Newly Diagnosed Meibomitis-Mascara question

[CarolynYvonne]

Hi,
I was just diagnosed yesterday with meibomitis and am so happy to have found this community.

Do most of you wear eye make-up? Will I ever be able to wear it? Is there a thread somewhere that discusses it?

My eyes feel better without it, (duh?) and I started the warm compresses last night (rice in baby socks) and switched to a liquid gel drop my doc gave a sample of.

I am 50, post-menopausal (surgical), don't feel old, post on long-hair sites, love cats,---have allergies but not to cats...
non-smoker, non-drinker, good diet, low to normal body weight, recovering from fractures and have chronic back problems but will try to resume exercise ASAP-

Sorry, that's probably more info than anyone wanted!

It's nice to be here and thank you for letting me post.

CarolynYvonne

[SusieD]

Hi

Im 28 and personally I find that wearing eye makeup irritates my eyes further so Im steering clear at the moment.

You mention that your eyes feel better without it - I would listen to your eyes. It doesnt mean you will never be able to wear it again, but try giving your eyes a break until things improve a little and then try re-introducing it. Try one specially formulated for sensitive eyes - also a waterproof mascara etc.

Hope you get things under control.

[Rebecca Petris]

Welcome CarolynYvonne

The mascara question comes up regularly. There are a lot of people here who have had good experience with certain brands - Avon waterproof mascara in particular. Try a forum search on Mascara (or on Makeup) and you'll find some threads on this. If I come across them I'll try and 'bump' a couple of threads to the top for you.

[CarolynYvonne]

Thank you Susie and Rebecca!
I know you are right about leaving off the eye makeup and I am for now but I have a new Avon Book and will check out their waterproof mascaras. I hadn't thought of waterproof but that would solve the problem of warm compresses smearing and causing "mascara migration".

I have a very fair skintone and strawberry red hair and wear my hair long and back off my face.

So I thought something else I could do is concentrate on lipsticks and earrings and hair ornaments, (putting my hair up with hair sticks, barrettes, etc. so I wouldn't feel so "naked").
Frankly, if I could learn to live without eye makeup, I think it would be such a relief. I wear transition lenses (due to small cataracts) and lineless bifocals and this seems to help cover my dark circles around my eyes) so I might be able to adjust to the no eye makeup look. I no longer use base due to sensitive acne prone skin and I have such light skin that it is so difficult to match the color; I use sunblock daily and Retin-A nightly (but not around my eyes) my skin is looking much better because of this. I saw a thread somewhere about natural beauty vs cosmetics or something to that effect earlier today and I am off to search for that.

Thank you for your support. I feel better already. I'm not alone! Wahoo!
CY

[Rebecca Petris]

Just a caution - if you step up the hair care, beware of hairspray as this can be very irritating to dry eyes too

[Lucy]

Carolyn, I think glasses are a great "cover-up" for dark circles and lack of eye makeup. I never wore mascara because of thick eyeglasses before lasik several years ago. Eye shadow, cover stick, but no mascara. Just wasn't worth the bother with the mag/minification of the thick lens. It seemed to chip off and get in my eyes if I ever tried.

After lasik, I thought for the first time ever, I'd be able to wear mascara and even eyeliner. Wrong. Dry eyes. I still need to wear glasses and when not wearing my glasses or goggles, wear hard contact lens. I have some fashion glasses to wear at those times and actually it helps keep breezes etc off the eyes. Since you have to wear glasses, I think the mascara might not be as important as you think. You have a great attitude. I will have lived my life never getting to wear eyeliner or mascara except for a very few times I "went wild." Somehow, I don't think anyone has noticed. When I get cosmetic packages with mascara and/or eyeliner, I pass them on to my daughter. She has a -9 correction and wears soft contacts PLUS eye makeup with no problem!

[CarolynYvonne]

Thanks Rebecca and Lucy!
So much wonderful support and info here. Never thought about fashion glasses, hmmm... nice idea.

Rebecca,
Thank you but do not fear: I don't use hairspray or many hair products. I wear my hair long and off the face and natural- I frequent the long hair support boards so I'm very careful with my hair. My idea of fancy would be a french braid, or french twist, new hair ornament or scarf, etc.

I used to work in a salon and hair spray and perm and color chemicals killed my eyes!

I'm glad you mentioned it, though. I am growing out my bangs/fringes (couldn't stand the hair in my eyes) and had briefly thought of trying some mousse, gel or maybe even hairspray, but I have found that a small barrette and some aloe vera gel tame the hair away from my face nicely.

