Eye doctor warns of dangers of wearing eyeliner in waterline with gruesome TikTok

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An eye doctor is warning makeup-wearers of the dangers of applying eyeliner in the waterline of the eye in a viral TikTok.

Dr Brittani Carver, an optometrist and co-owner of Better Vision Optometric Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, frequently uses her TikTok account @bettervision to share eye-health tips.

In one video posted last week, the optometrist shared with her more than 204,000 followers the negative impacts of wearing eyeliner in the waterline, which refers to the line of skin between the eyelashes and the eye, one of her patients was experiencing.

“This patient has worn eyeliner on her waterlines since she was a teenager,” Dr Carver explained as she showed a close-up look at the woman’s eye, in which remnants of black makeup could still be seen. “The reasons eye doctors do not recommend wearing eyeliner on the waterline of your eye is because there are specialized glands there that produce and excrete oil.”

According to Dr Carver, a normal, healthy eye sees the glands excrete oil that has an “olive oil texture,” with the optometrist then showing the difference in the patient’s eye, as it can be seen excreting thick, white oil from the glands that she described as having a consistency “more like toothpaste”.

The obstruction of the glands, caused by the use of eyeliner in the waterline, means that the eye is “not producing healthy tears,” Dr Carver explained, adding in the caption that patients can experience dry eyes, or Dry Eye Disease, as a result.

Dry Eye Disease can cause symptoms such as burning, sensitivity to light, eye redness, watery eyes or blurred vision, according to the Mayo Clinic.

To limit the risk of developing dry eyes, Dr Carver told BuzzFeed that people should avoid wearing eyeliner or eye makeup in their waterlines on all occasions, as there is no eyeliner that is “safe” for doing so.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of eyeliner it is, all of them can obstruct the oils glands and cause irreversible gland damage,” she told the outlet.

On TikTok, where the video has been viewed more than 12.8m times, it has prompted many viewers to express their disappointment over the warning.

“I only look good with eyeliner on my waterline! Oh no,” one person commented, while another joked: “I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see this.”

This is not the first time that Dr Carver has shared the downsides of cosmetics on eye health on her TikTok, as she also warned viewers of the possible dangers of sleeping in makeup in another recent video, in which she discussed “demodex mites”.

“I’m an eye doctor and I’m going to give you one really good reason why you need to take your makeup off at night before you go to bed,” Dr Carver said, before pointing to a zoomed-in photo of “eyelash mites” moving on a patient’s eyelash.

According to the optometrist, the mite, which can be seen moving, is eating the buildup of oil on the eyelash follicle, with Dr Carver warning that too much buildup can lead to excess mites and ultimately irritated eyes.

To avoid the issue, she warned viewers to use a “safe, tea tree oil product” to clean makeup off their eyes and eyelashes each night.