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.

 

If used correctly, Latisse does not appear to change the appearance of one's eyes.  When essentially the same medication is used in larger doses to treat glaucoma, a small number of patients can experience a darkening of their eye color.  When used to treat glaucoma the medication is placed directly into the eye instead of on the upper eyelid with an applicator, thus a much higher level of exposure is seen.

Your question is a good one, as there has been an incredible amount of false information that's been spread regarding the potential for people to develop a change in the color of their eyes (irises) as a consequence of using Latisse to stimulate eyelash growth.  

To answer your question, no, if you have blue eyes, you do NOT have to worry about your eye color changing while using Latisse as directed (applying to your upper lash line every night).

To my knowledge, in the hundreds of thousands of patients being treated for glaucoma with the same active ingredient that is in Latisse (bimatoprost), only a handful of patients with hazel eyes had a darkening (turning more brown) of their eye color. Keep in mind, these patients were administering the medication directly into their eyes as eyedrops every night. The vast majority of glaucoma patients with hazel eyes that used the medication (bimatoprost) in the form of eyedrops did NOT notice any change in their eye color.

To date, there has not been one reported case of eye color change attributed to the use of Latisse (bimatoprost to the upper lash line to stimulate eyelash growth) in any patient in the US.

I hope this was helpful in answering your question.

To date, there is no conclusive report of Latisse causing eye pupil color change. The risk is related to its glaucoma eyedrop cousin, whose concentration is at least 20 times higher than what we would use in Latisse.

In my experience, dispensing over 3000 bottles of Latisse and Lumigan over the last 3 years, for eyelash growth, I have never seen nor heard about any cases of eye color change when used for this purpose.  I am also not aware of any reports of eye color change with Latisse.  As the other physicians have answered, Lumigan, when used in the eye daily for glaucoma has been reported to change eye color, but Latisse should not be used in the eye and if occasionally gets into the eye would probably not create this side effect.  Eye color change is also not an "overnight" side effect.  It occurs gradually, in patients with hazel eyes (eyes that are blue or green with some brown already in them).   The brown pigment would gradually spread if this were to occur, not happen all at once.