Your Eyelashes: Mascara and Your Eyes

Eyelashes are protectors of the eye, and when you put mascara on them they seem to increase the visual beauty of your eyes and your overall appearance, but are they safe and how do they affect your lashes and your eyes?

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Eyelashes are hair follicles that grow out of the edge of the eyelid and on an embryo they usually develop between the 7th and 8th week.  Everyone has tiny worm like mites that live within the follicles of our hair called Demodicid and if you have to many of these critters trying to live in one follicle it can cause your eyelashes to easily fall out.  There are also a variety of diseases including Thyroid conditions that can cause your eyelashes to fall out but many women chose to use make up such as mascara to give the illusion of thick, luscious lashes.  Sometimes when an eye lash falls out it can grow back, but that mainly depends on why it fell out, if it fell out because of disease it may not grow back.  Recently there have been some drugs discovered that are believed to help eyelashes grow, however there is still much controversy on those drugs. 

There are basically two types of mascara, water proof and water soluble and it is available in many different colors and tints with either straight or curved applicator brushes or wands.  They are made of waxes, water, wax thickeners, film-formers and preservatives and the wands often contain rayon or nylon fibers to help thicken the lashes.  Mascara is used to help create thick, long eyelashes which helps to draw attention to the eyes and enhance the beauty of a person’s eyes.  Expensive mascara does not guarantee the mascara will be better than other less expensive mascara, it just guarantees that you will have less money to spend on other items.  

I have heard of a few different techniques for applying mascara,  one even included a blow dryer, but most people just apply it with a wand or brush.  You should not pump the wand into the tube numerous times because it pumps air into the tube and will cause it to dry out faster.  You should not use another person’s mascara because it can transfer bacteria from their eye to yours and if they have an infection you could get it.  If your mascara is dried out you should not use it because you could end up pulling out your lashes.  You should throw away your mascara every 3 months because bacteria can build up in the tube, after all it is a dark, warm place and bacteria can easily thrive in those conditions.  Mascara can flake and these flakes can get into your eye and cause infection and irritations so it should be removed as soon as possible.  Water proof mascara is harder to remove but less likely to give you raccoon eyes should you happen to get caught in the rain or cry.  Mascara can be heavy on your eyelashes and cause them to be weighed down or break off.  Mascara can also irritate your eyes and cause redness and itching as well as infections.  If you should happen to be careless with the brush or wand and accidentally stick it in your eye, your could do serious damage to your eye and your sight.

Your eyes are very important and it is important to take good care of them, all of them including your eyelashes so it is best to limit your use of mascara especially if you would like to have eyelashes as you get older.