Eyeliner and a big set of falsies

Eyeliner and a big set of falsies


To line your eyes inside the lash line or outside the lash line? What about whether to apply ultra-long false eyelashes? These are fashion questions, to be sure … but they also could be health ones.

In the tradition of applying cosmetics to augment what genetics handed to you, women sometimes use eyeliner along the waterline of their eyelashes. The waterline is the lower edge of your eyelid that meets your upper lid when you blink. Another method is to line just outside the lash line.

Researchers wanted to know whether material from your eyeliner would migrate to your eye, and which method caused greater contamination and irritation in the eye. So they recruited women who were randomly assigned to receive eyeliner application outside their lash line or along their water line. The eyeliner of choice? An eyeliner called “Glimmerstick.”

Five to ten minutes after application, they saw the highest concentration of sparkles from the eyeliner suspended within the eye’s tear film in women whose inner lash lines were lined. In both cases, however, the sparkles cleared out of the eye within two hours.

What about the eyelashes you might also choose to augment? A recent study found that 22 species of mammals have eyelashes equal to one-third the width of their eye. The researchers think this ratio of eyelash length-to-eye-width keeps wind from interacting with the eye. Short eyelashes, they say, create a dead zone of air just above the surface of mammal’s eyes. Longer eyelashes funnel air into the eyes, according to the study. So, it turns nature made your lashes just the right length to keep dust and irritants out of your eyes.

But for people who suffer from eyelash loss after health issues, false eyelashes could work like a charm to keep eyes from drying out and getting irritated.

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