Thank you!
CY

[mlittlem]

Unfortunately, ladies, I too am struggling with the minimization of cosmetics in an effort to alleviate some of the dry eye symptoms. I have questioned the hair spray, and because my hair is very fine, I find I need it. I was looking into an Avon product but have not purchased yet. In the meantime I try to spray and then walk away, but I am sure this is rather futile as my eyes still react to the spray that is on my hair.

As far as mascara, I have tried several hypo-allergenic brands with no luck. I shall mention them in the event that some one would like to try and possibly have better luck than myself. They are as follows: Almay, Clinique, Rachel Perry, Earth's Beauty, and Physician's Formula. As you can see the vanity compells us to try so many things. I have worn mascara every day for probably 35 years, and to do without is making me very self conscious about my appearance. I have some well-meaning friends/family who say I look tired, washed out, and sad. They don't seem to understand that it is partially the swelling of the eyelids due to the chronic drey eye and the lack of mascara, which everyone is accustomed to seeing me with.

So a long-winded response to the mascara question. I hope that after 2 1/2 years of struggling with this that one day I will be symptom-free and able to wear the mascara again. Probably a pipe dream!!!

[Stanza]

I gave up mascara, I figure this is the make up that ends up in the eyes the most. Eye shadow, if I layer it and buy the good stuff doesn't really end up in my eye but - will smudge on a bad day. I do wear eyeliner, but lower on my lids than I used too and not every day.

I get my eyelashes dyed which is something 90% of the people on here will cringe about thinking but I have a very good beautician who has worked out how to do this for me without causing me any pain. I do this every 6+ weeks. I also take good care with my eyebrows, I find this makes me at least feel like the basics are in good shape

Overtime I have found out that make up doesn't actually hurt me more, I gave it up for a period and there was no difference in my symptoms, the problem is the smudging potential is higher!!

[mclaire66]

has anyone tried the ocusoft mascara? i just ordered it, it's flake free and hypo allergenic, and i'd assume the safest one for people like us to use if it's made by a company whose products help to treat conditions like ours? i haven't worn mascara in about 6 months so i'm a little afraid to try any but i have some plans coming up that i'd like to be able to wear makeup for so i'm going to give it a try, i'll let you all know how it works...

[SallyP]

Hi

I also can only wear eye makeup on special occasions, but pay for it the day after. I wear a mascara for sensitive eyes, but I'm still aware I've got it on, as it makes them quite sore after any length of time, but can just about tolerate it for a night out! Somebody recommended Jane Iredale, which is quite expensive, but I thought worth a try, but I darent change for a night out, so will try it one day when I'm not going anywhere important. I've got used to daily life without wearing eye make up, but when I see people nicely made up, I feel quite envious, but know it's out of the question. I actually started a thread a few weeks ago entitled "does anybody else manage to wear eye make up" and there are some quite good suggestions as to what some people are able to wear actually. Whilst it's not the end of the world, it's quite depressing, as a woman it's extremely important. Good luck and I hope you find something that suits you

[mclaire66]

thanks sally, you're right it's not the end of the world and our eye health is more important than our appearance but yes it is kind of important as a woman to be able to look nice at least on special occasions, since this started my eyes are always puffy and tired looking and i look older than i am now, i'm accepting not being able to wear eye makeup on a daily basis (i never wore that much to begin with but i keep thinking a little mascara now would help to hide the puffiness a little and make me feel remotely like a girl) i am envious too of other girls when i'm out and about and the fact that they can look more feminine, it's part of the reason i don't go out as much with my girlfriends because i'm so self conscious about how i look and kind of jealous that i can't look nice too--i'm self conscious enough not being able to wear my contacts because i don't feel like myself in glasses--sorry for venting, thanks for understanding...

[lilahp]

Two suggestions - one serious, one silly(!):

1. serious - I have posted elsewhere that I've used concealer/foundation (much darker than my skin) as eye shadow. Works well if you find a nice brownish shade that you like.

2. silly - if one is going out at night and has a companion to hang on to, one can always wear really cool movie-star sunglasses! (of course, the not being able to see makes the cuddly friend necessary - but this could lead into a whole new subject to blog about!)


Thanks!

