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Eye Makeup and Your Vision
May 29, 2021
Eye Makeup and Your Vision
How Eye Makeup Mistakes Can Affect Your Vision
Do you use makeup to accentuate your eyes? Whether your go-to style is a smoky eye or you prefer a more understated look, eye makeup mistakes could increase your risk of eye irritation, infection, or vision loss.
What Types of Eye Problems Can Be Caused by Makeup?
If you're like most people, you probably don't pay much attention to expiration dates on your eye makeup. Unfortunately, as soon as you open a new package of eyeshadow or uncap a tube of mascara, bacteria begin to grow in the product and on the applicator. Replacing makeup every few months is a simple way to avoid bacterial or fungal infections that could cause pain and temporary or permanent vision loss.
Infections can also occur if you don't wash your hands before handling eye makeup, or if an uncovered product becomes contaminated with bacteria, dirt, or dust.
Signs and symptoms of an infection can include pain, redness, discharge, and swollen eyelids. Get in touch with your optometrist right away if you notice any of these symptoms. Without prompt treatment, serious or permanent vision damage could be a possibility.
Have you ever poked yourself in the eye while applying makeup? A poke could cause minor irritation as well as scratch or damage the white part of your eye or your cornea, the clear, rounded tissue that covers your iris and pupil. Scratches can be quite painful, while more serious injuries could put your vision at risk.
The type of eye makeup you use may also cause issues. Eyeshadow that contains glitter or sparkling powder creates a dramatic look but tends to migrate into the eye easily, causing discomfort, irritation, or scratches. The problem can be worsened if you wear this type of makeup with contact lenses. The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports that corneal infections or irritations occur more often in contact lens wearers who wear glitter eye makeup.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Vision
These simple steps can help you avoid eye injuries, irritation, and infection:
- Throw Away Eye Makeup After Three Months: Don't keep eye makeup longer than the expiration date, which is usually about three months. If you develop an eye infection, throw out all of your eye makeup immediately.
- Don't Share Eye Makeup: Sharing your makeup increases your risk of bacterial infection.
- Wash Up Before Applying Eye Makeup: Wash your hands, your eyelids, and your eyelashes before you put on your makeup.
- Don't Continue to Use Eye Makeup That Irritates Your Eyes: You may be allergic to your eye makeup if redness and irritation develop soon after you apply the product. Stop using the makeup, and stay away from other brands of makeup that contain the same ingredients. The American Optometric Association reports that makeup that contains nickel, lead, thallium, selenium, arsenic, cadmium, carmine, and beryllium is more likely to cause allergic reactions.
- Forget About Car Touchups: You're more likely to injure your eye if you apply makeup in a car, train, or another moving vehicle.
- Take Off Eye Makeup Before Sleeping: Eye makeup is more likely to find its way into your eyes if it's worn overnight.
- Keep Eyeliner Off Your Lash Line: Eyeliner applied directly to the lash line can block oil glands that moisturize your eyes, causing dry eye. Applying eyeliner too close to the eye may also increase your risk of irritation or bacterial infection. In a study published in Eye & Contact Lens, researchers discovered that applying glitter eyeliner inside the lash line rather than outside of it resulted in a 15 to 30 percent increase in glitter particles in the tear film.
- Clean Brushes and Applicators Daily: Keeping brushes and applicators clean is a simple way to reduce your risk of infection. It's best to wash applicators and brushes used on or around the eyes after every use.
- Sharpen Eyeliner Before Every Use: Sharpening removes bacteria that can coat the tip of the eyeliner.
- Stay Away from Shared Eye Makeup Samples: Shared samples are overflowing with bacteria. Skip the sample area unless the store offers single-use samples.
- Use Gentle Cleaning Products: Prevent eye irritation by choosing gentle, hypoallergenic makeup remover. Baby shampoo or petroleum jelly make excellent, low-cost cleaners.
Following these makeup safety tips and scheduling regular visits to your optometrist can help you safeguard your vision. Contact our office to make your next appointment.
Vision Source Plano provides eye exams to the Plano, TX area. Click here to learn more about who should get an eye exam!
There are many reasons why getting contact lenses is better than continuing to wear glasses. Anyone who wears glasses is aware of the little struggles that they encounter daily. For example, your glasses fog up when it’s cold outside and the sun reflects off your glasses making it hard to see. Here are a few benefits of switching from glasses to contact lenses: More comfortable - Contact lenses are more comfortable because you don’t have something resting on your nose and ears all day. You can just go about your day not having to worry about taking breaks from wearing your glasses because they are hurting your nose or ears. The feeling of being “normal” - When you wear glasses, you don’t have the freedom to wear certain things like sunglasses. You can get your glasses to have prescription sunglasses, but then you miss out on the various kinds of sunglasses available in stores and online. Contact lenses also give you the ability to feel normal in the sense that you don’t have glasses on your face. Sometimes people feel less confident with glasses, so contact lenses would give them more confidence. Don’t have to worry about them breaking or getting knocked off - For anyone who plays sports or who is just active, it would be smart for them to make the switch from glasses to contact lenses. Having contact lenses gives you the ability to run, jump, dance, and do any other kind of physical activity without worrying about your glasses falling off your face and breaking. There is also the potential of someone running into you and pushing your glasses into your face, which wouldn’t feel good.
Learn more about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of dry eye with Vision Source Plano! Our eye care center serves Plano, TX. Contact us today for dry eye treatment!
Contact lenses have various benefits, and we are here to help you make the switch at Vision Source Plano. Contact our eye doctor today to get started! We proudly offer services to the Plano, TX area.
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