Can eyeliner cause black mucus? Out of all the weird and foreboding ways, our bodies can react, black mucus has got to be one of the worst. Many people actually don’t realize that the reaction of the body can be an important indicator in telling you something is wrong.
Black mucus isn’t an innocent condition, but it can also be fixed. Perhaps the benefit of finding black mucus is that you can deduce what exactly caused it, prompting the question, can eyeliner cause black mucus?
What is Black Mucus?
Colored mucus can often indicate current conditions within the body. However, such things can also be a fixable side effect of an otherwise normal and necessary human function. The purpose of mucus is to protect the nasal passage, while also keeping it lubricated.
Viscous substances within the body do serve much more of a role than simply within the nose, as organs, different bodily cavities, and the overall lining of the body are coated in it.
Without mucus, the body would remain largely unprotected from dangerous particles that could harm vital organs. Furthermore, mucus is even more important when we are sick, since the body produces an excess of it, much like white blood cells, to defeat the illness, hence runny noses.
Healthy mucus should always be relatively clear in appearance and have a thin consistency, but black mucus, in particular, is usually viewed as a potential fungal infection, though there are several other possibilities as to why it’s occurring.
What Causes Black Mucus?
There are a variety of potential causes of black mucus and some are definitely more likely than others. Inhaling air pollutants, such as industrial strength chemicals and metal dust, to something as simple and common as dirt, can burrow themselves into the nasal passage and essentially dye the color of the mucus.
Unless you live in such areas on a regular basis, however, the color of the mucus should revert back to normal relatively soon after you leave.
Aside from severely increasing the risk of lung cancer and multiple respiratory conditions, smoking also turns mucus black. The chemicals and specifically roasted tobacco in cigarettes get stuck in the airways.
Furthermore, smoking thickens the mucus, increasing the need to cough. The reason for smoking darkening the color of mucus is that it deteriorates the lung’s cleaning system, which are cilia, much like tiny hair follicles. The cilia filters through phlegm and mucus, but excessive tobacco use clogs the cilia.
While we do not assume that many reading this article spend their days doing a twelve-hour shift in the coal mines, we might as well include coal mining in this list. Why? Simply put, mining is potentially the leading cause for black mucus and if you were to, on the off chance, choose to do it, you would be blowing pure blackout of your nose for weeks to come.
On a more serious note, coal mining is also the cause of “black lung disease” or pneumoconiosis, which scars the lungs and impairs breathing. Besides the threat of coal, though, there is also a possibility that you’ve been exposed to asbestos or silica.
Fire and/or smoke can also cause black mucus to appear as soot from the smoke can lodge in the nasal passage and lungs. Consequently, much like smoking, chemical irritants, and yes, coal mining, that smoke from looming fires can turn mucus an unpleasant and frightening shade of black.
Those who don’t smoke and aren’t surrounded by pollutants, but still suffer from black mucus may have a fungal infection instead. If you are also prone to a weak immune system, this increases the chance of a fungal infection.
Does Eyeliner Discolor Mucus?
Now obviously what you’re most curious about in terms of what causes black mucus is whether or not eyeliner can also discolor mucus. The straightforward answer is yes..but it’s also a bit more complex than the other black mucus instigators mentioned.
Some have speculated that using black eyeliner causes sinus infections by making its way through the tear ducts and drains into the sinuses, thus causing an infection.
However, when talking about eyeliner, specifically of a liquid consistency, it is unlikely to form clumps in the nasal passage and block anything in the process, decreasing the chances in most people of sinus infections. Pencil eyeliners are a different story as pieces can break off and cause an eye infection, getting themselves stuck in the tear ducts.
One thing that can and does happen for avid eyeliner lovers is the occasional black mucus. There is a benefit to realizing that your darkly-colored mucus is from eyeliner since unlike other rather dangerous causes mentioned above, one shouldn’t be concerned as the product is specifically designed to be near the eye and interact in a relatively cooperative manner should it accidentally flow into the body.
Can Makeup Cause Black Mucus?
When asking the question of whether makeup in general causes black mucus, most culprits are limited to the eye area. For example, mascara, just like eyeliner, can cause black mucus by gathering together in the eye and either traveling through the nasal passage or remaining in the corner of the eye.
Cream and powder eyeshadows in various dark shades can have a similar result, but again, like eyeliner, black mucus resulting from dark eye makeup isn’t worthy of significant concern unless it happens regularly. If it does, you might want to cut down on the amount of eye makeup and take a break, allowing the eyes to breathe and clear the passages of any substance.
Can Eyeliner Cause Black Phlegm?
Though mucus and phlegm are alike in that they serve a similar purpose: to lubricate and protect the body, they are different. Mucus mainly occupies the nasal passages and sinuses and is thinner in consistency, while phlegm is much thicker and comes from the lungs and throat.
As eyeliner, as well as other eye makeup products, comes into contact more easily with the nasal passages, it’s much harder for the eyeliner to travel to the lungs and/or throat. Furthermore, since eyeliner is less likely to cause black phlegm, it could mean something more serious, such as a fungal infection or a respiratory disease.
How to Care for Eyes When Using Eyeliner
There are multiple ways to avoid black mucus caused by eyeliner, most of which involve starting with taking care of the eyes before even applying the product. Some of the ways to care for your eyes when using eyeliner include:
1. Make Sure Eyeliner is Still Good
First and foremost is to ensure the eyeliner isn’t expired. Like all expired makeup, expired eyeliner increases the rate of infection, as well as heightening the risk of forming clumps as the soured formula is no longer capable of staying homogenous. Thus, it’s highly recommended that you replace your eyeliner every three months, which is when most eyeliners expire.
2. Wash Off Eyeliner After Use
Thoroughly wash off makeup. We’re all guilty of leaving our makeup or at least some fragments of it on our faces for a night or two by accident. Though it might seem harmless, the effects of it are the exact opposite. In fact, not properly washing your makeup off, specifically, your eye makeup, can result in staining the surface of the eyeball.
Furthermore, when we fall asleep, makeup can trap dirt during the day and combine with rheam (a mix of mucus and oil that secretes from the tear ducts) compromising the eye in the process by clogging the ducts. Thus, it’s incredibly important to thoroughly wash off eyeliner at the end of the day in addition to your regular skincare routine. For a gentle remover, baby shampoo is a great alternative to regular and potentially harsh makeup remover solutions.
3. Stop Tightlining
Stop tightlining, or at least take a break from it. We all love some sultry shading that seems to come from within, but abusing the tightlining technique can cause irritation and a higher possibility of the product seeping into the tear ducts. The edges of the eyelids house meibomian glands, which contain an oily substance that keeps the eyes moist and forms a protective film around the edge.
However, tightlining can block these crucial glands and cause the protective film to become unstable resulting in irritation and dry eye. Instead, try to not only take a break from the tightlining technique, but also apply eyeliner farther from the eye itself, and closer to the side of the eyelashes.
Conclusion
So, can eyeliner cause black mucus?… Yes and for the most part, finding out that eyeliner is the root cause of such a problem can be a bit of a relief as it’s less than fatal. However, regardless of its low health concerns, it has given way to talking about all-around self-care, proving that you can never be too careful when it comes to what you put on your face or in your body.
