Image Skincare is touting its new Ageless Lashes as an eyelash growth product that not only offers eye-line color but also costs less than competing products, prescription and otherwise.

"At $89 retail, we've priced this product reasonably - well below any prescription, physician-only or commercially available product making claims of promoting eyelash growth," the West Palm Beach, Fla. company says.

Cosmetic eyelash enhancers on the market include Jan Marini Skin Research's Marini Lash Eyelash Conditioner (0.23 oz.), which retails for $160 and lasts about six months, according to the company.

Other options include Athena Cosmetics' RevitaLash conditioner (0.139 oz.) and La Canada Ventures' MD Lash Factor (0.2 oz.), priced at about $150 and $140, respectively.

Ageless Lashes (0.27 oz.) is considerably less expensive than Allergan's bimatoprost-based Latisse eyelash stimulant approved by FDA in late December; the drug costs roughly $1,440 for a year's prescription (¹ Also see "Allergan Creating Awareness For Game-Changing Latisse Eyelash Growth Drug" - HBW Insight, 12 January, 2009., p. 3).

"Costly maintenance is out," says Image Skincare. "Don't even think about surgical eyelash transplants or [drug] prescriptions with the risk of scary side effects."

Latisse has been linked to no serious adverse events, but Allergan notes in product literature that the drug has the potential to darken the user's eyelid skin and/or iris, which is a permanent effect.

Firm Backs Strong Claims With Clinical Testing

Ageless Lashes is formulated with the Image Growth Promoter Complex - a proprietary blend of peptides, proteins and biotin. The product also contains Follicusan , an ingredient that has been studied in females with androgenetic alopecia (hair loss).

In a clinical study out of Marburg, Germany involving 24 women, twice-daily application of a hair tonic with Follicusan over six months generally prevented the subjects' alopecia from progressing, which is the goal of other therapies involving topical treatments, the investigators note. Hair density and cumulated hair thickness did not change, they say.

Follicusan plays a central role in the Vigro 3-step hair restoration regimen from South African firm PSN Brands Ltd.

Ageless Lashes also is formulated with hydrolyzed soy protein, which is "capable of repairing damaged hair through increase in tensile strength [and] moisture retention," according to the firm's Web site.

Image asserts that regular use of Ageless Lashes awards fuller, longer and healthier eyelashes in as little as four weeks.

That claim is more direct than others used by cosmetic firms marketing eyelash enhancement products and closer to Allergan's marketing language for Latisse (² Also see "Latisse Eyelash Stimulant Will Complement, Not Supplant, Mascara – Allergan" - HBW Insight, 9 February, 2009., p. 5).

Image says it conducted clinical studies demonstrating that its eyelash product inhibits local production of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) - a metabolite associated with hair loss - increases blood irrigation, strengthens anchoring follicle molecules and cleans the residue left by other cosmetic products.

The combination of those effects is "the perfect primer for maximum results," the company says.

The firm may seek publication for an in-house study evaluating the effectiveness of its growth complex in 12 volunteers with "before" and "after" photos and a participant questionnaire. The results confirm the company's claims, according to Dr. Mark A. Ronert, medical director at Image Skincare.

Ageless Lashes is applied as an eyeliner and comes in Jet Black (metallic black), Mocha (golden brown) and Amethyst (dark plum), as well as Clear.

The product joins DermaLash Colors , which DermaQuest Skin Therapy claimed in summer 2008 was "the only lash-enhancing product [range] on the market with a cosmetics twist" (³ Also see "New DermaLash Product Offers Lash Growth With Added Splash Of Color" - HBW Insight, 21 July, 2008., p. 9).

DermaQuest's eyelash enhancer costs just over $90 for 0.27 oz.

- Ryan Nelson (r.nelson@elsevier.com)

Image Skincare Undercuts Competition With $89 Ageless Lashes

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