Eye docs are well aware that medications for patients with ocular surface disease need to be proven safe through clinical trials. They probably also assume, like their patients, that basic beauty and anti-aging products are tested to be safe and not toxic to the ocular surface. This is not always the case.

When Beauty Talk Turns Ugly Beauty products used on and around the eyes can affect not only eye health but also overall vision. Yes, beauty is literally in the eye of the beholder. Do not permit ugly ingredients to compromise your eye health just for the sake of vanity. What are the Top-10 Ocular Surface Offending Ingredients? Do you know? A must-have convo with patients: What are their habits for choosing products, techniques for application of cosmetics, comfort with cosmetics, usage habits, and removal habits?

We take a look at exacerbators of Ocular Surface Disease in cosmetics cabinets. Medications recommended for dry eye disease (DED) patients have been proven safe and efficacious through rigorous clinical trial studies, but the products and cosmetics patients use in and around their eyes — which have the potential to exacerbate or contribute to the disease — are not required to meet that standard.

Ocular surface disease can be exacerbated by chemicals hiding in plain sight in everyday beauty products. What’s a marketing buzzword, what’s reality, and what’s safe? Hypoallergenic Organic Botox-in-a-Jar Anti-Aging Open your eyes and understand the truth behind miracle-promising marketing terms.

What are the dirty secrets inside your beauty bag? The products in your beauty bag can be detrimental to eye health. According to Dry Eye Diva research, almost 90% of women don’t talk to their eye docs about their beauty & hygiene practices. Stay vigilante to new beauty trends and start the conversation early about cosmetic use with your patients & eye care specialists.

Beauty and anti-ageing practices can wreak havoc on the ocular surface. As aesthetic procedures have gained popularity over the recent decades, we have learned that what is good for the skin, our largest organ, is not always friendly to the eyelid. Some may say that Father Time is cruel. Others profess that ageing is beautiful. Whether we support aesthetic procedures or not, it is best that we be aware of the trends and potential troubles the quest for beauty can inflict upon us. As always, education is key.

Whether your makeup plans are glamorous or ghoulish, incorrect makeup practices are frightful for eye health. The Dry Eye Divas compiled a FLASH fast checklist to keep your eyes from looking bloodshot red and inflamed this Halloween.

Lifestyle choices and aesthetic practices can cause or exacerbate dry eye disease — Working to improve our patients’ ocular surfaces won’t get us very far if our patients continue to use products that compromise the ocular surface. Know and learn your patients’ daily routines when determining their OSD management and treatments.

Toxicity of cosmetic preservatives on human ocular surface and adnexal cells Eye makeup products, such as mascara, eye shadow, eyeliner and makeup remover are used to accentuate the eyes or clean the eyelids… All of these products contain preservatives that prevent microbial growth. But have you ever thought what these preservatives do to your eyes? The science is not pretty.