[mclaire66]

i like the sunglasses idea, actually i just went to a play and was worried the stage lights would bother me cuz i'm so light sensitive so i wore my sunglasses through the play (they're not that dark, kind of amber) and they worked great, had to switch back to regular glasses afterward tho so i could see to walk around, lol--dark concealer on the lids is a good idea tho, or i never thought of it till now but a cream eye shadow as opposed to powder would work too? (i would think powder because it's loose would flake off and have more of a chance of getting into your eyes and irritating them)

[skygoddess]

Hi,
This will probably get all kinds of tisk, tisking .
And ,yes I know , bak is of the devil .
But... after losing most of my eyelashes, which were none to plentiful, and blond to begin with . I have just discovered a new drug, Latisse .
It is considered cosmetic, so not covered by insurance.
But get this, GROWS EYELASHES!!
No joke, thicker,fuller,longer, and gosh darker too!

I lost most of my lashes due to bad blepharitis, and MGD caused by allergies, so I thought I would surely be allergic to it but incredibly I am not.
Not cheap,$120 but hey I think worth every penny to get my lashes back.
I have only used it a week or two, takes 6 weeks, but the photos on the website look incredible.
It goes on your lids, not in the eye, so I am pretty sure the bac is not making anything worse.

But if this is not your thing, the new Loreal tube type mascara does not irritate my eyes.
It is a copy of a MUCH more expensive one by Blinc.
For the same $ as 3 tubes of the Blinc stuff, you can buy the Latisse.

http://www.latisse.com/BeforeandAfter.aspx?state=30

[SallyP]

Hi

You are very brave! Don't think I could bear anything on/in/around my eyes these days, but I'm glad it worked for you.

[skygoddess]

Brave no, vain yes. It was very upsetting when my eyes overnight went from my best feature, to my worst.
Add in constant pain for two years, and all I wanted to do was crawl under a rock and stay.
I hope your lids recover soon.
Mine are better 95% of the time. Only when I try something new and have a allergic reaction, do I run into problems.
That was why I was so shocked I had no adverse reaction to this. I am allergic to almost everything.
I figured for sure I would be this too.
I had already told my best friend to expect her free bottle in the mail.
She really racks up on all my gently used products.

[SallyP]

Oh, believe me, I am also vain. I get the odd day when I throw caution to the wind and put Mascara on, as I did the other day, but made my eyes unbelievably bad later. I fell down the stairs two weeks ago and hurt my foot very badly, so have virtually been housebound since. I needed to go out in the evening recently, so actually put full make up on. My Mum had bought me some "comfortable" shoes, and we all know what that means, and I'm afraid vanity got the better of me, and instead I opted for the slightly better, but incredibly uncomfortable ones, much to my Mum's horror!! Think we can all identify with vain!!

[skygoddess]

http://www.scheman.com/brochure.asp

Try this web site click on allergen chart long.
I have had reasonable success with trying products using this.
I pick the ones with the fewest allergens and cross my fingers.
So far I have come up with a reasonable priced concealer and foundation, and a nail polish!. Happy day, I thought nail polish was gone forever.
Contain acrylates , affect the eyes, also a main ingredient in hair products.
Plus, if you do react badly, you can get some idea from the ingredient list as to what it was.
On the down side, my friends are not getting nearly so many free gifts these days.

[Gretchen]

SkyGoddess,

Latisse? You go, girl! Does it work, hurt, etc? Do tell!

Gretchen

[skygoddess]

It actually seems to make my lids better.
I went to the Doc last week and she said my lids looked great.
I have seen some lash growth. I was totally bare on one side of my right upper lid, and now I have lashes there again.

[Gretchen]

That's awesome. My eyelashed have gotten a lot better as my eyes have begun to improve but I always hold out hope that if my bleph goes South, there is Latisse.

[Sabrina]

I have the same issues with eye make-up. Even if I wake up and it feels like a good day by the time I spend a few hours at work on the computer with the a/c vents blowing and having to constantly use drops the make-up is usually gone. I am more an eyeliner than mascara person. Two opthamologists actually said the tatoo liner is not a bad deal and since it's on the surface it doesn't affect the glands ect... I really want to try this. I was surprized as I assumed they would say it was NOT a good idea. This is bad enough to have to deal with and not being able to wear make-up makes it worse. Sorry, I am vain too when it comes to this! I have an appt. scheduled for the tatoo. Not sure if I will do top , bottom or both. Guess it depends on how my eyes feel the day I go in.

[SallyP]

Sabrina,

You are very brave. I wouldn't let anybody that close to my eyes with any instrument. It's as much as I can take to let the doctors throw the yellow dye into my eyes without wrestling with them!!

Sounds like an excellent idea though, let us know if you get it done.

Sally