Will Latisse Change Eye Color?

  Most of the doctors who prescribe Latisse have NEVER seen anyone's eye color change as a result.  Nonetheless, every physician is compelled to warn prospective Latisse patients about this because this has rarely been seen when the same medicine was directly applied to the eye as an eye drop for glaucoma treatment.  But almost certainly, much, much higher doses of the medicine was absorbed into the eye when used as an eye drop, compared to when it is applied to the skin of the upper eyelid using the accompanying applicator.

Latisse is considered to be an extremely safe
drug. Although there are no reported
cases of Latisse changing eye color, the active ingredient in Latisse has been
associated with color changes when instilled directly in the eye to treat
glaucoma.For
this reason, patients should exercise caution when applying Latisse to the
upper eyelashes.If you’re concerned
about this issue a consultation with your physician is appropriate.Your physician should be able to answer all
your questions and alleviate your anxiety.

Consultation with a doctor can determine whether Latisse is safe for you. It is true that one very rare risk is an increase in brown pigmentation in the irises in green or hazel eyes. However, I haven't seen this occur with any of my patients to date.

There has been information floating around on this subject. First, Latisse was developed from prescription drops used to treat Glaucoma called Lumigan©. Lumigan is an FDA approved eye drop prescription since 2001, meant to be placed directly on the eye daily. In the original Lumigan FDA clinical trials, there was a 1% incidence of hyperpigmentation (or darkening) of the eye color (the iris) in patients with hazel or light brown eyes. In the six years since the release of Latisse there has been NO REPORTED CASES of eye color change with Latisse that I am aware of. With Latisse the product is applied along the lash line and studies have shown when properly placed, little if any gets on the eye itself. As such, the safety literature that accompanies Latisse mentions this rare risk of a reaction and permanent darkening of your eye color.

I get this question all the time because the company is obligated to report that there have been rare instances of darkening of the iris (colored part of the eye). The thing is, Latisse actually started as a glaucoma drop, and it was a very rare side effect only when the medication was applied directly to the eye. It has never been seen with use of Latisse along the lash line.

The most common side effects include irritation of the eye or skin surrounding the eyelashes, darkening of the skin surrounding the lashes, and darkening of the colored part (i.e. iris) of the eye.  Darkening of the iris can be permanent and was noted in patients being treated for glaucoma when the solution was instilled directly into the eye; darkening of the iris was not noted in clinical trials for Latisse.  The other listed side effects are temporary and occur in less than 4% of patients.