Eye-makeup removers are extremely helpful but you need to use them carefully. Repeated pulling at the skin can be problematic because it stretches skin and damages the skin’s elastin fibers. Elastin is a stretchable, elastic protein found in skin tissue that is responsible for the flexible, resilient nature of healthy skin. When skin is being pulled and yanked, elastin’s orderly arrangement can change. Regardless of the direction you pull—up, down, or sideways—if you see the skin move, you are tugging on the skin’s elastic fibers and helping the skin to sag sooner than it would otherwise. No matter how gently it’s done, this pulling distends the tissue more than enough to stretch it. Watch closely in the mirror the next time you start wiping off your makeup, particularly eye makeup. If it takes that much pulling to remove your makeup, consider what I am about to suggest concerning how to get your makeup off.
The process is pretty straightforward if your makeup is water soluble. Because so many water-soluble cleansers use mild ingredients that don’t affect the eyes any differently than makeup removers do, they can easily remove all of your makeup, including eye makeup. When you use water with a gentle face cleanser that slips over the face and is easily rinsed off, it decreases friction and minimizes any pulling. Then if there are any traces of makeup left behind you can use your gentle makeup remover to get them, which will require far less pulling and tugging. If you are used to wiping off makeup, it can take a while to get used to washing it off, but it is the most effective and least problematic way to remove eye makeup.
The exception to this rule is when you are using waterproof or water-resistant makeup, waterproof mascara, very heavy or thick foundations, or ultra-matte or transfer-resistant foundations. In these instances, it is necessary to use a gentle, wipe-off makeup remover to help get all your makeup off before using the cleanser, and to be as delicate as possible in doing that.