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Here's What Could Happen If You Don't Properly Remove Mascara

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A woman who had a habit of not washing her mascara off developed darkly pigmented lumps under her eyelid, caused by the buildup of bits of mascara.
A woman who had a habit of not washing her mascara off developed darkly pigmented lumps under her eyelid, caused by the buildup of bits of mascara. (Image credit: Caters News)

A woman in Australia who had a habit of not washing off her mascara developed serious eye problems that could have taken her vision, according to a new report.

The 50-year-old woman went to the eye doctor after experiencing the uncomfortable feeling that something was in her eyes, according to the report, published in the May issue of the journal Ophthalmology. The woman admitted that she'd heavily used mascara for more than 25 years and wasn't good about taking off her makeup.

When the doctor examined the underside of the woman's eyelids, she found darkly pigmented lumps under the conjunctiva, which is the transparent membrane that lines the eyelid and white part of the eye. Some of the lumps had even broken through the surface of the conjunctiva, the report said. Her eye problems were associated with conjunctivitis (inflammation of the conjunctiva) and damage to the cornea.

"[The lumps] were embedded so deep that particles were building up on top of each other … I was so uncomfortable. My eyelids were swollen and heavy because I left it [untreated] for so long," Lynch said. ['Eye' Can't Look: 9 Eyeball Injuries That Will Make You Squirm]

Lynch's doctor, Dr. Dana Robaei, an ophthalmic surgeon and clinical senior lecturer at The University of Sydney School of Medicine, told the Daily Mail that the dark lumps were caused by the buildup of bits of mascara under Lynch's eyelids. There was a risk that Lynch's eyes could have become infected, which, in rare cases, can lead to blindness, Robaei said.

"You must be meticulous" about removing mascara, Robaei added.

Lynch underwent a 90-minute procedure to have the lumps removed, but she still has permenant scarring on her eyelids, according to the Daily Mail.

Original article on Live Science.

Rachael Rettner
Rachael Rettner
Contributor

Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.