Use These Eyeliner Tips If You Get Itchy Eyes

Itchy eyes are pretty common for a lot of people that wear makeup. It can come from your mascara, but it mainly comes from your eyeliner. Whenever you put some on, it makes your eyes itch and water, almost like you have allergies. It can be so irritating that you stop wearing eyeliner altogether, which is a shame as it can really make your lashes look lush and change the shape of your eyes.

So, are you destined to never wear eyeliner if you keep getting itchy eyes?

No!

Today, you’ll see a handful of extremely useful tips that will help you wear eyeliner whenever you want. The best part is, you won’t see the irritation and itchiness that you normally face! Here’s what you need to do:

Clean your makeup brushes

Sometimes, your eyes don’t itch because of the eyeliner itself, but because of how you prepare your eyes for it. You may apply other makeup around your eyes using brushes, and this creates a problem. If the brushes haven’t been cleaned for ages, they can have all sorts of dirt and bacteria on them. As such, this irritates your eye region and causes the itchiness you feel.

To deal with this, clean your makeup brushes regularly. It’s very easy to do, requires minimal effort, and you will see immediate changes in your eye sensitivity. Next time you apply eyeliner, there could be no itchiness at all because your brushes haven’t irritated the eyes.

Apply an eye primer

Primers are always used during your beauty routine to get something ready for something else. Yes, I’m aware that’s one of the most ambiguous sentences the world has ever seen!

If you are applying foundation to your skin, you will use a facial primer beforehand. This primes the skin and makes it easier for the foundation to stick to it and stay in place. As a result, you can use less foundation, yet see longer-lasting results. Naturally, this is much better for your skin and can prevent things like acne or redness.

You can apply the same approach to your eyes. People will often put too much eyeliner on because they want it to last and look effective. Unfortunately, this creates irritation as some of the products can get in your eye. Well, using an eye primer will stop this from happening. You can find ones for sensitive eyes, and they are designed to help things like eyeliner and eyeshadow stay in place. Thus, less is needed, and the primer also stops the eyeliner from rubbing off into your eye.

Be wary of certain ingredients

Eyeliner can be made from so many different ingredients, a few of which are known to trigger eye irritation. At the top of the list is beeswax. Now, this may shock some of you as beeswax seems like a natural ingredient, rather than a chemical. However, that’s precisely why it causes irritation. Beeswax is an allergen that you may have an allergic reaction to. If your current eyeliner contains this ingredient, switch it out for a different one to see if your eyes continue to itch. Websites like The Iconic will regularly have vegan eyeliners that absolutely do not contain beeswax, so they should be less prone to causing allergic reactions and itchiness.

Another ingredient to be watchful of is benzalkonium chloride. You find this in liquid eyeliners as it is used as a preservative. The problem is that it can irritate the surface of your eye if it gets too close, which can cause redness and an itchy sensation. Generally, try to find eyeliner with minimal ingredients - especially ones that don’t include beeswax or this preservative. 

Use a long-lasting, water-resistant eyeliner

One reason your eyes could itch is that your eyeliner runs during the day. It smudges when you rub your eyes, meaning some of the liner gets into your eye or can irritate the eyelid.

Therefore, a very easy solution is to use a product that won’t run and will last for as long as possible. Opting for water-resistant eyeliner is a smart choice as your eyes can often be quite wet. If you pick something that can be applied once and stay put the whole day, then you are less likely to suffer from irritation.

Avoid putting eyeliner on your waterline

Eyelids have two edges:

• The inner edge
• The outer edge

The inner edge is called the waterline as it is close to the eye and can collect water from it. A common mistake is to get eyeliner on your waterline, which makes your eyes itch a lot. Instead, you should always apply products on the outer edge of your eyelids. This will be underneath the eyelashes on the lower tip, and just above the eyelashes on the upper one.

Test products before applying them to your eyes

Honestly, this is a tip that should apply to any makeup you’re applying. Always test things on your hand or wrist before you put them anywhere near your face. Why? Because it’s an easy way to see how your skin reacts to the product. You can put foundation or blusher on your hand and realize that it causes a rash. Okay, that’s still annoying, but at least you have a small rash on your hand instead of one all over your face that’s painful and irritating. 

The same goes for eyeliner; test it first to be sure you don’t have a skin reaction. At the same time, use the test to figure out how easy it is to apply the eyeliner. Ideally, it should come out clearly without much force. If you have to press hard for the product to come out, you don’t want to use this on your eyes as it can cause irritation.

And that’s all there is to it. Use these eyeliner tips if you regularly get itchy eyes when applying eyeliner. You can try each tip one by one to see if things improve each time - this is a good way of figuring out why your eyes are itchy. When they stop itching, you know what the problem is!