Claire Danes' Makeup Tips: "I'm Lazy About Makeup"

Her days as "My (So-Called) Life's" Angela Chase, may be long behind her, but, today, 31 year-old Claire Danes remains as fresh faced as the angst ridden teen character who helped catapult her to fame.

“I don’t typically wear makeup during the day,” the actress told People magazine when prompted for some insider makeup tips, explaining that it's probably because she has to wear so much of it for film roles that in her "real life" she prefers a natural look.

Her natural look will be served well by the new product she's endorsing. Back in March, Danes was revealed as a spokesmodel for the eyelash-growing product, Latisse. Along with Brooke Shields, who's been the face of the first FDA approved lash-grower since it debuted in March of last year, Danes will now be featured in print ads and television commercials touting its efficacy.

“I’m pretty low-maintenance" she told People, "which is [a reason] why Latisse is so great, I can afford to be lazier—it does all the work for me!"

Although the market is being inundated with other lash growth products (LiLash, Revitalash, Talika and Mavala among the multitude), Latisse is the only to have undergone clinical trials and to have been approved by the FDA.

In trials conducted by maker Allergan (the same peeps who bring us Botox, Juvederm and Prevage MD), after 8 weeks of use 50% of patients see longer, fuller lashes. But, that's not to say that use of the product comes without risks -- about 1.5% of light-eyed patients experience a permanent darkening of the iris.

And, while having luxuriously long lashes may be appealing, it can also be expensive. Latisse retails for $130 for a 30 days supply and you're supposed to keep using it even after your desired results are attained.

Happily, for those of us who'd like long lashes but would like something less risky and/or expensive, there's also been a glut of lash growth mascaras making their way on to drugstore shelves lately.

From L'Oreal's 24-Hour Lash Boosting Power System ($24.95) a two-part kit that boasts a 2-step day time mascara with "lash boosting" primer and a "concentrated lash boosting serum" for night, to Cargo's LashActivator ($35) there is no shortage or products to choose from if longer lashes is what you're after.

Of course, there are always just plain old mascaras which these days, are available in so many different permutations that it can be downright mind-boggling. From lengthening, to curling, to elongating to thickening (and every combination thereof imaginable), there's something for every fancy in every corner CVS. (See the Best Mascaras Ever.)

As for which mascara Danes, whose most recent project, HBO's "Temple Grandin," earned her rave reviews and talk of an Emmy nod, would choose were she not a Latisse convert, remains a mystery. With her newly elongated lashes, Mrs. Hugh Dancy's makeup routine consists of nothing more than a light foundation and some lip balm.

Nothing's as refreshing as a low-maintenance actress.

What do you think about using a lash growth product like Latisse? Would you risk it?