Although normal seborrheic eczema is largely genetic, eye eczema is more often caused by contact dermatitis, which is a skin reaction to external irritants. This is, in many ways, good news as it means that if you reduce exposure and increase protection for your eyes from the irritants, your eye dermatitis should improve.
How do I know if I have eye eczema or eye dermatitis?
If you only have eye eczema and don’t have eczema anywhere else on your body its more likely that your eye eczema is a form of contact dermatitis as opposed to seborrheic eczema.
Contact dermatitis normally comes in two forms; irritant contact dermatitis and allergic contact dermatitis.
How do I know if I have irritant eye dermatitis or allergic eye dermatitis?
Irritant eye dermatitis
Irritant contact dermatitis is the more common form and happens when a substance is harsh enough to damage your outer layer of skin which makes the skin around the eye very vulnerable as its much thinner than elsewhere on the face and so lets in irritants more easily. The skin reaction is normally immediate of within a few hours or days of the irritant coming in contact with the skin.
Symptoms
Symptoms of irritant contact dermatitis include almost immediate stinging and burning that then calms down and is followed by skin peeling and dryness.
Causes
Typical irritants around the eyes are solvents, alcohol and cleansing agents in many skincare and haircare products.
Allergic eye dermatitis
Allergic contact dermatitis, on the other hand, kicks in when your immune system overreacts to something. Often the reaction is not immediate but builds up over time as the skin becomes more and more fragile from the frequent exposure to certain irritants. Eye cosmetics are applied daily is a typical culprit for constant exposure to the same irritant that can lead to allergic contact dermatitis.
Symptoms
Symptoms of allergic contact dermatitis will usually cause gradually increasing itchiness and a red or raised rash that stays constantly present and does not come and go.
Causes
Typical causes of allergic dermatitis around the eyes are eye cosmetics, fragrances, lanolin and preservatives called parabens.
Here are 5 things that could be causing your eye eczema;
Make up remover
Most make up removers contain solvents and alcohol. Solvents are chemicals that are designed to dissolve grease and dirt and are needed to break down eye cosmetics like mascara. Alcohol helps remove grease and residue from cosmetics.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is an effective solvent used in the majority of make-up removers, making them a prime culprit for irritant contact dermatitis.
Glittery or dark colour eye cosmetics
Most eye cosmetics contain antimicrobial preservatives, a common one is diazolidinyl urea. Frequent exposure to this and other preservatives in daily eye cosmetics can lead to allergic contact dermatitis.
Eye cosmetics can also cause irritant contact dermatitis, in particular those containing glitter particles or darker colours.
The glitter particles themselves can cause minor abrasions to the skin around the eyes and on the eyelids leading to irritation.
Eye cosmetics in darker colours require more dyes to keep their colour and these chemical dyes are more likely to cause irritation than lighter shades.
Contact lens solution
Preservatives in contact lens solutions can cause allergic contact dermatitis over time. It’s more likely to develop an allergy to contact lens solutions after you have used the same contact lens products for months or years than to immediately experience a skin reactions on the first few uses. Many people who have contact lens allergy around their eyes have no history of other types of skin allergies.
Shampoo
Most shampoos contain strong fragrances to make the hair smell fresher and harsh solvents to get rid of greasiness, so they can be the cause of both irritant dermatitis and allergic dermatitis around the eyes as the eyelids are exposed to the lather and residue from shampoos daily.
Aside from highly fragranced shampoos, those with additional ingredients for lightening, straightening, colouring or for extra oily hair are likely to be the most problematic for eye dermatitis.
Irritant and allergic dermatitis from shampoos can also appear on the scalp, but often the first signs of it are on the eyelids and behind the ears.
Nail Varnish
Another common yet widely unknown cause of allergic dermatitis around the eye area is nail polish, which occurs when people wearing polish rub their eyes.
As with eye cosmetics the darker the colour nail varnish the more risk of allergic reaction.
If you are or have been experiencing either form of eye dermatitis, have you considered trying Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel and Hydrosil Dry Eye Concealer?
Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel is a light natural eye gel specifically for calming and relieving dry, itchy and irritated skin around the eye.
It contains an extract of Cardiospermum halicacabum, which is a natural phytosteroid taken from a common Sri Lankan vine.
The eye gel has been developed as an extremely gentle and light formulation suitable for itchy and dry skin around the eye often caused by allergic reactions and irritation from external irritants.
The eye gel delivers anti-inflammatory and anti-itching benefits without damaging or irritating the delicate skin around the eye and can be used as often as required.
Hydrosil Dry Eye Concealer also contains cardiospermum plus Biolin ®, a skin prebiotic which floods dry damaged skin with healthy skin flora to help repair the skin barrier and seal in moisture.
The eye concealer not only conceals with a light to medium skin tone tint but also contains light reflecting particles to help brighten and illuminate the under eye area.
Both Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel and Dry Eye Concealer can be applied daily and are ideal for use under make-up to protect and calm the skin around the eyes. The eye gel can also be worn overnight under other overnight skin care products.
They are both free from parabens, perfumes MI and SLS and are 100% vegan.
