the doctors I work with, after speaking to my optometrist, who assured me it was safe. I have heard that it costs less if you get a written prescription and shop around. Walgreen's is supposed to be $80 to $99 per bottle. I also found on the internet a product that claims to be "generic" Latisse for only $10 per bottle, but I don't trust that one.

Anyway, the label says to put one drop on the applicator and apply it to your lash line like eyeliner each night, using a new applicator and a new drop for each eye. Here is a much cheaper way to do it:
Put one drop into the lid of the bottle, then dip a new applicator into the drop and apply to the first eye. There is still plenty in the lid to dip the applicator again and apply to the other eye.
This way, you use only one drop per night instead of two. Theoretically, this should make the 30 day supply last twice as long.

The most dissatisfying concept with Latisse as opposed to lash extensions is that extensions give you beautiful lashes instantly. With Latisse you have to be very patient. It takes the average person about 16 weeks to have long, thick, dark eyelashes. So once the extensions that I have now have all fallen off, I will be back to my microscopic blond lashes for a while. I'll have to start using mascara again. Ugh!

Once you get through the initial 16 weeks or so, you go to the "maintenance" phase of Latisse use. For as long as you want to keep your long lashes, you continue to use Latisse about twice a week. When you stop using it, your lashes will slowly go back to their original (microscopic and blond).

For 78 weeks, here's the cost of Latisse:
$240 for the first 16 weeks.
$240 for two more bottles which might last the next 62 weeks, assuming there are 60 drops in a bottle and I use it twice a week.
Wow! WAY cheaper than extensions!

So there's the beginning of my Latisse saga. Are you bored out of your mind now? If anyone's interested, I'll keep updating on this subject and let you know if my experiment is a success or not.