Basics for Healthy, Comfortable Eyes

If you wear makeup, you may need to make a few simples adjustments to your routine to make sure your makeup and lenses look great together.

Looking your best – whether you’re caring for your eyes, skin or even your hair – usually comes down to the basics: keep it clean and use common sense. But there are also some tricks you may not have considered:

DO:

• Apply your lenses before you apply makeup.
• Wash your hands thoroughly before you apply your lenses. (Even moisturizer or sunscreen can cause stinging or other problems, so wash up!)
• Apply eye shadow and liner gently, so you don’t jostle or damage your lenses.
• Use oil-free and fragrance-free eye makeup.
• Use water-resistant mascara and eyeliner to prevent flaking and smudging.
• Replace mascara every month.
• Replace eyeliner every three months.
• Replace eye shadows every six months.
• Call your eye care professional if you have any redness, pain, swelling or irritation.
• Remove your lenses before you remove your eye make-up.
• Remove all eye makeup every day. Use a hypoallergenic remover, preferably oil-free.

DON’T:

• Don’t wear makeup (or apply your lenses) if your eyes are swollen, red or infected.
• Don’t share makeup.
• Don’t share contact lenses.
• Don’t use saliva to apply shadow, thin liquid eyeliner or to try to get another use out of old mascara.
• Don’t apply eyeliner to your inner lid (inside the lashes).
• Don’t apply mascara at the base of your lashes. Start from the midpoint and extend to the tips.
• Don’t use mascara with “lash-building fibers.” Fibers can damage your lenses.
• Don’t wear false eyelashes.
• Don’t expose your makeup to heating or freezing. (When flying, keep your makeup in your carry-on bag, not with your checked luggage.)
• Don’t wear your lenses when you go to the hair salon. Even “second-hand” spray and fumes can damage your lenses.
• Don’t wear your lenses while you colour or perm your hair.
• Don’t use aerosols (hairspray, etc.) with your eyes open.