The procedure involves applying a lotion that encourages lashes to grow and thicken – and it is already a hit in the United States, where it is used by actresses including Mad Men star Christina Hendricks, Claire Danes and Brooke Shields.
Two British doctors have now brought the treatment to the UK, opening a chain of 33 clinics that will offer a four-month course for £200.
The solution is applied daily during that period and is claimed to double the thickness of lashes, as well as making them 18 per cent darker and 25 per cent longer.
The lotion has been developed from Bimatoprost, a medication which is used to treat eye disorders including glaucoma.
It is manufactured by American pharmaceutical giant Allergan – which also makes Botox.
Two years ago, it won a licence to market it as Latisse, a beauty treatment to plump up lashes.
Miss Hendricks said in an interview that the treatment had started working after only one month. ‘I’ve just always had completely average eyelashes.
Aside from the aesthetics, there is a level-headedness to Hendricks. Even when she was working as a model in her early 20s, she maintained a cool self-possession reminiscent of Joan's approach to her secretarial colleagues.
She started modelling after school when she won a contest in a magazine. She wasn't friends with most of her fellow more frivolous models. ''I was saving receipts and learning how to be self-employed,'' she recalls with just a lick of scorn. When she was given an invitation to Johnny Depp's birthday party, she sold it for groceries.
''I was astounded I was invited because I didn't know him. When someone said, 'Well, the organisers want pretty models there,' I said, 'Well, that doesn't seem appropriate!' So I sold it,'' she says stoutly.
Hendricks worked as a model from age 18 to 27. Her pragmatic approach stood her in good stead when her agent told the British size eight 25-year-old to lose weight. ''I thought, well, you might see curves there but that's just a bone'' - she punches her right hip, hard - ''so even if I lose weight that's not going to change anything. That's how I look. That's my shape. Do the math.'' She shrugs and reaches for her glass of white wine. She didn't lose any weight. Hendricks has always trusted herself instead of the crowd, a habit that has worked out more happily for her as an adult than as a teenager. While she was a good student, she was also ''pretty unhappy''.
Her unconventionality led to her being a goth kid. ''I dyed my hair about 42 different colours and kids can be pretty judgmental about people who are different. But instead of breaking down and conforming, I stood firm. That is also probably why I was unhappy.''
''Standing firm'' worked out better 15 years later when she saw the script for Mad Men and her agency - not expecting it to succeed - refused to let her take the part. She took it anyway. Her agency dropped her. She shrugged and found herself a new agency.
Since Mad Men achieved such success, Hendricks has had to learn how to stand firmer than ever. She has come under intense scrutiny from the press, her body and fashion choices dissected.
''It just seemed so odd as people had never commented on my body before. Every woman obsesses over her figure but I was happy, I felt sexy - I never thought about it. I know this sounds naive but I honestly never expected this kind of attention.''
A particularly cruel critique came from Cathy Horyn, fashion editor of the New York Times, in January last year in her article about the Golden Globes, in which she referred to ''Christina Hendricks in Christian Siriano's exploding ruffle dress. [As one stylist said, 'You don't put a big girl in a big dress. That's rule No.1.']'' The paper also distorted the photo of Hendricks on the page, making her look wider, for which it later apologised.
''I know she was just doing her job but it was goofy and it hurt my feelings,'' Hendricks says, wincing at the memory.
And hadn't she just come back from her honeymoon? ''That's the thing!'' she bursts out. ''I'd just come back and was so happy. And she said that mean thing and I was like … '' She scrunches her face up.
Hendricks met Arend in 2007 through mutual friend Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell on Mad Men. They got married in 2009.
The day after we meet, Hendricks will begin shooting the next series of Mad Men. She will continue to play Joan for another three series. How would she like Joan to end up? Hendricks smiles and glances down at her own wedding ring: ''Happy! Happy and in love. That's all.''
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