Will Your Halloween Costume End Up a Trick or Treat?
What Halloween costumes are you working on this year: zombie, vampire, princess, pirate, clown, minion, cat, superhero? Whether you are assembling costume pieces for yourself or for your children, it’s important to keep eye safety in mind. Here are some Halloween costume tips:
- Hypoallergenic makeup: Reduce the risk of reactions on your face or eyes by choosing hypoallergenic makeup. Test it on a small portion of your face before you plan to wear it. Keep Halloween makeup away from your eyes as much as possible.
- Avoid wearing novelty contacts: Halloween contact lenses that are not doctor-prescribed can be very dangerous. See below for more details.
- Lasers: If your costume incorporates lasers – even toys like lightsabers – never shine lasers into the eyes of another person or pet. This can cause serious eye injury and even blindness.
- Look out for potentially harmful objects: If you are using spikes, knives or even feathers in your costume, make sure these objects are kept away from your eyes to avoid penetration injury.
- Old makeup: It’s tempting to re-use novelty makeup year after year, but toss out the old and get new to help prevent eye/skin infection due to bacterial growth.
- Wash your face and hands: Remove all makeup from your face before going to bed. If you are wearing contacts, make sure your hands are clean of all dirt and makeup before removing them.
- Eye patches: Check that you have full visibility when wearing eye patches, masks or goggles.
- Eye exam: If you really want to incorporate special contacts into your costume, schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor so you can be properly fitted for contacts and learn how to properly use and care for them. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all contact lens.
- Never order online: Novelty contact lenses are still medical devices and require a prescription. Never purchase contacts from Halloween stores, flea markets, online websites, beauty salons or any source that is not doctor-prescribed.
More on the Dangers of Novelty Contact Lenses
When you put ill-fitting novelty contacts into your eyes – even for just a short time – you run the risk of:
- Serious eye infection
- Scratched or scarred cornea
- Eye pain
- Damaged vision
We would love to see your Halloween costumes! Post your photos on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/VictoriaEyeCenter
Have a fun and safe Halloween!