Discover everything about the eyelash growth cycle and eyebrow grow cycle
✅ Medically reviewed by:
Losing your eyelashes and eyebrows is one of the most emotionally challenging side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. For many women the loss of lashes and brows can be particularly upsetting affecting confidence, the feeling of femininity, and a sense of normality.
This page brings together recent clinical evidence, practical guidance and the real world experience from Opti Laboratories. We are a UK based, doctor led company that has supported clients since 2007.
Most chemotherapy drugs work by targeting rapidly dividing cells, slowing down their division to prevent the growth and spread of cancer. Hair follicles are complex structures that continually pass through a growth cycle to produce hair. When cancer treatment interrupts the hair growth cycle then lashes and brows fail to grow correctly and often shed prematurely.
Importantly, eyelashes and eyebrows have shorter growth cycles than scalp hair. This means that they often fall out earlier during treatment due to the shorter cycle. However, this also means that when regrowth occurs it can be relatively quick compared to the scalp. Unfortunately there are some rare cases where regrowth does not happen or is incomplete.
Radiotherapy to the head or face can compound this effect by directly damaging follicular stem cells, making recovery slower and more unpredictable. When both are combined then the chance of lash or brow loss increases.
In most cases, yes—but the timeline is highly variable.
Clinical experience and published studies show that lashes and brows frequently lag behind scalp hair. This delay is one of the most common reasons patients seek additional help.
Quote from Grazia magazine
“After five months of chemotherapy to blitz my ovarian cancer in April 2008, I had no body hair left, as chemo kills the cells that produce hair follicles. Losing the hair on my head I could deal with even though I’d always had long hair. My boyfriend Mark shaved my head and I simply carried on with the same determination that had seen me through the intense nausea, fatigue and hot flushes of chemo. But without eyelashes and brows I found my face had no definition. My reflection was blank: I looked like a boiled egg.
In June, my hair grew back as thick as ever. My leg hair, too, came back with a vengeance. But my lashes were so short and frail they were all but invisible. No mascara in the world could help. Desperate to feel feminine again after having extensive surgery, I turned to Grazias beauty team, who recommended I visit lash extension expert Sue Marsh at her London clinic. It took two hours to apply around 200 false lashes and, when I walked out, I felt attractive for the first time since I’d been ill. I even caught my reflection in a shop window and was pleasantly surprised.
I would happily have spent £190 on eyelash extensions every three months for the rest of my life, but Sue warned me that relying on extensions full-time meant my eyelashes would never recover their full natural length. So, Sue sent me to MyLash (now part of the Opti Laboratories family). MyLash provides consultation and treatment for individuals that wish to activate and enhance their natural lash growth.
After a consultation, it was agreed that MyLash could help me. I painted a solution that was prescribed to me on like eyeliner every night and after six weeks my eyelashes were 25 percent longer. Within three months they were 100 per cent thicker and felt fabulously full. Best of all, they looked better than they did before I was ill. For an extra boost, Sue gave me a lash lift — an eyelash curl that lasts eight weeks.
The result looked natural, only better. Without being able to pinpoint exactly what’s changed about me, friends tell me I’ve got the twinkle back in my eye. And when I see my new eyelashes in the mirror, I finally look like me again.
Written by:
Becky Gee
Beauty editor, Grazia Magazine.
Bimatoprost is a prostaglandin analogue originally developed as an eye drop for glaucoma. It was noticed that people using the eye drop were starting to grow longer eyelashes, and this was particularly noticeable when they were only using it on a single eye.
This led to investigations and clinical clinical studies to make sure that it was safe and appropriate to use as a cosmetic treatment to enhance eyelash growth. The most important studies were gathered together and led to the treatment gaining approval by the American FDA for use as a cosmetic. The American regulator was convinced that:
Bimatoprost is now the most studied and clinically supported treatment for eyelash and eyebrow regrowth, and additionally it is also the most studied compound to help with eyelash and eyebrow regrowth following cancer therapy.
In most case’s we recommend that bimatoprost is started two weeks after chemotherapy or radiotherapy has completely finished. If you have any ongoing side effects or problems then we may advise you to delay the start until they have settled.
Some people have used the treatment during chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy but we believe that it is best to stop bimatoprost (Latisse) during any cancer therapy. The chemotherapy drugs suppress growth cycles in cells, including hair, and the treatment acts to speed up the growth cycle, so chemotherapy should cancel out the effect.
Our doctor led service requires that everyone completes a medical form that is reviewed by a British based clinician. This is essential to make sure that you are suitable for the treatment, to exclude any rare contraindications and to make sure that you correctly apply the treatment for best results.
When used appropriately the treatment is generally well tolerated. The most commonly reported side effects are mild and localised, such as temporary redness or irritation at the application site. If any problems occur then we have years of experience and we often resolve them, with most people continuing the treatment and regrowing their eyelashes & eyebrows.
We regularly support:
Opti Laboratories are a team of British doctors who are dedicated to providing the best, most effective solutions for eyelash and eyebrow growth. Every client is reviewed to ensure and reassure you that you are suitable for our treatment.
“We’ve been helping clients since 2007. Our decades of experience means and ongoing scientific research means we can provide you with the best advice and products”
Dr Tom Walker
Our team has decades of experience but we still continue to advance our knowledge and grow as a company. We carry out experiments for new therapies and treatments, we develop our own custom formulations and design new products.
The pictures that you see of our products are taken in photoshoots that we arrange and run ourselves in London. We use real clients – some that have been using our products for over 10 years – to show the real results that you can achieve.
We regularly review the scientific and medical literature to keep up with the latest developments, and we publish scientific papers with our own findings. Here are some of our latest articles that relate to using Latisse after chemotherapy:
Discover everything about the eyelash growth cycle and eyebrow grow cycle
An overview on the effect of tamoxifen and other hormone therapies relating to eyelash and eyebrow loss
Questions answered by an expert about eyelash and eyebrow regrowth after chemotherapy
A study has shown that bimatoprost, known by the brand name Opti Labs Growth Treatment in the UK, can contribute...
Our clinically proven, prescription strength growth treatment has been our gold standard treatment since we started in 2007.
Trusted by over 15,000 clients.
Each pack includes the treatment and the applicators, which lasts most people three months with careful usage.
Most people begin two weeks or so once chemotherapy or radiotherapy has completely finished and any acute side effects or problems have resolved. A medical assessment is always required.
Yes. Clinical studies, as well as our own long term experience, shows meaningful eyebrow regrowth in many people that are using bimatoprost to regrow their eyebrows after chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
The hair follows its normal growth cycle. Continued use is not required to maintain results when your have returned your eyelashes and eyebrows to their normal dimensions. Continued use of the treatment will take them beyond their natural limits, often helping them to grow significantly longer than before.
Bimatoprost acts locally at the hair follicle and is not a chemotherapy drug or hormone therapy. In America Latisse is widely used post chemotherapy.
In the UK, legitimate bimatoprost treatment should always involve a prescription from a doctor. We urge you to avoid any place that offers the treatment without the supervision of a doctor.
