Eye Care: Could Your Make-up Be Contributing To Your Dry Eyes?

Thirty percent of the population is affected by a condition known as dry eyes. Typically, the sufferer of dry eyes is middle-aged and of the female gender. The reason this happens at this time in a woman's life is because the near vision begins to deteriorate due to the normal process of aging. Even though this condition can be remedied easily with reading glasses, it isn't easy to remove or apply make-up when you are wearing a pair of reading glasses. Eye care takes on extra importance when you wear make-up on a regular basis.

Chances are you have probably seen eye make-up that appears as if it was intended for show make-up at the theatre. When and if the make-up is applied in the wrong place or too thickly, some problems may arise. Even though the oils within your eyes and skin are cousins, they aren't compatible.

In the event that you apply eyeliner to the margin of the eyelid, the eyeliner can act as a bridge which allows all of the oils from the skin to contaminate the eye's tear oil. Any mascara that is able to make its way down to the base of the lashes may also create a contamination bridge.

Once the skins oils get into the eye's tears, this will cause a normal tear function disruption which will cause the tears to quickly break down, which will result in dryness symptoms. There are also problems that can occur with improper removal of eye make-up. There are some people who don't even remove any of their make-up because they feel as if it will just wear off with a little help from a regular rinse with tap water.

There are others who use Vaseline, make-up removers, or baby oil that have a very thick base that is oily. However, this doesn't mix very well with all of the natural oils within the tear film. For complete and easy removal, don't use waterproof make-up because it is very hard to remove without having to resort to the industrial strength remover.

When make-up is applied lightly, it can be removed easily by using a gentle form of soap like hypoallergenic cleanser or baby shampoo such as Novatis Lid Care. All you have to do is shampoo the eye lids lightly with your finger tips. You should make sure that you do this both morning and night for proper eye care.

When heavier make-up is used, after you have used a commercial remover for the make-up, you need to be sure that you shampoo the lids so that you remove any residue that the cleaner may have left behind. There are some who have an aversion to getting soap in their eyes, however, if baby shampoo is being used, this shouldn't really be a problem.

Even though it may seem as an innocent part of your daily eye care routine, faulty application of eye make-up and improper removal can be a main contributor to the burning and gritty symptoms of dry eyes.