Did you know, the use of eye makeup can potentially have negative effects for your eye health? Since applying makeup is part of the daily routine for many women, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the spiky mascara wands and sharp eyeliner pencils can cause serious eye injuries, especially if safety precautions are ignored when you are rushing in the mornings. Additionally, when applying eye makeup, we often don’t think the bacteria multiplying on our pencils, wands and powdery eye shadow pallets. Yet, these applicators can become dirty in ways our eyes can’t see, which can potentially lead to eye infections or irritation.

For healthy and beautiful eyes, keep our 7 tips in mind when applying eye makeup:

Tip #1. Follow the three-month rule: It’s important to remember that cosmetics do have a shelf life, and it’s easy for us to lose track of how long you’ve had that favourite eye shadow colour. If the product itself is old, this increases chances that bacteria or fungus have contaminated it, which can be transferred to the eye. For this reason, make sure to throw away eye makeup after three months (especially if it turns a different colour, begins to clump or starts to smell!)

Tip #2 Wash your brushes: Regularly wash makeup brushes and applicators, as this will remove any bacteria that has started growing there.

Tip #3 Clean Hands: You should never touch your eyes with unwashed hands and therefore it is especially important to have clean hands when applying makeup. This is the best way to prevent the transfer of harmful bacteria to your eye region.

Tip #4 Avoid sharing: Never share eye makeup and only use fresh applicators and unused test pots when sampling makeup in stores that have not been contaminated by multiple users.

Tip #5 Avoid sharps: Never separate your mascara-clumped lashes with sharp items! Use an eyelash comb instead.

Tip #5 Avoid glittery cosmetics: If you tend to have dry eyes, avoid metallic/glitter, powder or other makeup that contain flakes. Flakes can get into the tear film causing eye irritation and/or corneal infection, especially in contact lens users.

Tip #6 Wash it off at night: Remove all eye makeup at night before sleeping, especially mascara and eyeliner that can stick to the lashes and block the meibomian glands.

Tip #7 Don’t apply on the move: To reduce the risk of eye injuries caused by sharp mascara wands and eyeliner pencils, do not apply cosmetics while doing other activities (especially driving!)

If you do have eye concerns and wish to consult a professional simply book an appointment on our website by clicking https://www.aucklandeye.co.nz/

Eye Health Tips Eye Health Tips Tuesday, 28 May 2019

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