Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Make-up and Sensitive Eyes

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I love some really intense eye make-up looks, but unfortunately they don't always agree with my eyes. I'm slowly learning what does and does not irritate my sensitive eyes, so I thought I would share some of that knowledge with you today. I am in no way a qualified professional, so if you have major issues with your eyes being sensitive I recommend seeking out a dermatologist or something. This is purely based on experiences that I have had with using specific cosmetics and techniques on my eyes.

What Causes Sensitive Eyes?
  • Hair: If you have hair whipping around your face or a long fringe that gets in your eyes all the time.
  • Greasy Eyelids: Natural oils from your eyelids can get in your eyes and make them sting.
  • Too Much Make-up: Can cause fall-out and loose powders can end up in your eye.
  • Long Eyelashes: they can stick together or stick into your eye.
  • Wearing Dusty Sunglasses or Glasses: If you have long eyelashes
  • Touching eyes with unclean hands.
  • Specific Types of Make-up 
  • Wearing Make-up on Specific parts of the Eye
  • Allergies or Hay Fever
  • Lack of Sleep
  • Bacterial Infection
  • Skin Conditions such as Eczema
  • Crying
  • Dust
  • Sun Exposure

What I Would Avoid:
  • Wearing Eyeliner on the Lower Lash Line/Waterline: I find that my skin is more sensitive in this area especially if I haven't had much sleep. I also try to avoid putting eye shadow in this area.
  • Wearing a Highlight Shade on the Inner Corners: I love this look and while I agree that it makes your eyes look more awake and open I tend to find that I rub the inner corners or my eyes too much and the colour comes off (or worse; it ends up in my eye).
  • Wearing an Eyeliner/Mascara that Tends to go Flaky: There is nothing worse than getting black flaky stuff in your eyes.
  • Loose and Fine Powders/Glitters: It's so easy to get these in your eye by mistake and on one occasion using the ELF under-eye setting powder resulted in one sore and nasty bump under one eye. 
  • Eye Products that Are Past their Used-By-Date: Another incident with an old mascara and it was not pretty. I think mascaras are supposed to be ditched after 4 months. If I ditched mascara every 4 months I would probably give up on buying it, because there is no way I would use it all by that time. 
  • Chunky Glitters: These can be harsh on people with sensitive skin around their eyes. 
  • Cream Eye shadows: With a primer and a powder to set, these can be pretty  long lasting, but I do not recommend wearing cream eye shadows alone if you have greasy eyelids.
  • Putting Makeup on Already Irritated/Tired Eyes: Just makes a bad situation worse.
  • Putting too much concealer underneath the eyes.
  • Wearing bad quality eye shadows: Be sure that they are tested and made from ingredients that won't harm your skin.
  • Wearing products that have caused irritation previously.

What I Would Suggest:
  • Washing your eyes before applying make-up.
  • Getting lots of sleep.
  • Keeping some blotting papers handy if you have trouble with greasy eyelids and hope to wear makeup all day.
  • Wearing a mattifying eye primer if you have greasy eyelids and dusting a face powder over the top.
  • Going for a simple eye make-up look if you have irritated eyes and enhancing other facial features (lips, brows, cheekbones)
  • Using a clear mascara if you have long lashes: When you are doing a strong eye make-up look you can end up with powder all over your lashes. To make lashes visible you can "clean" them by putting on clear mascara.
  • You can use an eyelash curler to try and keep long eyelashes from touching glasses or sticking into the eye. Set in place with a clear mascara. 
  • If you really want to wear a coloured mascara or a black or brown mascara you can prevent flaky or clumpy lashes by putting a coat of clear over the top or by running it through lashes while clear mascara is still wet. 
  • Using the sponge tip eye shadow applicators to apply eye shadow.
  • Putting minimal product on the brush prevents fall out.
  • Test some make-up products on a patch of skin on your arm to check for reactions: I know that the eye area is more sensitive and tends to be more susceptible to a reaction, but this preventative measure will stop some unpleasant experiences.
  • Remove make-up properly before sleep.
  • Look into getting some sort of hay-fever or allergy medication if you have those allergies. I use a nasal-spray for my hay-fever and it definitely makes a difference.
  • Try not to rub product into the eye when eyes are itchy.
  • Try to make sure hands are clean before touching your eye area.
  • Keep glasses clean with cleansing wipes or cloth.


Strong Make-up Looks I Suggest as an Alternative to Eye Make-up:
  • Strong Brows: Dark and flawless brows, bold shape or a gradient colour effect.
  • Strong Lips: Ombre, pastel, gothic, matte, bright, glitter or an ultra glossy nude lip.  
  • Strong Cheekbones: Contour, Highlight, Pastel Blusher, Face Glitter and/or Bronzer.
I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful :)

Your Favourite Blogger,
Natalie

2 comments:

Witchcrafted Life said...

Excellent post, dear gal. I too have always had sensitive eyes and skin (especially skin) and can relate to this topic a great deal. A couple more things that I find can really irritate my eyes are sunscreen and (accidentally) touching your eyes or the skin around your eyes after having applied moisturizer (even those designed specifically for sensitive skin, as after all, they weren't intended for one's eyeballs!).

♥ Jessica

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