BLEPHA WHAT?!? EYE SCRUB!
Tantejoan here, subbing for our Drugstore Deals Diva, Gigi. Today I'd like to tell you about a remedy for a disease you may not know you have: Blepharitis. Sounds funny, doesn't it? When my ophthalmologist told me, years ago, that I had it, I blurted, "You're making that up, aren't you?" It just sounds so bogus, like Movie Star Disease, that killer that polished off Ali McGraw in "Love Story." But blepharitis is real, and actually a very common ailment suffered by girls and women. It is a disease of the tiny oil glands at the base of the eyelashes, called blephs, causing inflammation, swelling and redness that many women assume is pinkeye. Blepharitis is easily treated, and once relieved, it is almost 100% preventable.
What causes it? Improper or incomplete removal of eye makeup is the primary cause of blepharitis, and careful cleansing of the residue from mascara and eyeliner is the remedy. There are two easy ways to ensure that all makeup is cleaned, both easily available at your local drugstore.
The First: make a solution of ten drops of baby shampoo in a squeeze bottle filled with 3 ounces of water. Shake and then drop onto the end of a cotton swab and scrub the base of each eyelid. Use a new swab for each eye. You will be surprised at how much product is still left on your lashes, and how easily this final step will ward off future infections.
The Second Method: especially well-suited for those who travel or do new make-ups on the fly at the end of your office day, is a fantastic product called Eye-Scrub. Packaged in boxes of 30 individually-wrapped, sterile, single-use packets, Eye-Scrub removes all of your eye makeup in one refreshing step, and enables you to scrub away those pesky infection-causing remnants of mascara or eyelash glue. They are also wonderful for getting through airport security checks without taking up precious space in those little zip-lock baggies -- space needed for your creams and lotions. Tiny and spill-proof, several thin little packets can slip into even the tiniest of evening bags for ladies room clean-ups, too. I find them useful at weddings, when I tear up before the organ begins to play.
Eye-scrubs are hypoallergenic, will not irritate even the most sensitive skin, and are fragrance-free. I have been using them, in combination with my baby shampoo home mixture, for the past 15 years, and since adopting them into my regular cleansing routine I have never had a flare-up of the disease with the funny name and the painful symptoms. Not once. To borrow Martha's phrase, it's a very Good Thing.
ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE DIAGNOSED WITH BLEPHARITIS-WHAT!?! HAVE YOU USED EYE-SCRUBS?
BUY EYE-SCRUBS HERE
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Reviews
I'm going to have to steal a little of my sons baby shampoo and try it. Thanks!
www.nanisnails.blogspot.com
I haven't heard of this, but, it makes sense. Luckily I think I have a travel bottle of the baby shampoo, so will give that method a try and see what happens.
Never thought to use baby shampoo! Thanks for that! :)
Thanks for letting us know about this condition. That baby shampoo solution is a great tip too!
Oh - it sounds like you have a diagnosis for the 'allergy' I occasionally get - fits perfectly. I'll steal some of my 4-foots shampoo at once (they allergic to everything except baby shampoo). Merci TanteJoan
Rie
I need to get some of these eye-scrub next time I'm in the drugstore for my next trip coming up in August. I'm going to try the baby shampoo too. Great post tantejoan! Thanks for this great information and tips. :)
I DO have blepharitis and use the baby shampoo, but these wipes look great! Did you find them in the makeup removal section or the eye section, like with the eye drops and such??
In the eye care section, lady. It's a medical product, great for those with Flexible Spending Accounts. At the end of the year, when I have some FSA bucks to use or lose, I head for the Scrubs.
Thanks for the new information. I will have to try the baby shampoo trick out! :)
This was a great post Joan. I am so guilty of not cleaning off my eye make-up properly. It always seems to irritate my sensitive eyes. But hey if they are going to get irritated anyway I should probably do a better job. I need to try this stuff.
Good idea and interesting "esoteric" item!!! I've never had the problem but can absoutely see where it could cause one to really tear up!Nothing worse than an irritated eye...I sometimes feel as though there is a "product" out there to sterilize every square inch of my body,LOLROF!Great review TJ!!!
Thank you for this post! I think I may have this or something related. I have notoriously oily skin, which includes my eyelids, so I have to always use mascara and eyeliner that do NOT budge.... which means that they can be hard to completely remove. Sometimes I get these flesh-colored bumps on the rims of my upper lash lines and it feels like I have something poking me in my eye. I can't even wear contacts when they pop up. I thought it was some kind of reaction to my eye makeup, but after throwing away a lot of my favorite products I realized it wasn't. I'll try this trick and see if it helps!
Sounds like it, Britt. My eye doctor says it's the disease his women patients never know they have. I hope this works for you.
Very interesting!! I know I've had something very similar to this, but since I have contacts I usually assume it's irritation thanks to those.
www.JenniferSuarez.com
I love these options! I travel all of the time for work. I have a had eye makeup remover open in my makeup bag. It was not a good thing.
I've never thought about using baby shampoo and as eye makeup remover, but that makes perfect sense. I'm curious to try your method and see how much gunk is still on my eyes.The wipes sound cool, but I think they're a little impractical for everyday use.
The scrubs are great for travel, Brittany, but they are fairly expensive, at $12 for 30. I use the baby shampoo at home for less than pennies a month, so it's worth it to me to keep the Eye-Scrubs on hand for when I'm on the go. Plus the scrubs take everything off, while the baby shampoo is only for post-cleansing, not as a one-step makeup remover.
TJ, great review! I didn't know what was causing my occasional eye issues, just as you described. So, while I'm at Ike's today in Memphis (Classified Cosmetics event today!), I'll pick up some baby shampoo and Scrubs. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
Carole
I have never heard of this, but I am inspired now to clean my eyes very thoroughly from now on instead of just using a baby wipe.
