It's the Christmas season as I write this.  We are all running around trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on our list.  We want to make sure the gift is personal and not gonna end up in the re-gifting bin. 

I have a friend that loves candles.  She has them lit all over her house.  It always smells like a bakery at her house.  When you go from room to room there is a different cookie or food scented candle in each one.  There is usually apple, sugar cookie, and gingerbread.  No wonder, I'm always hungry when I'm over there. 

The week of Thanksgiving, I made a list of the ultimate gift-giving guide for 2019.  I put on it some of the best eye care products I've come across.  I feel like I have tried them all of the eye...

The holidays are upon us.  For some of us, this news feels us with happiness and joy.  For others, it fills us with stress and anxiety.   I hate to admit to you that I am definitely the latter of these two types of people.  It is not that I don't like Christmas.  I love the decorations, parties, food, and gatherings.  I just have stress about the gift-giving.  #truth

Let's face it, there are some people in our lives that are hard to give to.  And, I'm sure you have more people on your list each year.  The growth of my list always seems exponential.  How does that happen?

Let me present to you the 2019 Gift Giving Guide.  You will find something on it for everyone.  Even if you don't think that your friends and family have...

We all make mistakes in our lives.  We know all the rules about how to take care of our bodies.  But, sometimes, even with the best intentions, we fall short.

For instance, we know we are supposed to drink half of our body weight in ounces of water every day.  Somedays, we fall short.  We also know that we are supposed to brush our teeth twice a day.  Every now and then, we fall short.  Even with our best intentions.

However, some of the best practices in eyecare just aren't as well known.  Here we will go over 5 of the worst things to do with your eye makeup that are harmful to your eyes.   

1. Not removing your makeup at the end of the day - makeup left at the base of your lashes allows bacteria to flourish and leave your lids red and...

No. 1)  Avoid toxic ingredients in your self-care products.

No. 1)  Contact lenses are not costumes

This past week, I got an up-close and personal reminder of how painful inflammation can be.  I was out on my morning run.  It is by far my exercise of choice for getting the blood flowing and clearing my mind.  

Well, I must not have been thinking about my feet because all of a sudden I was face down on the asphalt.  Ugh.  I rolled on to my back and saw stars all at the same time.  I am a true believer in the discomfort of inflammation.

Do you remember last week when we went over the 4 steps to alleviate your dry eye symptoms?  They are hydrate, harmonize, heat, and heal,  If you want to go back and review that blog again, just click here.

The fourth step - heal has to do with reducing inflammation.  I suggest taking an omega fatty acid...

Several years ago, I began to struggle with dry eyes.  This was at a time when I lived in a very dry climate, and I wore contact lenses most of the time. My eyes would get dry towards the end of my workday, and I couldn’t wait to take them off when I finally got home.   

Most days a couldn't stand to wear eye makeup.  I knew there must be a better way to live.  I couldn't go on with the feeling of wanting to claw the contact lenses from my eyes before 5 pm. 

I began to research how to keep moisture in my eyes longer.  I played around and tried every contact lens and contact lens cleaning solution on the market.  I definitely have my favorites from that experiment, but there was still something missing.   

Since...

This past weekend, I was able to attend a great event for dry eye practitioners in Central California. Some of the industry's greatest thought leaders were there including Scott Schachter, OD, Peter Pham, MD, Tim Trinh, OD, and Lisa Wahl, OD.

It was really great to reconnect with some of my colleagues and people who have influenced my career greatly.  I was re-introduced to a product that I have been using in my office for about a year now. It is called Zocular.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I often recommend using a lid and lash cleanser.  Lid and lash cleanser is an important step in my 4 step process to alleviate your dry eye symptoms. Please check out my book, Alleviate Dry Eye, to learn more about this process.

Zocular is a gentle but...