Latisse (again)

My friend K was trying Botox for the first time and booked an appointment with Dr Torgerson.  She asked me to come along with her to hold her hand which was quite fun!  She had her glabellar lines treated but also got some Botox to her crow's feet.  We're still awaiting the full results (it has been less than a week) but can already see some softening of the lines around her eyes.

While I was there I had to flutter my eyelashes at Dr T to show the effects of Latisse-he sold me my first bottle.  He was highly impressed so I promised to send him a couple of nice pictures and trotted home to see if I could improve on the ones I posted here.

I think it's most obvious in the shots taken from above-you can also see that the right eye (to the left of the photo) is still catching up with some long, some short!

Pre Latisse, no mascara

3 months, no mascara

Pre Latisse, no mascara

3 months, no mascara 

L'Oreal Double Extend Eye Illuminator

I've always tended to depend on mascara-I never felt my lashes were long enough and my eyes seemed to disappear into my face without it.  It's been my "can't live without" make-up item for years.  Thanks to Latisse, it's now become more of a fun thing to try.  I've gone from needing multiple coats of the most volumising mascara possible to trying lots of different ones and actually enjoying the results.  I like the L'Oreal double extend mascara with the lash serum-

so I was excited to see a Double Extend Eye Illuminator in Shopper's Drug Mart the other day.   It claims to lengthen and illuminate and comes in 4 shades for different coloured eyes-one for blue, brown, green/hazel and one for all colours.  I decided to try the green/hazel which has black mascara on one side and a shimmery gold highlighter on the other.

The mascara goes on easily enough.  It's more of a defining one with a little bit of lengthening.  It isn't particularly volumising but didn't clump.  You really don't get much in the tube though.  The glittery top coat goes on top.  It's not particularly obvious but does give a little sheen in the right lighting.  Don't think there was an appreciable difference in how illuminated my eyes were!  It could be nice to use for nights out I think.  The packet says that you can just put the shimmer on the tips for everyday use or from root to tip for "intense drama".

Here are my results.  I did the left eye-it's the one with the better lashes.  Right eye is still catching up!

You can see the shimmer best on the last one without the flash.

There's a good review here on the Musings of a Muse blot.

The official site is here and you can get a $2 coupon.  Wish I'd looked before buying!

And for completion, this is the TV advert-which I saw for the first time as I was typing this up.  Typical!

Latisse at 3 months!

This is a few days late being posted-my best time for messing around online is at the weekends.  I did take the photos on the 16th though which I think is as close to 3 months from the date I started as I could do.

I'm still finding it easy to do-just a couple of minutes every night.  I got 3 months out of the first bottle by not doing it quite by the instructions and using my own clean brushes.  The next bottle should last much longer-hope to reduce down to every few days in a month or so.

It's hard to see huge differences day to day now.  I think I'm too used to looking at myself!  I like applying mascara now though-it's not just a chore to make my eyes look somewhat respectable.  The lashes on the right eye are kind of recovering from their difficult phase and becoming a bit more manageable.  The left eye is much better but they're not quite as unruly.  A heated eyelash curler from Sephora has really helped for the straight segment!

I've had no side effects after the first few weeks-if you don't count a new obsession with looking at lashes and wanting every mascara.  Or my lashes occasionally tipping my glasses!

Here are the new ones:

Without mascara:

With Clinique high impact curling

 And as a reminder, the pre Latisse pics (which I'm sorry I didn't take with mascara too!):

And my eyes haven't changed colour.  They're hazel though so look different depending on the day/time/surrounding colours!

I've also been putting any excess from the brush on my brows.  It seems to have filled them out a little at the ends and the gap in the left brow has filled in.  Now I just need to pluck them into a decent shape...

Latisse 2 months on!

So it's about 2 months since I first started using Latisse.  It's not a huge hassle to use-just a couple of minutes every night after washing my face and it has become part of my nightly routine.  I'm definitely seeing results.  I'm certainly not at the stage where I would say I don't need mascara, but I'm much prouder of my lashes when I have my make-up on and I'm also finding that I don't need as many coats-a touch does a lot more now.

My left eye looks good-lashes are uniform and have grown longer.  My right eye is going through what I can only describe as an awkward teenager phase.  Some lashes are long, some are short, some are pointing out, some are really curly.  I think there's always been a disparity between the two eyes-the right sometimes seemed to have a gap-but the Latisse has emphasised this.  It wasn't unexpected really.  The information booklet warns that lashes may grow at different rates or in different directions.  Hopefully this will even out as more lashes are caught at the right phase of growth-there are a few stumpy ones on that side.

Side effects?  At the moment none.  My eyes did feel a bit dry initially but that was probably emphasised by the change in weather and drop in humidity.  My eyes weren't used to the dry Canadian air and the forced air heating!  Haven't noticed any pigmentation on my lids or my irises.

I'm managing to squeeze more than a month out of the bottle too which makes it better value!  I'm getting to the end though now so will be trotting back to Dr Torgerson's office soon for another fix (and maybe some filler)

Updated photos...

I've used the same mascara again (Clinique High Impact curling) for continuity.  Camera is different though-eventually found a battery charger for my real one.  My right/unruly eye is to the left as you look at it.
Here were my "pre" pictures:

What do you think?

