Eye Make-Up: Some Easy Ways to Get it Off Your Clothes

Hi guys!!

Here is a guest post by Charlotte from Surf Excel. She explains how to remove makeup stains off your clothes easily….

I don’t know about you, but I tend to feel naked without a little color on my lids and a slick of mascara. Eye make-up is the finishing touch to any look. Unfortunately, it’s also scarily easy to get on your clothes! Whether your eyes are itchy and you rub them without thinking, or you find yourself crying while chopping onions for dinner, eye make-up just has a nasty habit of getting where it shouldn’t. So how do you remove these smudges and stains from your clothes? Here are some excellent methods – covering everything from using laundry detergent to bust those stains to getting out the shaving foam (yes, really!). These simple tricks can have your clothes wonderfully clean in a flash!

A favorite primer on Makeupholicworld is the ELF Primer. It’s thick, creamy, and available in various colors depending upon your skin tone. However, look at the ingredients and you’ll see ‘mineral oil’ right up there near the top. Shadow primers are very oily as they lubricate the eyelid to prevent creases (if you’ve ever used a budget alternative and noticed it just slips right off your eyes, that’s because it’s too oily!). As you’ll know if you’ve ever splattered oil on yourself when cooking, oil is a very hard stain to remove from clothes, as it doesn’t mix with water. So before popping your accidentally primed garment into the washing machine, massage a little laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, or even shampoo (anything that’s designed to cut through grease) into the stain to break down the oils. Your clothes should come out of the machine as good as new!

Regardless of whether you opt for downplayed nudes or bright and vibrant colors, most eye shadows contain something called phenoxyethanol.  Don’t be mistaken, this oily liquid is an excellent component of eye make-up, as it ensures the colour stays looking fresh all day without drying out, but it can also make stains on your clothes trickier to get out. Believe it or not, one of the best methods of getting eye shadow smudges off your clothes is with shaving foam! Men’s shaving foam is essentially just a big can of whipped soap, so it’s great for getting rid of all sorts of unsightly marks around the home (there’s a handy hint to keep in mind!).

Make-up aficionados love Benefit’s BadGal mascara – but once again, look at the ingredients and you’ll see exactly why it’s so hard to remove the stain from clothing when you accidentally rub your eyes with your sleeve. The second ingredient listed is beeswax. Waxy substances are ideal for mascaras as they coat your lashes, making them look longer, thicker, and stronger. However, wax on clothing can be a nuisance to remove. Fortunately, wax responds very well to high quality commercial stain removers. First, use a blunt object to scrape off as much of the mascara as possible, then apply a good stain remover – preferably one without bleach as this can inadvertently lighten the colour of your clothes. Follow the instructions on the box, and then wash in your machine on a cool setting – no more than 30 degrees. The stain will disappear in no time!

Eye make-up stains tend to be a little horrifying due to their bright and bold colors, but they’re actually very easy to remove once you’ve got the knowhow. So the next time you discover a horrible line of mascara or a big smudge of eye shadow on your sleeve, don’t panic – with these tips, you’ll be stain free in no time.