One thing that I’ve learned in my 17 years of practicing Optometry – my slit lamp microscope doesn’t lie. I can see when a woman is sleeping with her eye makeup. I can also see when she’s just using soap and water. Here’s why sleeping in your eye makeup is a big NO-NO!
#1) It makes you look like a stoner. But you’re not! Beautiful eyes are white and bright. Old makeup causes inflammation of the eyelid called blepharitis, which makes your eyes appear red. In this case, red is not the new black.
#2) You’re creating wrinkles every night. The skin around your eyelid is 10x thinner than the rest of the skin on your body. Old makeup gets firmly attached and becomes even more difficult to remove. Ladies, say NO to tugging and unnecessary wrinkles.
#3) A stye is the ugliest thing in the world. I love eye makeup. So does bacteria. After just 1 night of sleeping in your eye makeup, you’ve created the perfect environment for an ugly eye infection.
#4) Your contact lenses will start to hate you. You should be able to wear contact lenses comfortably for 12 hours. Sleeping in your eye makeup creates inflammation which makes your contact lenses mad and irritated – thus your eyes become red and uncomfortable after 8 hours. See stoner comment above.
#5) Soap and water? Not so much. You thought you removed your eye makeup, but waking up with raccoon eyes is proof otherwise. Eyeliner is sneaky and tends to get trapped in the eyelid margin. Try an oil-based eye makeup remover with a q-tip to get it all out.
#6) Let’s face it. Most eye makeup is toxic. Most eye makeup brands contain formaldehydes, heavy metals, phthalates and other toxins. Sleeping with toxins is just risky business. I am not only talking about skin irritation that can lead to premature again – it’s also about exposing your body to endocrine disruptors and neurotoxins. Whoa!
#7) Then comes the epic fail . . . demodex mites. Can someone say yikes, mites?! Over time, demodex will take over your eyelash follicles and cause your lashes to fall out early. Ugh! We all know that beautiful eyes require a full set of lashes.
There it is!
So if you’re thinking about sleeping in your eye makeup tonight, don’t do it. They call it beauty rest for a reason, xo.