6 weeks on-Latisse

Quick post updating on my Latisse experience.  It's been 6 weeks now and I'm definitely noticing changes. I'm still bothered by the possibility of iris colour change.  It doesn't seem like it's something overly likely with Latisse but I do still think it's a possibility.  That said, I imagine it might be a difficult product to give up.  I've always had short, sparse lashes (thanks, Mum) but they're growing now for the first time ever!  Not all are the same length-there are some long, some around the normal length.  My right lashes aren't as long as my left and some of the ones at the outer edge of my right eye are strangely curly.
I keep thinking I must be imagining it and it's really only properly obvious when I'm wearing mascara.  My sister confirmed that they looked longer though and I've actually had the annoying "tipping my glasses" experience!
Updated photos:

I'm keeping a careful eye on my eye colour...especially things like that brown patch on my left eye (right of the picture) which has always been there.  Mascara is Clinique high impact curling again.

Before:

It's slow!   They say results tend to take off at 8 weeks so I'll update again.

Next post: 6 weeks after Botox!

One month on!

Thought I'd be updating this more often...but it's hardly like anyone is reading it anyway!
Have been bothered by the effect of the Botox since I got it.  Zero side effects; just not sure I've gotten the desired effect.   It's really difficult to know what to expect as a first timer.  I can still frown, but it's not at all as strong as it was.  My worry is that it's still enough to keep the lines showing.  Unfortunately I can't actually ask the person who injected me, but I did manage to get some answers on RealSelf about the expected outcome and whether or not I needed a topup.  Some answers were more useful than others.  Some didn't even read the question.   But it mainly seems like practices differ-some like to completely remove movement, others don't.  One mentioned that it should reduce motion enough to soften the lines.  I really do think it should be better

This is me at a month (and still struggling to capture it properly on phone camera!)

I'm going to email the office and see if they can find an appointment for me.  I could only get in Tuesdays, evenings or weekends for the last few weeks and they said nothing was available.

Now...the Latisse!

I'm still terrified using it every day.  They completely dismissed any worries regarding iris colour change in the office and pointed to one of the assistants with blue eyes who had no issues.  A bit of Googling showed that light blue eyes weren't the highest risk anyway.  My type of eyes are-light brown/green that already contain some brown.  There are also unsubstantiated claims of Latisse-induced iris darkening on some blog comments/reviews etc online.  I know Allergan claim none in the clinical trial but 100 participants in it is nothing.
I've  had some itching and dry eyes with it-mainly the first two weeks.  Part of it could be the dry winter air and all the heating indoors too though.  I tried morning application for a while-didn't make much difference.  I gave up on the enclosed brushes after reading reviews on makeupalley and invested in some disposable eyeliner brushes instead.  They are much easier to handle and apply more accurately.  As for effects?  I'm not sure.  Maybe seem slightly longer when I put on my mascara.  Pics are below...I'm getting better at taking these ones at least:

 Hard to tell!

Next post: teeth that stole Christmas and made me cry, plus planning Christmas away from friends and family!

Day 5 and some eyelash fluttering!

Today was day 5 post Botox.   I spent the weekend frowning away to myself to see if I still could.  The day after I was convinced my nose felt funny but then I realised that it was just slightly itchy and it went away (hello, hypochondria/paranoia).  I really felt very little difference over the weekend.  By yesterday (day 4) I felt that my frown had lessened.  Today is day 5 and I can still frown a little but it takes more of an effort.  It feels like it's a weaker expression too.  I frown less enthusiastically!  I've read that it can take a week or so for the full effects so will see how it goes and whether the effects become more pronounced before I ask about a top-up.
This is day 5:

Hard to tell the effects based on the photo which isn't helped by the harsh daylight and hasty make-up application.

I called into Dr Torgerson's office today to pick up some Latisse.  It's the new big thing in eyelash enhancement!  I remember reading about the drug used in it years ago when it was a glaucoma medication.  They had found that people using Lumigan grew longer lashes.  I was very tempted to get my hands on some having stubby, sparse lashes.  The (rare) side effect of darkening of the iris stopped me though.  Allergan (again) decided to make a formulation for eyelashes though and it's just arrived in Canada so I picked some up from Dr Torgerson's.   It's expensive ($160 for a month's supply-shudder) but I wanted to give it a try.  I've also spent money on plenty of lash enhancers that did nothing at all and saw one priced at $170 in Sephora.  I'd also just been to see an oral surgeon about a dental implant and that looked to be so awfully drawn out, expensive and miserable that I was in the mood for a splurge.
It comes in a box with 60 little applicators packed in 2s.  The idea is to apply a drop from the little bottle and use one applicator for each eye, once a day.
Box and applicators:

I also got a cute bag for it which definitely justified the price :-)

Eyelashes before:

 These frequent photos are making me think I need to pay more attention to my eyebrows...and also that I quite possibly need a nose job.  Nose job won't be happening though!  Sigh.

Also saw Dr Torgerson on Global News 16:9 where they did an exposé on nurses/aestheticians injecting without full supervision and dodgy companies selling Botox online.  Glad I went to a real clinic! This link should work for a while.  It's the "Worry Lines" episode.  Scary stuff!