How to remove makeup after Laser Eye Surgery
One of the most commonly asked questions regarding laser eye surgery is if and when patients can wear makeup.
No more glasses or contact lenses mean that your eyes become a focal point of your face and you want to experiment but you must treat your eyes with great care in order to prevent irritation and the risk of infection.
We understand that make-up is important to our patients so here are some steps we advise on following before, during and after your procedure to ensure your eyes remain healthy at all times.
Before:
We ask all patients attending their consultation if possible to arrive make-up free to avoid smudging and also giving incorrect test results.
PLEASE NOTE: You should not wear your soft contact lenses a week prior to your consultation and gas permeable lenses two weeks prior to your consultation.
During:
On the day of your laser eye procedure, no make-up should be worn, this includes face make-up, skin lotions and also perfume. The latter might sound odd, but the perfume vapour can interfere with the laser energy delivered to the eye and in turn affect outcomes. Although nursing staff at Centre for Sight will clean the eye area prior to surgery we do recommend that you should not to wear any makeup-up two days prior to the surgery.
After:
- Eye Make-up – Mascara should not be applied for four weeks after your procedure. You want to avoid any make-up that can flake off in your eyes which can affect the eye’s recovery process or cause injury during removal. This includes eyeshadow and eye liner on both – the eyelid and on the inside of the lashes.
- Face Make-up – Two days after surgery, you can apply foundation as normal but we recommend anything powder based such as blushers and bronzers be avoided for four to five days after.
- Creams and Lotions – Eye creams should be avoided for two weeks and any other products being applied near the eye area such as facial lotions should be done with great care.
Recommendations:
- When removing the make-up, do not rub or use excessive force especially around the eyes. This should be done very gently as your eyes will still be sensitive after surgery.
- Bacteria can cling onto your make-up, to avoid contamination we recommend that you replace your existing make-up and brushes with new ones after surgery.
- Avoid wearing waterproof mascara, this can be much harder to remove increasing the chance of causing damage to the eyes.
- Consider eyelash tinting before the procedure.
PLEASE NOTE: Individual eyelash extensions can remain on during consultation. However, these have to be removed a week prior to the surgery and not to be re-applied until 8 weeks.
False strip lashes are not permitted at any stage but these can be re-applied after 4 weeks.
Should you experience any discomfort when applying your make-up after four weeks, please contact us.
Author Information
Authored by Sheraz Daya MD FACP FACS FRCS(Ed) FRCOphth, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon & Medical Director, June 2019.
Next review due June 2020.