Eye health resource
Are You Using Your Eye Makeup Safely?
Practical eye-makeup safety guidance, including hygiene, sharing, application, contact lenses, and what to do after an eye infection or irritation.
Reviewed for accuracy by Justin Bazan, OD on .
Eye makeup is usually safe when products are clean and used carefully, but anything applied close to the eye can introduce irritation, allergens, or bacteria. A few simple habits can reduce the chance of problems.
Start with clean hands
Wash and dry your hands before applying or removing eye makeup. This is especially important if you also wear contact lenses.
Try not to touch the tip of an applicator directly to other surfaces, and keep caps and containers closed when they are not in use.
Do not share eye makeup
Mascara, eyeliner, brushes, and other eye-area products can transfer bacteria and other organisms from one person to another. Sharing testers or personal cosmetics is therefore not a good idea.
If you use a store tester, use a new single-use applicator rather than applying directly from a shared wand or brush.
Avoid applying makeup while moving
Putting on mascara or eyeliner in a moving car, train, or other unstable setting increases the risk of accidentally scratching the eye. A small corneal abrasion can be surprisingly painful and may become infected.
Apply eye makeup only when you can keep your hand steady.
Be careful at the eyelid margin
Products applied very close to the eye can migrate into the tear film and cause irritation. Heavy application directly along the inner eyelid margin may also interfere with the openings of the meibomian glands, which help produce the oily layer of the tears.
If a product consistently causes burning, tearing, redness, or blurred vision, stop using it rather than assuming you simply need to “get used to it.”
If you wear contact lenses
Inserting clean contact lenses before applying makeup can help reduce contamination of the lens surface. Remove lenses carefully before taking off eye makeup unless your eye doctor has given you different instructions for your particular lenses.
Avoid loose glitter, powders, or products that repeatedly get under the lens. If a contact lens becomes painful or the eye turns red, remove the lens and do not continue wearing it through the symptoms.
What should you do if you get an eye infection?
Stop using eye cosmetics if your eye or eyelid becomes infected or significantly inflamed. Products used around the time of an infection may become contaminated, so they may need to be discarded rather than reused after the eye improves.
Do not cover up redness or discharge with makeup while an infection is active.
Does eye makeup “expire”?
Cosmetics do not remain sterile forever. Follow the manufacturer’s replacement and storage instructions, and replace a product sooner if its smell, texture, color, or performance changes or if contamination is suspected.
Mascara and liquid products generally deserve more caution than dry products because the applicator repeatedly returns to the container after contacting the lashes or skin.
Remove makeup before sleeping
Leaving eye makeup on overnight can increase irritation and debris along the lashes and eyelid margins. Gentle removal before sleep is a good routine, particularly for people prone to dry eye or blepharitis.
Avoid aggressive rubbing. If removal requires substantial friction, try a product designed to dissolve the makeup more easily while keeping it out of the eye itself.
When should you get checked?
Schedule an eye evaluation if makeup-related symptoms persist after you stop the suspected product, or if you develop recurrent eyelid inflammation, discharge, swelling, or significant irritation.
Seek more urgent care for eye pain, light sensitivity, reduced vision, a visible corneal spot, significant trauma, or worsening redness in a contact-lens wearer.
Park Slope Eye evaluates eye irritation, infection, eyelid disease, dry eye, and other medical eye concerns. You can learn more on our Medical Eye Care page.
Good eye-makeup hygiene is mostly common sense: keep products clean, do not share them, stop using anything that irritates the eyes, and do not ignore symptoms that seem more serious than simple cosmetic irritation.