Mum left blind after using out-of-date mascara
While you might be tempted to touch your old cosmetics when getting ready for a special event, a mum has issued a warning after she was left blinded after using out-of-date mascara.
Mum, Shirley Potter, was getting ready to go out with her young daughters when she decided to use some of her old cosmetics, some of which she had owned for years.
Shirley was looking forward to the bonding time with her family as years earlier she had undergone a kidney transplant and had renal failure.
The 50-year-old applied some blush and mascara before leaving for her night out, but she woke up the next morning with burning eyes.
"I was born with a defect in my left eye, which meant I never had sight or feeling in it whatsoever,” Shirley told the Daily Mail.
“But the morning after our night on the town, I started to feel excruciating pain in both eyes – even then I knew something was seriously wrong.”
The pain started spreading down her cheeks and up her eyebrows, so she saw an ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with a mild infection.
Months later, Shirley knew something was still wrong when she began falling over objects and was suffering from itchy eyes.
After another examination, Shirley admitted to her ophthalmologist that she had used mascara that was 20 years old. The expert told her that mascara should only be used up to six months before being thrown out.
Shirley has since been declared legally blind and will likely lose her vision within the next three years.
As she struggles with the idea of losing her independence, she hopes her story will stop others from making the same mistake.
“People need to be aware of how to look after their make-up and throw away anything that’s too old,” she told That’s Life.
“I hope the fact that mascara has made me blind is a wake-up call to others.”