You're super awesome!
oh wow... this really opened my eyes, literally :) i wonder if it relates to my problem, the skin cells under my eyer are large and create little "balls" of flesh under my eyes, they are very noticible without makeup on...does this sound like something anyone has heard of???
j.baby
I'm always looking for easier and less messy travel items and this just ROCKS! I've always loved my Mary Kay Creamy Cleanser 2 as makeup remover. I've never found anything better that's gentle, cleans completely, doesn't sting my eyes and leaves NO residue. But like you said...another bottle to travel with. I'll have to grab a pack of these for my upcoming travel time! CAC...I'm so envious! I wish I was in Memphis with you today. We'd have lunch at some lovely little outdoor trattoria and head over to CC for this FAB event. Beam me up Scotty...I WANNA GO!!!!!!!
Love, hugs and shoes...Angie
baby shampoo? has anyone had negative side effects to this or irritation?sounds like a good idea but im still skeptical - maybe its just the title of shampoo...
-Miss Yaya
http://myownjudge.blogspot.com/
Baby shampoo is ultra gentle. Remember J&J "NO MORE TEARS"? Of course everyone reacts differently to things. But many, many people have no issue with baby shampoo. I do wash all of my brushes with this and get no irritation on my face either.
I use baby oil sometimes, but may FAV is extra virgin olive oil. It is the best eye makeup remover I have ever used, and it conditions lashes! Many oils like olive oil promote hair growth too. It worked for my eyebrows!
O.K., now baby shampoo is on my list of "to gets". It's true; I sometimes feel that my eyes just aren't quite as clean as they could be. This will be fun to try out!
I just love your name Zamora...I always thought if I adopted a girl with black hair and light eyes that would be the perfect name for her. Welcome to Megs and GLAM ON honey!
Love, hugs and shoes...Angie
I wear false eyelashes daily, the glue that I have now comes off easily but in the past there have been some that were resistant to my eye make-up removers. I will give the baby shampoo a try, but I also want to try the eye scrub cleanser !! thanks for the info...I just love this site!
i need to try these
never used it, but my eyes always feel irritated since i wear contacts, hence i am more prone to infections. interesting concept
The baby shampoo solution sounds good. I've heard of using it to wash makeup brushes before, but this is a first.
Thanks for the heads up. The cream and gel eyeliners are hard to remove and after learning about this disease; I'm going to really make sure that all the eyeliner and mascara is washed off. Will definitely be buying some babgy shampoo.
I use baby wipes to remove makeup but it doesn't really work well on mascara and liner. I've used the Clinique eye makeup remover and it BURNED. I've never tried baby shampoo. Totally makes sense though - "no tears" and all. I should try EVOO or EVCO to take it all off though and save me two steps.
I have Roseaca & have been having problems with my eyes, which are the same symptoms of pink-eye. I know that you can develop Roseaca in you eyes. I will definitely get some of these scrubs and baby shampoo. I don't think my irritation is caused by my Roseaca I really think it's my laziness of not removing my make-up everynight.Thanks so much for the post!
"I swim outside the fish bowl" Quote by Me
Tantejoan, I just finished ordering this, thank you! I get such red, irritated eyes and am desperate for a solution. I love it when a solution just falls into your lap like this. Much Appreciation!
It is so important to take off your makeup every night. It will make the world of difference to you skin 10 years from now! I use EVOO to remove my eye makeup. It gets off every last bit of makeup and conditions my lashes.
Rere-I have really sensitive eyes. Do you think that the EVOO would irritate them? Also do you think that it would be too oily for my already oily skin? Does it wash off easily or does it tend to leave a lot of residue. Just wondering....
Glad to hear about these remedies! I haven't found the eye scrub yet, but I whipped up the baby shampoo solution and started using it. I was surprised to see that after I had used my eyemakeup remover and was sure I did a thorough job... your solution found plenty more gunk. DAYUM! I feel so much better now with my clean eyelids. Keep the great suggestions coming!
Carole
Carole, that's what I'm talking about! If you can manage to take this extra step after your regular cleansing routine, whether it's EVO or a fancy-schmancy cleanser made of gold dust, a mere 10 drops of baby shampoo in a little bottle of water will take ALL the gunk hidden in your lash-line away. It's freakin' win-win -- economical and so good for you!
And now I've found the Eye Scrub too! Very nice... and I'll use them when I travel. I do like them, but as you say, it's much more economical to use the baby shampoo on a daily basis. My eyes thank you!
Carole
baby shampoo... hmmm i think ill give it a try thanks!
Hmmm, I have never thought of needing a cleaning product for the eyelid...and now I have!
Great post!!! I love baby shampoo. I may give this a go, looks very interesting!! Never thought of an eyelid scrub before!
I am loving the Baby Shampoo idea. I seriously never ever thought about doing that. Baby shampoos are tear free. That is going to be my method of removal from now on!
A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.
-Coco Chanel
HMMMM I dont think it's good for your eyes.
wow this is really interesting. Thanks for the heads-up
great post! thanks :)
i use baby shampoo to remove eye make up-gentle for "no tears" but does the job! theres lots of reviews on here for products that i cant get in the uk :(
My eye dr told me to do the baby shampoo thing long ago. He said it removes any makeup that migrates under there and will keep it clean. Thanks for the heads up on the scrub. Perfect for travel!!!
~~Christy
I never knew that you could get this from not taking off your makeup properly. I often get lazy at night and don't bother to really scrub it all off. I will now.
How strange! I've honestly never heard of this disease and I've never ever had a problem with my eye caused by make-up or otherwise! Interesting to know about it, though. Thanks Tantejoan - I'll know what to do if it happens to me. ;]