My eyelashes are out of control.

Have you seen this commercial?

First of all, to Brooke Shields:

B.

Honey.

It’s going to be okay.

You don’t need to take these kinds of gigs. I know money is tight right now and Suddenly Susan was a long time ago, but you know there are plenty of products out there who would LOVE to have you as their spoke-person. OK. Not Calvin Klein. I’m pretty sure Ralph Lauren is a no go. Ambercrombie and Fitch… American Apparel… Gap! OOH! Old Navy. Oh, wait. You did Old Navy. How about vitamins? Or Orange Juice! Anything but body-modification chemicals.

That wasn’t my point. My point was: Remember this commercial for later in the story.

Vanity, thy name is Lash.
When I was a teenager, a ton of bricks had to fall on me before I knew I was being flirted with. It’s actually pretty embarrassing.

“Hey, my parents are going to be out of town this weekend. I’m gonna be all alone.”

“Make sure you lock all the doors before dark.”

Facepalm.

Anyway. I could always tell when a girl liked me because she would comment on the color of my eyes, or the length of my eyelashes.

OK, I’m not so vain that I can’t see through a teenage excuse to get close to (and stare at) each other – but you get a ton of compliments on a single feature it begins to sink in a little.

Oh, your lashes. The color of them. The thickness. The length. The gentle upward curve.

(OK. Second ton of bricks, just arriving. Wow. 20 years late.)

The beauty of my lashes aside, they were long. Then in my twenties… I got glaucoma.

OK, Back to the commercial.
Like all commercials for Legal Drugs, it has a fast-talking-low-silky-voiced-disclaimer. In case you didn’t hear it, it said:

If you are using prescription products for lowering eye pressure or have a history of eye pressure problems, only use LATISSE® under close doctor supervision.

May cause eyelid skin darkening which may be reversible, and there is potential for increased brown iris pigmentation which is likely to be permanent. There is a potential for hair growth to occur in areas where LATISSE® solution comes in repeated contact with skin surfaces.

If you develop or experience any eye problems or have eye surgery, consult your doctor immediately about continued use of LATISSE®. The most common side effects after using LATISSE® solution are an itching sensation in the eyes and/or eye redness.

The active ingredient in LATISSE® (bimatoprost) was originally marketed as a glaucoma medication. Longer thicker eyelashes were the listed side effects. Now, they’re doing it the other way around.

Wait. What? How can they do that?

They’ve done it before. Propecia, the baldness drug, was once called Finasteride and sold as a treatment for prostate cancer. Then someone decided to market the side effect.

Why do you think the pharmaceutical companies lobbied to outlaw doctors prescribing “off-label” uses? Because the markup is CRAZY. Generic Bimatoprost is 1/10th the cost of LATISSE®.

Is that what you’re taking?

No. I’m on one very similar called Travoprost (and also Dorzolamide… and Timolol… and… Prednisone… and…). Travoprost (brand name “Travatan®”) isn’t the only one that makes my lashes grow – but it’s the one that makes the biggest difference.

My dose is stronger than LATISSE® and I take it twice as often.

Wow. So how long have your lashes gotten?

I’m beginning to feel like a St. Bernard. Who knew eyelashes can get split ends? Is there a conditioner for that?

They smack my glasses and leave smudge marks. And because the drops pool in the corner of my eye, the eyelashes in the corners are nuts.

I’m two weeks into a six week recovery – so I get post-op eye boogers like crazy. Now they have an extra large extra tangled net to get caught in.

Is there such a thing as an eyelash barber? Is there an eyelash cutting tool I’m unaware of?

I have GOT to do something about this.