Halloween is one of our favourite nights of the year: the costumes, the pumpkins, the sweets, the stories. But from where we sit, it’s also a night when a few small choices can make a big difference to your eyes. Here’s our guide to enjoying the spookiest night of the year, with your vision intact.
The real horror story: costume contact lenses
Cat eyes, blood-red irises, white-out zombie stares. Decorative contact lenses can finish a costume beautifully, and they are also the single biggest Halloween risk we see for eye health.
Here’s the part that surprises people: a decorative lens is still a contact lens. Even if it has no prescription, it sits directly on the surface of your eye and needs to be properly fitted. In the UK, they are classed as medical devices and should only be supplied by, or under the supervision of, a registered optometrist, dispensing optician or doctor.
Lenses bought from market stalls, costume shops, pop-ups or random online sellers are often one-size-fits-all, poorly made and unregulated. The consequences can include:
- Scratches to the cornea (the clear front surface of the eye)
- Painful infections and corneal ulcers
- Allergic reactions and swelling
- In serious cases, permanent loss of vision
If you want a dramatic look, come and see us first. A professional fitting means the lens suits the shape of your eye, and you’ll get proper advice on wearing and cleaning it. And never share lenses with a friend, however good the costume.
Already wearing decorative lenses and your eyes become red, painful, watery or sensitive to light? Take them out and seek urgent advice straight away. Don’t wait for it to settle.
Dramatic make-up is great fun. Just keep it on the skin, not in the eye.
Face paint, glitter and fake blood
Halloween make-up is half the fun, but your eyes are delicate. A few simple rules:
- Keep products away from the waterline and the inner rim of your eyelid. Avoid putting glitter anywhere near the eye.
- Use make-up designed for skin and face, and check it is in date. Never use craft glitter or paint.
- Don’t use old mascara or eyeliner. Bacteria build up over time, so replace eye products every three months or so.
- Remove everything before bed. Leftover make-up and glitter can irritate the eye overnight and lead to infection.
- Patch test first if you have sensitive skin or a history of allergies.
Masks, wigs and props
A great mask can quietly take away a lot of your side vision. That matters when you’re on a dark street, near roads, or carrying a lit pumpkin down the stairs. Make sure eye holes are big enough for good peripheral vision, and keep fringes, wigs and hoods out of your eyes. For children, choose face paint over masks where you can.
Plastic swords, wands and other pointy props are also a classic cause of eye injuries at parties. Keep them for display and not for duelling.
Trick-or-treating after the clocks change
This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, just days after the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October. That means darker evenings and a lot of children, and drivers, adjusting at the same time.
- Add reflective strips or glow sticks to costumes
- Carry a torch, and use it
- Stay on pavements, cross at safe points, and put the phone away
- Drivers: slow down in residential areas and expect little ones to dart out
If you find night driving increasingly uncomfortable at this time of year, with glare from oncoming headlights, halos or struggling to read signs, it’s worth getting your eyes checked. Sometimes a small prescription change or the right lens coating makes a real difference.
A few friendly (and slightly spooky) eye facts
- Your eyes contain muscles that are among the fastest-reacting in the body.
- Your eyes can reveal more than you’d think, from signs of diabetes to cardiovascular risk. In our practice, we use Dr Noon AI-powered eye exams to analyse images of the back of the eye, including to assess cardiovascular risk.
- Many serious eye conditions have no symptoms in the early stages, which is exactly why regular check-ups matter.
The scariest things are the ones you can’t see
Halloween is all about things that go bump in the night. In eye health, the real frights are the quiet ones: changes that creep in slowly and that you may not notice until they’re advanced. The good news is that a regular eye exam is the easiest way to catch them early.
So enjoy the night, keep your eyes safe, and when the sweets run out, book your next check-up.
Book an appointment with Visioncare Opticians: visioncare-opticians.com/book-an-appointment
Wishing you a safe and happy Halloween from all of us!
