I share how I started wearing makeup again after being diagnosed with dry eye, blepharitis, and MGD, as well as my favorite brands. This is not medical advice; I’m just sharing my experience!
Hello friends! How are you? I hope you are having a wonderful morning! We’re wrapping up rodeo vacation (wah), so the kids are back in school and things are getting back into the swing of things around here. I hope you have a good day!
For today’s post, I wanted to make a reader request after a comment I received last week. Since posting about my eye problems, I have been overwhelmed by surprising messages and comments, but I have also been saddened to know that many of you have found yourself in a similar situation with sudden attacks, autoimmune problems, and red, painful eyes. While I was in the depths of all of this last year, I felt very frustrated and sad. I couldn’t see myself wearing contact lenses or eye makeup again. (I have no foresight, so in my opinion, what is happening now means it will happen forever.)
I couldn’t wear makeup for many months and slowly started wearing contact lenses and eye makeup again. It has taken a lot of work and healing. I’ll share more about my healing journey and everything I’ve done to decrease my histamine responses and inflammation in an upcoming post, but *knock on wood* I can finally get through the day. without constantly thinking about my eyes. I simply pass on that hope to my friends with dry eyes: it can and will get better. This won’t be forever. Hang in there, friends.
Please remember that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. At the same time, many traditional ophthalmologists were baffled by my situation and did not know how to help me. I was determined to get to the root cause and improve the problem, and I’ve done a lot of research and experimentation along the way. Shout out to my dear dry eye specialist who gave me some answers and guidance! I also appreciate the beauty of functional testing, because I learned a lot about how stress, my gut imbalances, toxicities, and deficiencies affected me.
wearing makeup with blepharitis, dry eye and MGD
Here is the comment I received:
I was recently diagnosed with dry eye, MGD, and blepharitis and found your post incredibly helpful! I’m using a thermal mask twice a day, the wipes and spray you recommended (a variety of different types of wipes), and I also ordered the disposable masks you use. I also use Optase drops several times a day and also before bed. Questions for you: Do you wear any type of eye makeup? If so, what type? (I have abstained and am trying not to put anything else on my eyes or around my eyelids, like pressed powder or bronzer.) My other question is under eye cream for wrinkles, dark circles and puffiness… is there anything you use that you can use? would I recommend? At this point, I also stopped using it in an effort to put as little of anything on or around my eyes that isn’t associated with the treatment, but my eyes look so worn and tired that I really don’t want to stop. use it. my eye cream, at least under the eyes. Any suggestions or products you can recommend? Thank you so much!
Can you apply eye makeup with blepharitis?
So here’s the deal: You cannot wear eye makeup when your eyes are blazing and when you have active blepharitis. (I learned this the hard and expensive way lol.) Blepharitis is an overgrowth of bacteria on your eyelids and eyelashes, so you’re contaminating your brushes, eyeliner, face cream, and makeup if you try to wear makeup during this time . time. The first step is to get the blepharitis out of there and under control! I did the ZocuZest cleanse at the dry eye specialist and it made a huge difference. Every day, I also cleanse my eyelids in the morning and before bed to make sure they stay clean and healthy. My favorite eyelid cleansers are in this post.
Once I had my blepharitis under control and was cleared to wear contact lenses again, I waited many weeks to make sure I didn’t have flare-ups. (I was still having eye flashes from the histamine response, which was unrelated to this. It made it very confusing and painful! It was a big lightbulb moment when I decreased my histamine response.) I made sure my eyes were clear and no. dryness or itchiness all day when I took the courage to add makeup back into my life.
Here is my makeup strategy:
– Make sure your eyelids are clean before you start. (Love cliradex. It burns a little, especially at first, but it works better). I will wait about 15 minutes and it will appear on my contact lenses (contacts before makeup).
– Use an eyeshadow primer. Thrive Causmetics is my favorite. You want the eyeshadow to adhere to the base so it is less likely to fall into the eye, get trapped, and cause inflammation.
– Use soft eye shadows. Tarte has always been the best for my sensitive eyes. (These are two palettes that I use daily and they cost $40 for both.!) I don’t wear a lot of shimmer shadows as the glitter can get in your eyes, but the shimmery neutrals are perfect.
– Tarte pencil eyeliner. The liquid started making my eyes sting after using it for years! It’s a double sided eyeliner so I only use the pencil side.
– Tarte Mascara Primer and maskonly on special occasions, only at the edges.
– No more eyelash glue. When I have to take blog photos, I attached groups of tabs on the outside. of my eyes using the adhesive that is already on them. They don’t last long, but it’s better than trying to remove the glue from my lashes later or having the ingredients burn.
– At the end of the night, I use a makeup remover towel, clean my face and eyes with fresh cleaner, and then use Oasis Lash and Lash Cleanser to remove traces of makeup. It’s amazing to see how much the Lid and Lash cleanser will remove, especially when you think you have it all. I basically went 37 years without properly removing all my eye makeup. Oh. Also disinfect brushes frequently.
* Makeup and contact breaks: I no longer wear eye makeup every day. I typically wear sunglasses when I’m picking up school, so I only wear makeup on nights when we have something to do, I’m filming blog content, or I’ll be out in public for an extended period of time. During the day, I wear glasses while working on the computer and put in my contact lenses around noon. Now I have at least 1 or 2 days a week where I just wear glasses.
Blepharitis and dry eye skin care
I simplified my skincare routine because I wanted to make sure it didn’t contribute to my allergic responses. I used the Glow Blueberry Bounce cleanser (new bottle and one of my old favorites) and both eyes swelled almost completely. I contacted the company and they couldn’t tell me what changed with the formula, so no more Glow products for me.
Right now, this is what works daily:
– NOW serum (use FITNESSISTA)
– NOW eye cream (use FITNESSISTA)
Occasionally:
All Bright C Serum either peel overnight
Masks:
AHA mask either Charcoal mask
Red light mask (use FITNESSISTA15). There are promising studies emerging on the benefits of red light for dry eyes, but I still wear eye protection when using this mask.
I think that’s all! If you have any questions or anything I can share in my next post, please let me know. If you are going through this, please don’t take as an answer “I don’t know, here’s your steroid drop.” Find another doctor, seek alternative opinions, find a dry eye specialist in your area with good reviews. If you can stretch your budget, functional testing can also give you surprising insight into what’s going on in your unique body. I’m always happy to help with the testing part; just email me at gina@fitnessista.com with the subject TESTS.
I hope you have an amazing day and see you soon!
hugs and kisses
gina
