Science nerd that I am, very frequently I browse trending products. I'm a big formula researcher. My goal is to provide you with the best results-oriented PROFESSIONAL products without the DANGEROUS substances in them.

This week's quest: Grande Lash MD Enhancing Serum, Latisse, and Rodan & Fields Lash serums... You can find Grande Lash MD in almost every retail cosmetics outlet for about $70 for 2ml. Alternately, you can buy Latisse with a doctor's prescription; a one month supply for about $130. No, your insurance will not cover it - it's a prescription cosmetic. Rodan & Fields is a Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM) OTC, non-professional retail company. (Source: https://www.eyedolatryblog.com)

All of these products contain prostaglandin analogs. Grande Lash and R&F have Cloprostenol isopropyl ester. The main active ingredient in Latisse is bimatoprost, a chemical prostaglandin analogue.

Here are my great concerns: What is the real price of longer lashes? Latisse has well documented side effect potential. The main active ingredient bimatoprost is a chemical known as a prostaglandin analogue. Prostaglandins are chemical compounds found naturally within almost all of our body's tissue that are responsible for signaling inflammation within the body.

As such, it's no surprise that Latisse has been associated with common symptoms of inflammation around the eyes like swollen lids (also called chemosis), redness, itching, and watering. FDA clinical testing show about 4% of Latisse users experience itching, redness, and watering, while a much lower number experience an allergic reaction causing the eyelids to swell.

In addition to chronic irritation, Latisse has also been known to darken the eyelid skin and the color of the iris in people with light brown or hazel eyes, as well as potentially causing a sunken eye appearance by shrinking the layers of orbital fat around the eye socket.

Here is some info right off the Grande Lash MD sight: "Don't use if under the age of 18, if you're pregnant or lactating (IMO trying to conceive or have fertility issues). See the MSDS Safety Sheet image below to see how this dangerous substance has to be handled. Cloprostenol isopropyl ester can cause miscarriages. Another prostaglandin similar to cloprostenol isopropyl ester called misoprostol, is used as an abortifacient.

By promoting inflammation on the ocular surface, prostaglandin analogues can disrupt tear film production and expression at all layers. This includes the water layer of our tear film expressed by the lacrimal gland and the mucin layer expressed by the goblet cells on the surface of the conjunctiva. Inflammation also promotes thickening of the oil secretions (sebum) expressed by sebaceous glands in our eyelids. The meibomian (sebaceous) glands run vertically through our top and bottom eyelids and are responsible for secreting the top coat oils that hold the water and mucin layers of our tear film onto the surface of the eye.

Every time we blink, the meibomian glands secrete their oil. If that oil is too thick, it's difficult for the eyelids to spread it evenly over the surface of the eye --more like toothpaste than olive oil. It may even get so thick that the oil blocks and backs up in the gland. This will slowly but surely damage the gland permanently. If the meibomian glands atrophy or die off, the body is not able to repair the tissue and the gland becomes permanently nonfunctional.

The result is irreversible and often severe dry eye. A 2015 study showed a shocking 91.7% of patients treated with prostaglandin analogue drops for glaucoma had meibomian gland disease, versus only 57.7% of patients being treated for glaucoma on a different category of medication.

What's gotten more press than the possible risk of permanent and irreversible dryness and ocular surface damage caused by Latisse or other prostaglandin analogue agents is the financial cost. At around $130 per month, prescription lash growth isn't cheap. Over the counter alternatives have increasingly gained popularity due to this price point, but unfortunately the fact that they are not prescription leads some to falsely feel they must also be safer.

A list of the ingredients of one of the most popular over the counter lash growth serum, Rodan and Fields Lash Boost, shows a not-so-friendly potential dry eye culprit:

Ingredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Keratin, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Biotin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Isopropyl Cloprostenate, Octapeptide-2, Allantoin, Panthenol, Copper Tripeptide-1, Pantethine, Polypeptide-23, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Seed Extract, Glycerin, Sea Water, Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture Extract , Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Fruit Extract, Backhousia Citriodora Leaf Oil, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Rhizobian Gum, Styrene/Acrylates/Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Xanthan Gum, PVP, Lecithin, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Alcohol Denat, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide.

Oh, in Canada, Isopropyl Cloprostenate based products are prohibited.

Not to belabor the point, but you can find out about the R&F's lash serum lawsuit by Googling: "Rodan and Fields Lash Serum Lawsuit". Last I checked, it was at $5,000,000.

Grande Lash claims "Results are based on A consumer PERCEPTION STUDY. Results will vary".

Content excerpted from: Eyedolatry, Grande Cosmetics, R&F, and Cayman Chemical websites