How to keep your eyes safe while wearing eye makeup
04 November 2021
Follow our tips to keep your eyes safe with your makeup looks!
Makeup is a popular cosmetic that millions of people wear every day, whether it’s part of your daily routine or a bolder makeup look. Eye makeup is often a big part of your look – with many eye makeup products available to use, such as eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow. However, cosmetics can also pose risks to your vision and eye health. If you’re a fan of eye makeup – no matter how subtle or bold! – follow these safety tips in our new blog to prevent eye redness, irritation, rashes and swelling.
How can eye makeup irritate your eyes?
Eye makeup products, such as mascara and eyeliner, are a staple of most people’s makeup routines and creative looks as they tend to accentuate the features of your eyes. However, bad habits and poor makeup hygiene can lead to eye infections and other problems that can affect your eyes and eyelids. If you have sensitive skin, you’re also more prone to allergic reactions and irritation resulting from makeup use.
Put simply, by practising good hygiene techniques when it comes to your eye makeup, you can avoid many unwanted eye problems that could disrupt your beauty routine!
How can I look after my eyes while wearing makeup?
Our first tip for eye safety while wearing makeup is to avoid applying eyeliner to your eyelid margins. The edges of your eyelids (near where your eyelashes grow) contain important oil glands called the meibomian glands. Meibomian glands provide the oil component of the tear film that lubricates your eyes. The oily layer is the outside of the tear film that prevents your tears from drying up too quickly. Makeup can block these oil glands, causing an unstable tear film that can evaporate too quickly. This may lead to issues with dry eyes and irritation.
Applying eye makeup at the ‘waterline’ (behind the lash line, where your eyelid meets your eye) is more likely to block the meibomian oil glands. It could also increase the amount of makeup that enters your tear film and touches the surface of your eyes – products such as glitter used near the eyes may be more likely to do this. Not only can this cause eye irritation, but it can also expose your eyes to harmful bacteria. While it may not be possible to stop wearing eyeliner completely as it’s a popular product to use, if you try to apply it further away from your waterline and closer to your lashes, this should help to prevent any eye infections.
Makeup removal is also the essential final step in everyone’s makeup routine, particularly if you’re wearing heavy makeup. Taking your makeup off before bed is important and should not be skipped no matter how tired you are! This is because it removes any potentially irritating makeup particles from your eyes which reduce your risk of an eye infection. When you remove your makeup, be sure to use a gentle makeup remover to reduce the risk of irritation even further. Don’t forget – if you wear contact lenses, you must also remove them first!
Throwing away your old makeup is another important way of keeping your eyes healthy. Eye makeup, especially mascara, provides the perfect environment for bacteria to grow near your eyes, which can put you at risk of getting conjunctivitis (pink eye). Therefore, the best way to keep your eyes safe from any infections is to dispose of your eye makeup (such as mascara and eyeliner) after three months. You should also make sure that you’re not sharing your makeup or makeup brushes with anyone else, as this can help spread bacteria and lead to cross-contamination between multiple people.
How does eye makeup affect people who wear contact lenses?
Wearing contact lenses can, unfortunately, increase the risk of eye problems if you have poor contact lens hygiene habits. If your makeup hygiene habits are also poor, these risks are even higher. Nevertheless, if you follow the appropriate hygiene routines for both makeup and contact lenses, then you can safely combine both of them into your daily routine. However, if you do develop any eye issues that you feel may be related to either eye makeup or contact lenses, you should discontinue the use of any eye makeup and your lenses until you see an eye care professional. These symptoms may include redness, irritation, pain or changes to your vision.
By following all of our safety tips above, you can make sure your eyes remain healthy and irritant-free while wearing makeup. No matter how bold or heavy your makeup use is, this will help make sure that your routine will not harm your eye health or vision.
Don’t forget, if you’re worried about your vision and eye health being impacted by contact lenses use, you can always opt for laser eye surgery to relieve yourself from the hassle of contact lenses. Both our LASIK and LASEK treatments can correct your vision and make contact lens use a thing of the past. If you’d like to find out more, you can book a free consultation with us on our website or by calling our friendly Customer Services team on 0800 988 6390.
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