Road Test: We trialled a new Australian-made mascara formulated for dry and sensitive eyes
WORDS BY CAIT EMMA BURKE
“Three years in the making, it’s a multi-purpose mascara that claims to nourish, protect and volumise lashes.”
As anyone with dry, sensitive eyes will know all too well, eye makeup – particularly mascara – isn’t always your friend. I’ve dealt with dry eyes since I was a teenager, and use eye drops morning and night to keep them sufficiently hydrated.
I write about beauty products and am very into eye makeup (much more than any other type of makeup) which has posed some challenges for me over the years. Certain eyeliners and mascaras make my eyes weep and water and sometimes cause an awful foreign object sensation, resulting in the whites of my eyes becoming more bloodshot than white.
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I’ve generally found a way to manage it by using natural mascaras and never skipping my eyedrops, but I always wondered why there wasn’t a mascara specifically formulated with sensitive eyes and eye conditions in mind. When Fashion Journal contributor and fellow dry eye sufferer Maggie Zhou told me that an Australian brand called Okkiyo was (finally) filling that gap in the market by creating a mascara free from typical irritants, I was all ears (and eyes).
Leading ophthalmologist Dr Jacqueline Beltz created Okkiyo’s Prioriteyes Mascara which has been specially formulated for people who wear contacts, suffer from dry eyes or have allergies. Three years in the making, it’s a multi-purpose mascara that claims to nourish, protect and volumise lashes. Its scientifically-based formula contains medical-grade manuka honey, which is a big yes from me (my eyedrops contain this ingredient and they’re one of the only things that’s made a difference to the health of my eyes).
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The brand also caters to the 2.2 billion people in the world with low vision by having packaging with braille and accessibility codes. Any consumers who can’t read the text can scan the QR code and have the brand information and ingredients read to them. Even the tube has been designed with accessibility in mind; its square shape is ergonomically designed so that it doesn’t roll away out of reach and sight for low-vision people.
Putting it to the test
On first impression, Okkiyo’s packaging is sleek and aesthetically pleasing – the bold blue and peach colour combination is reminiscent of fellow Australian beauty brand Ultra Violette. The brush is particularly pleasing and really does help define the lashes while providing a fair amount of volume, which we love. I wore the mascara across a week to really put it to the test, as did Maggie.
I remained entirely reaction-free across the week, which showed me that this product delivers on its promise – this is a formula tailor-made to pesky, highly sensitive eyes like mine. Maggie, like me, has chronically dry eyes and by her own admission “was super excited to try out Okkiyo”.
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So what did she think of Prioriteyes? “On first inspection, I loved the wand – its individual bristles helped define and separate lashes. You know how sometimes when you use a new mascara you have to wipe off (and therefore waste) excess product from the wand? There was none of that here.
“The wand picked up an even amount of product, making the application enjoyable and easy. Throughout the day, there was no irritation at all; it felt like I wasn’t even wearing mascara! The only downside, which is a pretty major one in my books, is that it did smudge below my eyes,” she tells me.
Unfortunately, I encountered the same issue as Maggie with the smudging below my eyes. I think if I wore this in the colder months the smudging would be less of an issue, but it’s still a kink that the brand can hopefully iron out as it (and its formulas) evolve. But for anyone who’s at their wit’s end trying to find a mascara that doesn’t make their eyes weep and get inflamed, Prioriteyes is absolutely worth a try. Maggie’s right – it really does feel like you’re not wearing mascara, and that’s pretty impressive.
You can learn more about Okkiyo here.
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