#161: The ONE Dry Eye Rule You Should NEVER Break (Part 1)

If you have been hanging around with me for a while now, then you know that I preach the same rules over and over and over again.  In the past couple of weeks, I've been in the car a lot. So, I've had some thinking time. I started to re-evaluate my hard and fast rules.

I went to a funeral and a wedding in the same 10 day time span. To say the least, there was a bit of crying going on. And, it provided an opportunity for me to reevaluate some of the rules that I preach.

I would like to review these 4 dry eye rules.  Normally I'm quite the rule follower, but I had some reassessment time. And, it turns out that there are times when it's okay to break the rules.  Let me tell you when you can break three of them.  Then, I'll explain why you can never, ever, ever, ever, ever break one of them.

Here are the first two rules.  Next week, I'll go over the final two.

Rule #1)  Never Use Waterproof Mascara

Why is it bad for you?

It's a rule because waterproof mascara contains toxins. The ingredients that makes it stick onto your eyes makes it hard to remove. Some of it stays behind even when you try hard to remove it.  And in general, waterproof mascara dries out your lashes and makes them brittle, break off easily, and short. And who wants short, stubby eyelashes?

 Many women with dry eye lean towards using waterproof mascara because they're constantly using artificial tears.  Using tears makes water run down their face and smears their mascara.  Or, your eyes just water in general, or you're rubbing them or wiping at them constantly because they're irritated. Using waterproof mascara seems to be a great alternative.  But, it's not.  Waterproof mascara can actually lead to more irritation and cause more inflammation to your eyes. That's leading to dry eyes.

What's the Alternative?

If you're on the beach or at the pool, you can wear sunglasses.  You don't need to have mascara on. If you do need to wear mascara, I have two favorites.

#1) Eyes Are The Story Mascara: comes in three mini wands. It goes on nice and easy. It does not flake.  And, it is a rich black color.  The mini wands are designed to be thrown away once a month. Disposing of the mascara tube reduces the amount of bacteria living inside the mascara brush. It's super healthy and clean for your eyes.

#2) Clean Sweep Mascara from twenty/twenty beauty. This is the pitch black color.  It's nice and dark. And again, it doesn't contain toxic chemicals.

 When can you break the rule?

 The only reason to break this rule is if you are going to a wedding, a funeral, or maybe a graduation.  These are events when you know you're going to cry.  Otherwise, try one of my favorite mascaras to have a Clean alternative.

Rule #2) Tightlining

This is an eyeliner look that I really hate.  If I see people on the streets, at the mall, or in the grocery store who tightline, I want to stop them and tell them to stop doing it right there on the spot. 

Why is it bad for you?

Tightlining is when the eyeliner is placed on the inner rim of the eyelid. This space is part of your eye. It's not part of your skin. Its a mucus membrane. Its job is to lubricate your eyes with oils. The oils keep your eyes bathed in moisture, so that your eyes don't dry out and feel uncomfortable. If you coat your oil glands with eye liner, then several terrible things will happen:

• You'll have liner floating around in your tear film
• You won't have oil in your tear film because they are blocked. 
• The oil glands will become clogged by the liner and they won't come out later on.

 What's the Alternative:

There are 3 brands of eyeliner that I do recommend.

• Beautycounter eyeliner pencil. You can sharpen it regularly, which will keep it clean
• Eyes Are The Story liquid eyeliner in black
• Twenty/twenty Beauty liquid eyeliner pens

 When Can you Break the Rule?

There is a time to tightline and that is if you're at your own wedding.  Maybe if you are attending a wedding and not planning on crying.  You should consider tightlining to be like the evening gown of makeup. You don't want to use this look every day. It's not a look that you want to have on a Tuesday afternoon, save tightlining for those special events. If you are wearing an evening gown, you know, that dress that you have in the way back into your closet, that you pull out once a year, then you can Tightline when you're wearing that dress.

If you work in the emergency room, fire station, or police station and you're on a shift long enough that you need to sleep.  However, these jobs sometimes require you to be ready at a moment's notice and you need to have your contact lenses to see properly. These are the very specific, very special reasons, very specific people who should sleep in their contact lenses.

If you're a new mom who needs to get up in the middle of the night and check on your baby, you do not need to sleep in their contact lenses.  Instead, wear your glasses and ensure the health of your eyes, so that you can still see when your baby when they are graduating from college 20 years from now.

CONCLUSION:

Dry eye often relief requires making shifts to your lifestyle habits.  If you've picked up any of these habits: wearing waterproof mascara or tightlining your eye liner, it's time to stop.

Consider using an alternative to that waterproof mascara or eyeliner.  In fact, it may just be time to switch to a Clean makeup routine now.  If you need help switching to Clean makeup alternatives, the the CLEAN Makeup Manual is right for you.  Check out the course here.