Saturday, March 03, 2007

The High Price of Smokey Eyes

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I like to line my eyes like Penelope Cruz. I even line the inner eyelids like she does with the same eye pencil she uses, Loreal Le Grande Kohl in Black Sable. But I'm afraid that my pursuit of the smokey eye has given me a nasty case of blepharitis, a condition more commonly known as, infection of the eyelashes and eyelids.

I found out a little too late that I'm supposed to wipe the tip of my eye pencil, with a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol, at least once a week if I'm using it on the inner eyelids as well. I thought sharpening the tip to a new point when it was used down to the nub was enough to get rid of old bacteria and keep it fresh, but apparently it wasn't.

So now, I'm not allowed to wear any kind of eye makeup until it heals. Normally, I wouldn't mind, I don't have time to do my eyes like this everyday, but I've got a wedding to go to in exactly two weeks where I really want to wear eye makeup. I hope it clears up by then otherwise I'm going to have to go for the "natural" look, which for me, is really hard to pull off at a wedding.

photo via penelopecruz.com

8 comments:

VRK said...

Ouch. I didn't know that either. I spent the better part of junior/high school putting eyeliner inside the lids. So gross...by the end of the school day, my Indian friends and I would tell each other that there's black eyegoop collected in the inner area. Nice look to attract those white boys, no?

Hopefully this clears by the wedding date but minimal eyemakeup can look fresh/updated. Of course, if it's a typical desi wedding, I understand your urgency.

Ameet said...

Hope it heals soon.

BTW - don't you think Penelope looks better this way than her usual waifish look?

Bengali Chick said...

I hope your eye gets better!

Chic Mommy said...

thanks guys, actually my optometrist gave me Topadex eyedrops, and it started to work within 24 hours. Today, I can hardly tell I have an infection, but I have to wait a good week until it's completely gone.

It's weird, I normally don't wear much eyeliner unless I'm going out somewhere, but once I was told I couldn't wear any (until my eyes got better), eye makeup was all I could think about. I even dragged my kids into Sephora at the mall today just to look at eye shadows. I brought home a treat, Nars Duo in Habenera. It's a nice minty green and plummy duo I plan to wear to the wedding.


p.s. Ameet, I LOVE Penelope's look here too. This makeup look is one of my favorites to copy.

L... said...

I got a bacterial infection in my eyes when I was younger... it was recurring for me. My Optomologist told me to wash my eyes with baby shampoo. No kidding, it really works. Make sure you use Johnson's tear-free (you probably have some around the house), rub a good little lather on your finger tips, and then with eyes closed, scrub your lids and lashes. Rinse with washrag. Repeat daily or every other day.

Unknown said...

Hope your eyes heal up. Don't forget to toss all the old eye makeup, brushes, pencils, laash curlers, mascara - the whole lot of it. No point in chancing a reinfection.

I can never pull off that smoky eye look. I dunno, on me it just looks like I'm wearing too much makeup. I think I just prefer a little on top and a spot of mascara if I'm really getting fancy pants. But I can't go anywhere without some lipstick on, even if it's just a sheer gloss.

Recovering D said...

Hey I know I'm a little late, but I hope your feeling better! The Nars duo sounds lovely. You'll have to let us know how many compliments you get at the wedding :)

Chic Mommy said...

I was told about the baby shampoo too. I caught it early though so it wasn't necessary, but the optometrist said if it comes back, or becomes a recurring problem, then I should start washing my eyes with baby shampoo.

Oh, and the makeup got a complete overhaul. I had gunky eyeshadows and pencils in there from 10 years ago. I'll put a post up about it soon.