Content:
Most people get the order wrong, and then blame the lenses.
The eye stings, the vision goes cloudy halfway through the evening, and the assumption is that the lenses are cheap or the eyes are sensitive. Usually neither is true. Usually the makeup went on first.
The short answer
Put your contact lenses in before any makeup, and take them out before you remove it. Lenses first, lenses out first. Inserting them after makeup transfers product from your fingers and lashes onto the lens, and removing makeup while they're still in pushes cleanser and oil onto the lens surface.
Why the order matters
Lenses in first. Your fingers are clean at the start and there is no powder, glitter or mascara near the eye yet. Once you've done a full eye look, your fingertips carry product, and anything on them goes straight onto a lens that then sits directly against your cornea for the next eight hours.
Lenses out first. Micellar water, cleansing balm and makeup remover are all designed to dissolve oil. Soft lenses absorb what they touch. Taking the lenses out before you start removing makeup keeps the two apart.
The full sequence:
-
Wash and dry your hands — a lint-free towel, not a bath towel
-
Insert lenses
-
Skincare and base
-
Eye makeup
-
Wear
-
Remove lenses
-
Remove makeup
Products to rethink when you wear lenses
Loose powder eyeshadow and loose glitter. Fallout is the problem. Loose particles find their way under a lens and sit there, which is somewhere between irritating and genuinely painful. Pressed shadows, cream shadows and pressed glitters are much safer choices.
Kajal on the inner waterline. This is the one most people won't want to hear. The waterline holds the glands that produce your tear film's oil layer, and product placed there can block them and migrate onto the lens. If you wear lenses regularly, line just outside the lash line instead. You lose very little definition and avoid the most common source of lens discomfort.
Fibre and lash-extending mascaras. The fibres are designed to detach from the tube and cling to the lash. Some of them will end up in your eye. Use a standard lengthening formula instead.
Waterproof mascara. Not dangerous, but harder to remove — which means more rubbing and more oil-based remover near the eye. Tubing mascaras, which slide off with warm water, are a better fit for lens wearers.
Setting spray. Close your eyes fully and hold them closed until it settles. Mist, don't drench.
Hygiene rules that actually matter
-
Solution only. Never water, never saliva. Tap water carries organisms that do not belong anywhere near a cornea.
-
Daily disposables are the safest option for heavy makeup days. A fresh lens for a wedding, a shoot or a long event removes the whole question of what built up on it. Freshlook OneDay Color and Aqualens daily disposables both sit in that category.
-
Never share lenses. Not with a sister, not with a friend, not for one photograph.
-
Replace mascara every three months. It's the item in your kit most likely to carry bacteria to your eye.
-
Don't sleep in lenses unless they've been specifically prescribed for extended wear.
For makeup artists
Don't insert lenses for a client. Contact lenses are a medical device. Handling someone else's eye is a liability you do not want on a wedding morning, and most clients would rather do it themselves anyway.
Ask before you start. "Are you wearing lenses today?" takes three seconds and changes what you reach for — pressed rather than loose shadow, no waterline, no fibre mascara.
Have the client insert her lenses before you begin, not after you finish. If she puts them in after a full eye look, everything you just applied goes onto her fingers and onto the lens.
Keep loose glitter off the brief for any client in lenses, however much she wants it. Offer a pressed or cream glitter instead.
The part nobody likes mentioning
Coloured lenses are a medical device, including zero-power cosmetic ones. Fit matters — a lens with the wrong curvature can rub against the cornea, and that damage isn't always obvious until it's significant.
Get fitted by an optometrist once, even if you only wear lenses for events and even if your vision is perfect. It's a single appointment, and it tells you the base curve and diameter that suit your eye. After that you can buy with confidence.
Stop wearing the lens and see an eye doctor if you get: pain rather than mild awareness, redness that doesn't settle within a short time of removal, blurred vision, unusual light sensitivity, or any discharge. Don't push through discomfort because the event hasn't finished. Eyes don't give many second chances.
FAQs
Do you put contacts in before or after makeup?
Before. Inserting lenses after makeup transfers product from your fingers and lashes onto the lens. Remove them before taking makeup off, so cleanser and oil don't reach the lens surface.
Can you wear kajal on the waterline with contact lenses?
It isn't recommended. The waterline holds the glands that produce your tear film's oil layer, and product there can block them and move onto the lens. Line just outside the lash line instead.
What mascara is best for contact lens wearers?
A standard lengthening or tubing formula. Avoid fibre mascaras, whose fibres are designed to detach and can end up in the eye.
Are daily disposable lenses better for makeup?
For heavy makeup days, yes. A fresh lens each time means nothing accumulates on the surface across wears.
